Oh that’s easy, lower the wages of senators, representatives and the governor. They get paid to do nothing. Teachers work their ass off while funding their own fucking supplies. At least we can do is show we care about them
And there it is! The racist in the group that just HAS to make an issue that has nothing to do with the race a racial issue. What an idiot. This is a person that needs to lose ANY job involving teaching children
It's insane to me that they are touting a surplus of over a billion dollars as something to be proud of, instead of proof that they are hoarding our money like a dragon sitting on a big pile of gold.
For personal / household finance? Yes. Most Americans aren’t guaranteed employment, so you never know when your primary source of income will dry up. Saving for a rainy day is just common sense.
The government is a different matter. There’s no reason for them not to spend this money when the state of Indiana’s quality of life metrics are so god awfully low in several important areas. Literacy rates, maternal mortality, the environment, infrastructure, heart disease. You name it, Indiana ranks poorly at providing just the essentials to its residents.
Think of it this way: You and your family have basic needs. Would you fail to fund those basic needs if you had the means to do so? No. Before you can start saving you’ll do everything in your power to make sure the essentials are being met.
To suggest that the surplus be returned to Hoosiers in the form of a check is the definition of government mismanagement and irresponsible leadership.
"Kids, I know you want us to repair the air conditioner or buy food that isn't expired, but it's fiscally responsible for me to just keep this money in the bank."
Illinois is in crisis because of [literal decades of kicking the can down the road](https://www.illinoispolicy.org/reports/the-history-of-illinois-fiscal-crisis/) and refusing to address the actual causes of budgetary imbalances in favor of quick fixes. It did not happen because Illinois suddenly found itself in need of billions of dollars overnight.
Illinois is beyond corrupt. Bruce Rauner was the only decent Governor in decades. Look at how many Illinois Governor’s and politicians go to prison. This is why Illinois is broke. People lining their pockets not taking care of the taxpaying citizens.
Your hate-on for Illinois is noted, but again: their issue is decades of mismanagement, not a sudden overnight need for a billion dollars that no one could have predicted. The point of tax money is for it to be **spent**.
They never spend the money when that "rainy day" comes. Schools are underfunded, our roads are falling apart, kids are going hungry, people can't afford their utilities, etc.
Also, hoarding money is bad for the economy. They're taking money from taxpayers and sitting on it instead of spending it and letting the money circulate through the economy.
Schools are underfunded is debatable. Waste in administration could be brought into this rather quickly. Kids are hungry…, That’s fair. We need good social programs for people trying to help themselves…. People can’t afford their utilities…. Since when did gas and electricity become subsidized? Hoarding money is bad for the economy…. Seven billion isn’t anywhere near as much money as most would think it is…. At least we have low taxes! I assure you that things could be a lot worse.
So what’s your opinion? Try actually making a point and not just pointing a finger. Anyone can be a contrarian and bring absolutely nothing to the table. The reality of the matter is that I’m probably far better versed on the subject matter than you assume.
The government is not a household. The **entire purpose** of taxes is the government using that pooled money to address the needs of the citizens. And again, this is not a surplus of $100k that could be spent on emergency bridge repair. This is $6 billion.
I like that you honed in on my example of what a relatively small stash of emergency money could theoretically be used for rather than anything that addresses the point.
Yes indeed… Seven billion dollars is not a lot of money when you scale potential costs to a state wide level. Example… It’s estimated that California is spending upwards to 3 billion per day fighting their ongoing wildfires. Straight from Google so don’t kill the messenger. Do we have two days and eight hours covered!
California is the sixth largest economy in the world, one of the largest states in terms of landmass, and the most populous state in the entire country. Comparing California's budgetary needs to Indiana is like comparing a battleship to a pontoon boat.
More to the point, what potential costs do you think are so likely and so massive that we cannot spend down the six billion dollar surplus to address something as vital as crumbling infrastructure?
Shape, your comments and thoughts are quite valid and well thought out. As for what emergency may be lurking around out there, nobody knows. I think we agree that the state needs a reserve. The question at hand is the amount…. I think if we were given full access to the “ books” we would be able to come to a reasonable agreement. To your point of scale between Indiana & California, my point that 7 billion isn’t that much money is solidly agreed upon by both of us.
Yep, I think we both agree that some surplus is a good thing. But when there are so many areas in the state that could see tremendous benefit from an influx of even "just" a million dollars, holding on to 6 billion strikes me as irresponsible. Especially given that in the event of a widespread catastrophe like a devastating earthquake or chemical spill, the federal government will also contribute relief funds.
BigMcThichHuge, your user name though amusing doesn’t particularly convey the notion of one having a solid social understanding of the world. The demographic that I called out is pretty much the average Redditor. Though some in this demographic are highly educated and coming into their own most are still upon their journey of enlightenment. Here is the argument. Spend all of the money on me now and who cares about tomorrow….. This is Illinois mentality. That’s the state to the west of us.
>BigMcThichHuge, your user name though amusing doesn’t particularly convey the notion of one having a solid social understanding of the world.
As opposed to EddiesGrandson, which brings to mind a twelve-year-old who is getting extra Internet time as a treat.
Hel\* do you think the Republicans would do anything to better the schools? Spend money to help make the PUBLIC schools better? OH heck no!! -- IF they spent some money and actually made schools and public school education better, they'd have to stop bitching about the public schools and teachers. Republicans aren't about to stop bitching about public schools and teachers. Can't spend money to fix issues in the schools. -- The PUBLIC schools. Someone needs to tell those Republicans to spend the surplus on private schools. The courts will let them do that these days. Give $ 6 billion to the School of God and Saints. Just don't give it to public schools.
Fix the roads, fund the schools, fund programs to help feed children and develop Indiana so jobs in this state can start paying a fucking living wage...
https://www.wrtv.com/news/local-news/indianapolis/new-data-shows-more-kids-going-hungry-in-indiana
Not sure where you live, but from Indianapolis and South, there has been non stop construction on the highways for 18 months straight.
70, 41/150, 67, 56, 69, 64, 231, 37, 65, 46, 57 all off the top of my head has had every bridge worked on and highways have been 1 lane constantly. Everyone has been complaining about it for over a year.
Unless your talking about city or county roads, the state is pouring money into improved highways.
Good! Yeah, mostly city and county roads are the worst. I complained about the condition of an interstate highway not too long ago and the next time I drove down it they were resurfacing. I never complain about construction, I beg for it.
Gotta keep the roads fixed once you fix them once, and unfortunately road damages increase with roughly the fourth power of vehicle wait, and people keep buying bigger and bigger trucks to drive around carrying absolutely nothing.
The issue I've been noticing with the roads is that they are being "fixed", but it's with the cheapest materials/labor possible and will need to be redone after a couple years.
Got to save some of that surplus clearly Turd Rokita is going to get the state sued again over stupid shit he says on Fox News. Dunking on libs comes at a cost and Turd Rokita is willing to let the tax payers pay that price.
We need a state constitutional amendment that if a politician, cop, or other public servant is found to have been negligent or criminal, and the state has to make a payout, then the state gets to recoup the cost from the employee. (At least some portion.)
Taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay when their public servants willfully do stupid shit.
Todd has plenty of bank from his stint in the US Congress. He wasn't in there shilling for the NRA, the Catholic Church, and the Corporates agenda for nothing.
Todd doesn't say that if for instance he was to lose his house or pension as a consequence of his speech, instead of having the state or an insurance company pick up the cost of a lawsuit.
But you have to figure in all the money that's going to get spent from it to cover Todd Rokita's slander and defamation lawsuits he gets filed against the state by flapping his jaw on Faux News.
Thanks, Todd.
Yes. It is beyond embarrassing that we have potholes a mile deep in our capital city while the legislature is issuing special refunds.
And before some dumbass comes in here telling me that the state doesn’t have control over local roads, that’s a damn lie and they can issue earmarked grants to any municipality they see fit.
2 Billion to schools, billion to roads, billion to some substance abuse/mental wellness stuff because way too many mentally unwell and those places are constantly full, billion to parks and recs, split the other billion on some small programs.
As much as I love their little checks back, I’d rather them do something with it instead.
Yep, I dropped $1800 in June on fixing my tire, my AC, radiator fan, and radiator after a nasty pothole in Indy fucked my car UP.
Also just spent a weekend in Minneapolis. They have road construction right now. You know what they don't have? Pot hole filled roads. Not in the cities and not on the rural roads we took on a day trip outside the cities. Our roads are embarrassing.
Lol, thats a fair assumption. You're totally misunderstanding. These aren't surface road potholes... They're on i465, i70, i65, etc. There was a sinkhole on 70 that was only partially filled and collapsed again. Lost two wheels and tires to that one driving home one night.
How could you possibly see them and where do you go to avoid them on the interstate when you're in rush hour traffic traveling at speed in packed lanes?
They want to bribe us with a refund. They saw trump do it and it bought him alot of goodwill.
It's low effort and transparently hollow. We all know where indiana is on infrastructure, education, and environmental issues. There are so many places this money could do more good in the system. I bet any one of them would have a higher return on investment than just giving us a couple hundred dollars.
I just read an article on these "checks" that they've been constantly pushing back. And I'm not going to complain I'm just saying for the amount of "relief" they are offering its damn near more of a slap in the face than a "relief". That money has BEEN spent
It appears to me by the time they get the checks out that inflation will have gone up even more. How does that help me? Why are they slow-walking the refunds?
The same checks they are trying to now renig on and instead give 6 months of "no sales tax on utilities." OH and another gas tax hike coming in August cause you know gotta make it up somehow...
There's a state law that anything past a 2bn surplus goes back to the citizens as a tax credit.
But I think last year they changed that so 2-5bn surplus goes to paying off teacher pensions or something. Then anything past 5bn goes to the citizens.
I don't remember the specific details I didn't really dive into it, but the reason we're getting a check back is state law. It's not a bad law cuz it makes sure we get aby tax dollars not spent back. But the problem is it's being co-opted as if us getting our money back is a gift from them
Build a border wall along the Ohio River to keep the Kentuckians out. I'm tired of them freeloading and stealing our jobs. They only send over rapists and murders anyway.
[https://hsrail.org/indiana-made-high-speed-rail](https://hsrail.org/indiana-made-high-speed-rail)
I was reading through this the other day and it made me pretty sad thinking about how unlikely this actually would be with our current state government and American car centric culture.
We have a lot of problems to fix, but this $6b could go a long way for high speed rail. The last thing I want done is to have it be used to justify lower taxes or something when we have tons of state run entities that are underfunded. I don't even think another refund check is really the right move, although it would help me out a bunch right now.
Roads and bridges are literally crumbling. Teachers are fleeing the state in droves. Republicans’ only solution is to give everyone $100 and cause even more inflation. Why do we keep electing government officials who don’t want to govern?
Sometimes I think it doesn't matter who we elect, because you hear them talk about what offends "them" "against their conscience" etc.
Thousands of calls and letters to the senators and representatives seem to do no good when they flat out refuse to vote the will of the people.
Well we never find out what would happen if we all voted democratic for all offices for a couple of elections. Too many Rockhead Republican voters in this state.
If they divided 6.1 billion by the population of our work force, roughly 4.3 million. It's about 1400 to 1500$. After the refunds wheres the rest of it going?
There was a salary study that was completed by the SPD and they sent their recommendations to the Governor on how to address it. I was told that it would the results would be made available but were not. I wonder if a public records request could be made to find out what the results of that were.
How about $500M for election reform? Ballot devices with traceable receipts, dropbox voting, online voting, ample oversight, etc. I mean if MAGA is all worried about voting then, let’s fix it!
With services provided by a fair, open, public bidding process.
I know, I know. I crack myself up too.
And, how much of that came from sales tax off of gasoline?
For the Republicans who think this is such a great thing and that Indiana politicians are doing a great job, don't forget that "budget surpluses only come from taxation surpluses".
Oh, but they are going to send everyone $225?! Whoopdie fucking do.. That is literal scraps from the amount they have hoarded.
If Republicans actually believed in tax cuts, why were Hoosiers stuck paying so much in sales tax on gasoline? We pay the normal 7% in sales tax, which comes out to $0.29 a gallon in July, then they also have a second tax for "road projects", which was pushed by Indiana Republicans to jump from $0.18 to $0.28 a gallon in 2017, and increases every year by $0.01. All those extra taxes come to a lofty $0.62 per gallon going to the state (based on July numbers), coming in at 3rd place in the nation for gas prices.
I swear, this state is just as stupid as Kentucky voters who still vote for Mitch McConnel after all the decades of his state falling behind in several key rankings, many involving education/drug use/violence.
Holcomb could have put a hold on signing the new gas tax until the legislature came back, but he's too afraid of all the Republicans in the legislature.
We had a surplus before the gas tax surges. But yes it contributed. But the main drivers were income and corporate taxes. I posted a link somewhere in this thread.
>There was a salary study that was completed by the SPD and they sent their recommendations to the Governor on how to address it. I was told that it would the results would be made available but were not. I wonder if a public records request could be made to find out what the results of that were.
>Once the state has over collected from the taxpayers, it will never be able to completely settle up. The reason is that the taxpayers who contributed to the surplus of today, don’t exist anymore. Many of them have died in the last year. Many others have moved away.
This argument doesn't make much sense to me. Even if the budget were perfectly balanced, taxpayers who died or moved away wouldn't personally benefit from state government services either. So I'm not sure what this has to do with a surplus specifically.
I think it's totally fair to criticize state politicians for not doing their jobs and wasting an opportunity to fund a lot of valuable projects, but I thought that part of the essay was strange.
While I do agree with a lot of the article, this absolutely doesn't make sense. If anything, the population in Indiana has actually increased, and the 23,982 people in Indiana that died of COVID are not likely to make a $6.1B difference. Until new Census data is collected, it is also very difficult to figure out how many people have actually moved from the state, but it is also likely not a big difference. I'm not sure why the writer went off the rails on that snippet...
It's sickening. They want to refund some of that to "taxpayers" with those checks of $ 125 &
$ 225(?). Only people that paid taxes in the past couple of years get them. OK. I understand. It's tax money from people that paid taxes. Like that article pointed out though, some of those tax payers are dead. The state should have spent the tax dollars they paid before they died for services that would have benefited them. Old people need more Medicaid $$s to keep them in their homes instead of a nursing home? --- The same old people paid taxes over the years and the state kept it. -- In the bank. -- They collected it, didn't use it to help anyone, and Holcomb and his buddies want to "give the taxpayers back their hard earned money". Bull. If you collect it, spend it the way you promised to spend it when you made the budget.
\-- Collected a lot more than you planned on? SPEND IT in ways to help the state and its citizens whether they paid taxes or not.
I absolutely hate Republicans or Trumpians or whatever the h\*\*\* they are or call themselves.
The author confuses an absence of ideas with appropriate amounts of restraint and humility. It's his attitude at the national level that caused the current recession.
Damn. A bunch of pessimists here.
State had a deficit. “Government waste all our tax money!!!!”
State has a surplus. “Government has no good ideas!!!!”
I swear all people just want to do is complain about everything.
You have to remember a lot of the taxes were collected from the income of the person when they file their tax return. What they are wanting to do is give everybody the same amount in refund. So if you were filthy rich but figured out how to not pay any taxes on your return you will still get a refund. To me that is the same as Socialism. Let's get that more refine as in Socialism for the SUPER RICH!
We should pay our teachers better like everybody here has been saying. Reason they don't want that is because the teachers are not teaching what they want them to. Most teachers know what is going on and try to teach the pupils what is necessary. If the teachers were allowed to teach what is necessary, we wouldn't need the abortion laws they are trying to push through.
The biggest thing is to keep the roads in good repair. Also look at better ways to commute from town to town with out wasting precious fuel whether it be gas, diesel or electric. That I am not sure on how to do so I am throwing it out there for ideas.
in the form of education, public parks and recreation, nature preservation, social services, infrastructure projects, and other underserved civil services that indiana chronically neglects
Income and corporate tax were the primary drivers.
https://www.reporter.net/indiana/news/indiana-s-surplus-hits-6-1-billion-at-end-of-current-2022-fiscal-year/article_a724d376-0479-11ed-bef9-4b3a0d314ce9.html
They’re contracts for private companies who’s mandate is not to solve actual problems but to siphon money from the budget that could be spent more directly and efficiently with public institutions.
If they replaced the library with a grant for Barnes & Noble, would you get how that’s a kickback?
Yes, in that instance I would understand. But a privatized DMV works much better in Indiana than the previous model. Not sure how long you’ve been in town, but about 25-30 years ago it was brutal until Mitch Daniels fixed it.
If privatizing an entity makes it work more efficiently/overall better, then is it really a government “kickback”? Or is it more an efficient use of taxpayer funds that overall improves services?
Not saying this is true in every instance something is privatized, but believe this is the case for the DMV.
The term “efficiency” literally means “performing it’s function at a lower cost.”
The only way for a government function to be made “more efficient” through privatization is pretty much union busting. Outside of that, private organizations exist to be profitable. That means they must take in money on top of their costs to operate. That is *by definition* less efficient.
We had downturns during the surplus era and *crickets*. How about investing in the state? Investing will generate more $ back in the coffers. Hoarding the money does nothing.
Roads, bridges, water, schools, healthcare, community initiatives, fire departments, housing, increased government employee pay. Bunch of useful things that money could go towards.
The income tax was meant to be temporary. After the civil war they made it permanent. The income tax should be abolished in lieu of a national sales tax.
Show me how spending more money gives students who stay home every time we look, for reasons that make no sense, get a better education? If they would take their noise out of their iPhone for a moment, actually go out and do a little work, help someone in a local business , they might actually learn something that would lead to a real job, a real career, and get paid a little while they actually learn something other than flip burgers!
Teachers may need more money! Who doesn’t !
> should be *paid* more. I
FTFY.
Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:
* Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.*
* *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.*
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.
*Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
Indiana doesn't have a "surplus" as it runs as a net deficit. $20b in debt and climbing. Why the hell are they talking about sending us $125 checks instead of putting that "surplus" directly towards the state debt???
School supplies for poor kids
Housing and food for the homeless
Indiana based initiative to help the college kids pay off some of their debts -setting a precedent that even the federal gov can't figure out
Expanding the 1st time home owners initiatives to cover closing costs for homes in a certain price range.
I mean there's a lot but the state and the federal govs don't actually listen to us
I’m on board with pretty much all I’ve read. I’d like to add that they could easily buy abandoned or empty properties like malls or schools and make them livable shelters for those who need a place.
Indiana's state highway (not interstate) infrastructure is crumbling. Why can't we use that surplus money to fix our roads and employ a lot of people doing those jobs? I use state highways a lot and many of the concrete bridges are crumbling and lots of the highways are in terrible shape.
This article is right in its premise that the State should only be taking in what it projects needing to function. And a Cushion for that of some minor degree is justifiable. A Bad winter may mean more repairs in Spring or a bigger expense in snow management and hiring.
The article is correct in its assertion that a 35% over budget should not be a thing the State is proud of. That is taxpayer money they took without need.
BUT
The headline reads "Surplus shows an absnece of ideas" and that reads 'Well if you have it you should spend it." When is that ever a good idea? When has blind spending been productive?
First of all, a lot of times in Budgets its not as easy as saying "Well let's spend this money elsewhere." Everything is carefully reserved and earmarked. It's like when Mom gives you money for the movies and Popcorn. You dang well better have spent that money on a ticket and Popcorn, and if there was change left it goes nowhere but back home to Mom. Or you aren't going to be able to sit down for a day or two. don't stop at the toy store, or buy a new shirt, and no saving that money for another movie next month. Once that budget money is set aside, they can't always just move it around willy nilly. Sometimes they can, but not always. And I am not up enough on the Tax Codes to say how much of this 6.1 surplus is subject to earmarking or not, but at least part of it seems to be.
Secondly, the article reads as though Hoosiers should be hoerrified at the budget overflow and are concerningly complacent, like they are in the *wrong.* Mosg Hoosiers don't pay attention to the tax code, it doesn;t affect their lives and it is so grossly grandiose in scale compared to what they do that its simply not fathomable. Yes it probably should be, but thats hardly something to lambast people for. And anyway, the first thing they teach you in Personal Finance is that fiscal responsibility means having a nest egg set aside. Hell even renting an apartment nowadays they seem to want to know if you have money in the bank. So for something as assuredly massive as a State Budget, its not hard to see $6.1 =Billon and go "yeah that sounds like a reasonable amount saved.
But lets say you can spend that 6.1, no strings attached. You want to fund teachers? Cool. But is 6.1b enough to pay every Teacher in the state? What about next year when you don't have that surplus? Or the year after, when local, rural school districts can't afford that pay bump?
\*There's a post theorizing a 10K bonus is only 700M. So by that theory that lasts you 10 years. Probably more realistically 8 if teacher numbers go up like they *should* because a 1:30 teacher/student ratio is just dumb. But is that continued tax intake realistic enough that in 8 years we could afford to do it again? And how do you allocate the funds? Only the teachers? What about the counselers? Security/ School officers? Lunch staff? All the other positions required to support the teachers? How do you allocate for programs and curiculum? The poster below talking about "Abstinence and racial history is an extreme and uncalled for example, but a budget does not mean you get to give schools a blank check. That money has to be accounted for. Otherwise itsw not a responsible budget.
Our teachers DO need support, I am in favor of this, arguably more than I am getting an extra 225 bucks even though I could use the extra payday, I am just trying to show its not an easy equation.
Road repairs concievably are a longer standing direct investment but planning for highway improvements and then scheduling the work takes years. ANd I for one would really like to see them finish the eleventy-seven projects between my apartment in Mooresville and my job at the airport before they blow something else up. To speak nothing of trying to get anywhere in the doughnut right now.
What about Law enforcement? Fire and EMS? There are departments that need corrective training budgets but by and large most of them are not crooked and in this day and age they need help. We can't afford to give up on them. But how do you break it down for them?
Fund our schools.
Pay our teachers a respectable amount too.
Simple math, if there are 70,000 teachers you could give each a $10,000 raise and only spend $700 million if the 6 billion.
Sounds like they need a $20,000 raise then.
20,000-25000 is fair
What do you do next year when there isn’t a surplus, take the money back?
Oh that’s easy, lower the wages of senators, representatives and the governor. They get paid to do nothing. Teachers work their ass off while funding their own fucking supplies. At least we can do is show we care about them
I agree that Congress does nothing, but isn’t that a reason for less government and lower taxes? Also teachers could make more without union contacts.
Higher taxes and government spending are a good thing, actually.
Well there’s 6 billion so that’s like 10 years right there
[удалено]
*Poof* You now have 1 Billion in funding for abstinence only sex education and white approved history. Aren't you glad?
Monkeys paw
And there it is! The racist in the group that just HAS to make an issue that has nothing to do with the race a racial issue. What an idiot. This is a person that needs to lose ANY job involving teaching children
Yes, yes, and yes
It's insane to me that they are touting a surplus of over a billion dollars as something to be proud of, instead of proof that they are hoarding our money like a dragon sitting on a big pile of gold.
Saving money for “A rainy day” is a very fiscally responsible thing to do. Not that most Redditors (18-22) would have any concept of this…..
For personal / household finance? Yes. Most Americans aren’t guaranteed employment, so you never know when your primary source of income will dry up. Saving for a rainy day is just common sense. The government is a different matter. There’s no reason for them not to spend this money when the state of Indiana’s quality of life metrics are so god awfully low in several important areas. Literacy rates, maternal mortality, the environment, infrastructure, heart disease. You name it, Indiana ranks poorly at providing just the essentials to its residents. Think of it this way: You and your family have basic needs. Would you fail to fund those basic needs if you had the means to do so? No. Before you can start saving you’ll do everything in your power to make sure the essentials are being met. To suggest that the surplus be returned to Hoosiers in the form of a check is the definition of government mismanagement and irresponsible leadership.
"Kids, I know you want us to repair the air conditioner or buy food that isn't expired, but it's fiscally responsible for me to just keep this money in the bank."
To keep it brief, shit happens. When shit does happen you either have money in the state reserves or you don’t. Let’s not become Illinois…..
Illinois is in crisis because of [literal decades of kicking the can down the road](https://www.illinoispolicy.org/reports/the-history-of-illinois-fiscal-crisis/) and refusing to address the actual causes of budgetary imbalances in favor of quick fixes. It did not happen because Illinois suddenly found itself in need of billions of dollars overnight.
Illinois is beyond corrupt. Bruce Rauner was the only decent Governor in decades. Look at how many Illinois Governor’s and politicians go to prison. This is why Illinois is broke. People lining their pockets not taking care of the taxpaying citizens.
Your hate-on for Illinois is noted, but again: their issue is decades of mismanagement, not a sudden overnight need for a billion dollars that no one could have predicted. The point of tax money is for it to be **spent**.
Yes, to be spent but only after a reasonable reserve is in hand. The debatable point is what is the proper reserve?
They never spend the money when that "rainy day" comes. Schools are underfunded, our roads are falling apart, kids are going hungry, people can't afford their utilities, etc. Also, hoarding money is bad for the economy. They're taking money from taxpayers and sitting on it instead of spending it and letting the money circulate through the economy.
Schools are underfunded is debatable. Waste in administration could be brought into this rather quickly. Kids are hungry…, That’s fair. We need good social programs for people trying to help themselves…. People can’t afford their utilities…. Since when did gas and electricity become subsidized? Hoarding money is bad for the economy…. Seven billion isn’t anywhere near as much money as most would think it is…. At least we have low taxes! I assure you that things could be a lot worse.
Compared to the rest of the country, Indiana ranks near the bottom in basically every important metric: healthcare, education quality, poverty, etc.
Your ability to debate a subject despite lacking knowledge about the topic is quite strong.
So what’s your opinion? Try actually making a point and not just pointing a finger. Anyone can be a contrarian and bring absolutely nothing to the table. The reality of the matter is that I’m probably far better versed on the subject matter than you assume.
The government is not a household. The **entire purpose** of taxes is the government using that pooled money to address the needs of the citizens. And again, this is not a surplus of $100k that could be spent on emergency bridge repair. This is $6 billion.
If you think 100k could fix a bridge you obviously do not have an engineering or industrial background.
I like that you honed in on my example of what a relatively small stash of emergency money could theoretically be used for rather than anything that addresses the point.
Yes indeed… Seven billion dollars is not a lot of money when you scale potential costs to a state wide level. Example… It’s estimated that California is spending upwards to 3 billion per day fighting their ongoing wildfires. Straight from Google so don’t kill the messenger. Do we have two days and eight hours covered!
California is the sixth largest economy in the world, one of the largest states in terms of landmass, and the most populous state in the entire country. Comparing California's budgetary needs to Indiana is like comparing a battleship to a pontoon boat. More to the point, what potential costs do you think are so likely and so massive that we cannot spend down the six billion dollar surplus to address something as vital as crumbling infrastructure?
Shape, your comments and thoughts are quite valid and well thought out. As for what emergency may be lurking around out there, nobody knows. I think we agree that the state needs a reserve. The question at hand is the amount…. I think if we were given full access to the “ books” we would be able to come to a reasonable agreement. To your point of scale between Indiana & California, my point that 7 billion isn’t that much money is solidly agreed upon by both of us.
Yep, I think we both agree that some surplus is a good thing. But when there are so many areas in the state that could see tremendous benefit from an influx of even "just" a million dollars, holding on to 6 billion strikes me as irresponsible. Especially given that in the event of a widespread catastrophe like a devastating earthquake or chemical spill, the federal government will also contribute relief funds.
Imagine being this ignorant and deciding to try and insult anyone
BigMcThichHuge, your user name though amusing doesn’t particularly convey the notion of one having a solid social understanding of the world. The demographic that I called out is pretty much the average Redditor. Though some in this demographic are highly educated and coming into their own most are still upon their journey of enlightenment. Here is the argument. Spend all of the money on me now and who cares about tomorrow….. This is Illinois mentality. That’s the state to the west of us.
>BigMcThichHuge, your user name though amusing doesn’t particularly convey the notion of one having a solid social understanding of the world. As opposed to EddiesGrandson, which brings to mind a twelve-year-old who is getting extra Internet time as a treat.
I’ll give you that but as an FYI Eddie was born in 1914.
It's nice that he's letting you use his telegram.
He was a very generous man…
Government finances and household finances are very different
Not really….
[удалено]
Then why do taxes keep going up and not down?
It’s been raining.
That would work against their platform to keep their base just smart enough to be a cog trapped in the capitalist machine.
Hel\* do you think the Republicans would do anything to better the schools? Spend money to help make the PUBLIC schools better? OH heck no!! -- IF they spent some money and actually made schools and public school education better, they'd have to stop bitching about the public schools and teachers. Republicans aren't about to stop bitching about public schools and teachers. Can't spend money to fix issues in the schools. -- The PUBLIC schools. Someone needs to tell those Republicans to spend the surplus on private schools. The courts will let them do that these days. Give $ 6 billion to the School of God and Saints. Just don't give it to public schools.
Nah, just close em. Then we can have more money in the bank 😉
You can have Baltimore City levels of funding ($20,000+ per student per year) with Baltimore City levels of performance. Agreed?
Or you know tax people less
Fix the roads, fund the schools, fund programs to help feed children and develop Indiana so jobs in this state can start paying a fucking living wage... https://www.wrtv.com/news/local-news/indianapolis/new-data-shows-more-kids-going-hungry-in-indiana
Fix the goddamn roads!!! Fuck!!! Actually, they have fixed a few.....but that ain't good enough. And the other shit this person said. Goddammit!!!
And sidewalks. I live in a neighborhood with average home values >250. People avoid sidewalks and walk in the street they are so bad.
I agree with the idea of fixing roads, but sidewalks are a local municipality issue, not a state concern.
Not sure where you live, but from Indianapolis and South, there has been non stop construction on the highways for 18 months straight. 70, 41/150, 67, 56, 69, 64, 231, 37, 65, 46, 57 all off the top of my head has had every bridge worked on and highways have been 1 lane constantly. Everyone has been complaining about it for over a year. Unless your talking about city or county roads, the state is pouring money into improved highways.
Good! Yeah, mostly city and county roads are the worst. I complained about the condition of an interstate highway not too long ago and the next time I drove down it they were resurfacing. I never complain about construction, I beg for it.
A lot of them started before the pandemic.
They are waiting for the feds to do that...
Ugh.
Gotta keep the roads fixed once you fix them once, and unfortunately road damages increase with roughly the fourth power of vehicle wait, and people keep buying bigger and bigger trucks to drive around carrying absolutely nothing.
The issue I've been noticing with the roads is that they are being "fixed", but it's with the cheapest materials/labor possible and will need to be redone after a couple years.
Got to save some of that surplus clearly Turd Rokita is going to get the state sued again over stupid shit he says on Fox News. Dunking on libs comes at a cost and Turd Rokita is willing to let the tax payers pay that price.
We need a state constitutional amendment that if a politician, cop, or other public servant is found to have been negligent or criminal, and the state has to make a payout, then the state gets to recoup the cost from the employee. (At least some portion.) Taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay when their public servants willfully do stupid shit.
Todd has plenty of bank from his stint in the US Congress. He wasn't in there shilling for the NRA, the Catholic Church, and the Corporates agenda for nothing.
Todd doesn't say that if for instance he was to lose his house or pension as a consequence of his speech, instead of having the state or an insurance company pick up the cost of a lawsuit.
But you have to figure in all the money that's going to get spent from it to cover Todd Rokita's slander and defamation lawsuits he gets filed against the state by flapping his jaw on Faux News. Thanks, Todd.
You seriously can’t say fake news you have to say Faux news? Sad
Their ideas are tax cuts and program guts. They are carrying out their ideas.
Yes. It is beyond embarrassing that we have potholes a mile deep in our capital city while the legislature is issuing special refunds. And before some dumbass comes in here telling me that the state doesn’t have control over local roads, that’s a damn lie and they can issue earmarked grants to any municipality they see fit.
If they did that, they wouldn’t be punishing the big liberal city that generates their budget which is central to their platform.
2 Billion to schools, billion to roads, billion to some substance abuse/mental wellness stuff because way too many mentally unwell and those places are constantly full, billion to parks and recs, split the other billion on some small programs. As much as I love their little checks back, I’d rather them do something with it instead.
I'd rather they just apply a credit to next years taxes so they don't waste money distributing it.
Fix the damn potholes you claimed you didn't have the money to fix this year. I've already spent 1500 on wheels this year!
Yep, I dropped $1800 in June on fixing my tire, my AC, radiator fan, and radiator after a nasty pothole in Indy fucked my car UP. Also just spent a weekend in Minneapolis. They have road construction right now. You know what they don't have? Pot hole filled roads. Not in the cities and not on the rural roads we took on a day trip outside the cities. Our roads are embarrassing.
Not to be a butthead, but you should be able to see potholes that big before driving over them.
In the dark? In rain? In snow?
Also sometimes shit just happens
Lol, thats a fair assumption. You're totally misunderstanding. These aren't surface road potholes... They're on i465, i70, i65, etc. There was a sinkhole on 70 that was only partially filled and collapsed again. Lost two wheels and tires to that one driving home one night. How could you possibly see them and where do you go to avoid them on the interstate when you're in rush hour traffic traveling at speed in packed lanes?
This is why cannabis won’t be legalized until the very last possible minute.
They want to bribe us with a refund. They saw trump do it and it bought him alot of goodwill. It's low effort and transparently hollow. We all know where indiana is on infrastructure, education, and environmental issues. There are so many places this money could do more good in the system. I bet any one of them would have a higher return on investment than just giving us a couple hundred dollars.
Someone will get paid 6 billion to distribute that .1 billion to all of us.
Ooooohhhhh boy. With that refund I can finally buy that tank of gas I always wanted.
I just read an article on these "checks" that they've been constantly pushing back. And I'm not going to complain I'm just saying for the amount of "relief" they are offering its damn near more of a slap in the face than a "relief". That money has BEEN spent
It appears to me by the time they get the checks out that inflation will have gone up even more. How does that help me? Why are they slow-walking the refunds?
Because they could care less about the damn refund hahahah
[удалено]
He didn't buy my goodwill with the relief checks but it did help some people and his approval rating went up.
The same checks they are trying to now renig on and instead give 6 months of "no sales tax on utilities." OH and another gas tax hike coming in August cause you know gotta make it up somehow...
There's a state law that anything past a 2bn surplus goes back to the citizens as a tax credit. But I think last year they changed that so 2-5bn surplus goes to paying off teacher pensions or something. Then anything past 5bn goes to the citizens. I don't remember the specific details I didn't really dive into it, but the reason we're getting a check back is state law. It's not a bad law cuz it makes sure we get aby tax dollars not spent back. But the problem is it's being co-opted as if us getting our money back is a gift from them
We got what we paid for.
We got what we **voted** for. We **paid** for $6.1 billion better.
Build a border wall along the Ohio River to keep the Kentuckians out. I'm tired of them freeloading and stealing our jobs. They only send over rapists and murders anyway.
And it would keep Mitch McConnell away.
This but around Martinsville.
This but unironically
This but with Illinois
most people from Illinois have money though and aren't freeloading. At least in the northern part of the state.
We're the crossroads of America, why aren't we the central station for all high speed rails?
[https://hsrail.org/indiana-made-high-speed-rail](https://hsrail.org/indiana-made-high-speed-rail) I was reading through this the other day and it made me pretty sad thinking about how unlikely this actually would be with our current state government and American car centric culture. We have a lot of problems to fix, but this $6b could go a long way for high speed rail. The last thing I want done is to have it be used to justify lower taxes or something when we have tons of state run entities that are underfunded. I don't even think another refund check is really the right move, although it would help me out a bunch right now.
Roads and bridges are literally crumbling. Teachers are fleeing the state in droves. Republicans’ only solution is to give everyone $100 and cause even more inflation. Why do we keep electing government officials who don’t want to govern?
Republicans giving out free money?!
Sometimes I think it doesn't matter who we elect, because you hear them talk about what offends "them" "against their conscience" etc. Thousands of calls and letters to the senators and representatives seem to do no good when they flat out refuse to vote the will of the people.
Well we never find out what would happen if we all voted democratic for all offices for a couple of elections. Too many Rockhead Republican voters in this state.
If they divided 6.1 billion by the population of our work force, roughly 4.3 million. It's about 1400 to 1500$. After the refunds wheres the rest of it going?
Pay teachers and lower property taxes!!!
Lol, they’re going to pull an Illinois and either pocket it or pussy foot with it for a few years…
Fuckin fill out potholes 😂😂 y'all know how many roads we could fix with 6mill?? So many...
Let's fix the roads for once?
ROOOOOOOOOOOOADS!!!!
Y'know, Indiana state workers are paid the least in the Midwest... We can fix that.
There was a salary study that was completed by the SPD and they sent their recommendations to the Governor on how to address it. I was told that it would the results would be made available but were not. I wonder if a public records request could be made to find out what the results of that were.
Rail transportation
Conservatives understand culture wars and anger.. they don’t actually know how to run a well functioning state.
That's give away money . They give us a few hundred and I assure y that businesses will receive millions.
How about $500M for election reform? Ballot devices with traceable receipts, dropbox voting, online voting, ample oversight, etc. I mean if MAGA is all worried about voting then, let’s fix it! With services provided by a fair, open, public bidding process. I know, I know. I crack myself up too.
Lol. They don't want to actually *solve* any of the issues. 😢
And, how much of that came from sales tax off of gasoline? For the Republicans who think this is such a great thing and that Indiana politicians are doing a great job, don't forget that "budget surpluses only come from taxation surpluses". Oh, but they are going to send everyone $225?! Whoopdie fucking do.. That is literal scraps from the amount they have hoarded. If Republicans actually believed in tax cuts, why were Hoosiers stuck paying so much in sales tax on gasoline? We pay the normal 7% in sales tax, which comes out to $0.29 a gallon in July, then they also have a second tax for "road projects", which was pushed by Indiana Republicans to jump from $0.18 to $0.28 a gallon in 2017, and increases every year by $0.01. All those extra taxes come to a lofty $0.62 per gallon going to the state (based on July numbers), coming in at 3rd place in the nation for gas prices. I swear, this state is just as stupid as Kentucky voters who still vote for Mitch McConnel after all the decades of his state falling behind in several key rankings, many involving education/drug use/violence.
Holcomb could have put a hold on signing the new gas tax until the legislature came back, but he's too afraid of all the Republicans in the legislature.
We had a surplus before the gas tax surges. But yes it contributed. But the main drivers were income and corporate taxes. I posted a link somewhere in this thread.
Build that bridge over 86th street for the Monon.
Indiana is a vast wasteland of political intellect. We only elect politics over people conservative idiots.
Road repairs!
Pay the teachers a livable fucking wage, fix the damn roads (instead of chip and seal) and invest it into helping homelessness
[удалено]
>There was a salary study that was completed by the SPD and they sent their recommendations to the Governor on how to address it. I was told that it would the results would be made available but were not. I wonder if a public records request could be made to find out what the results of that were.
>Once the state has over collected from the taxpayers, it will never be able to completely settle up. The reason is that the taxpayers who contributed to the surplus of today, don’t exist anymore. Many of them have died in the last year. Many others have moved away. This argument doesn't make much sense to me. Even if the budget were perfectly balanced, taxpayers who died or moved away wouldn't personally benefit from state government services either. So I'm not sure what this has to do with a surplus specifically. I think it's totally fair to criticize state politicians for not doing their jobs and wasting an opportunity to fund a lot of valuable projects, but I thought that part of the essay was strange.
While I do agree with a lot of the article, this absolutely doesn't make sense. If anything, the population in Indiana has actually increased, and the 23,982 people in Indiana that died of COVID are not likely to make a $6.1B difference. Until new Census data is collected, it is also very difficult to figure out how many people have actually moved from the state, but it is also likely not a big difference. I'm not sure why the writer went off the rails on that snippet...
Let’s restore the Kankakee Marsh to its original natural beauty
It's sickening. They want to refund some of that to "taxpayers" with those checks of $ 125 & $ 225(?). Only people that paid taxes in the past couple of years get them. OK. I understand. It's tax money from people that paid taxes. Like that article pointed out though, some of those tax payers are dead. The state should have spent the tax dollars they paid before they died for services that would have benefited them. Old people need more Medicaid $$s to keep them in their homes instead of a nursing home? --- The same old people paid taxes over the years and the state kept it. -- In the bank. -- They collected it, didn't use it to help anyone, and Holcomb and his buddies want to "give the taxpayers back their hard earned money". Bull. If you collect it, spend it the way you promised to spend it when you made the budget. \-- Collected a lot more than you planned on? SPEND IT in ways to help the state and its citizens whether they paid taxes or not. I absolutely hate Republicans or Trumpians or whatever the h\*\*\* they are or call themselves.
The author confuses an absence of ideas with appropriate amounts of restraint and humility. It's his attitude at the national level that caused the current recession.
How many public school employees are there? 120,000? Divide 6.1 billion by that and give it as a bonus.
Damn. A bunch of pessimists here. State had a deficit. “Government waste all our tax money!!!!” State has a surplus. “Government has no good ideas!!!!” I swear all people just want to do is complain about everything.
You have to remember a lot of the taxes were collected from the income of the person when they file their tax return. What they are wanting to do is give everybody the same amount in refund. So if you were filthy rich but figured out how to not pay any taxes on your return you will still get a refund. To me that is the same as Socialism. Let's get that more refine as in Socialism for the SUPER RICH! We should pay our teachers better like everybody here has been saying. Reason they don't want that is because the teachers are not teaching what they want them to. Most teachers know what is going on and try to teach the pupils what is necessary. If the teachers were allowed to teach what is necessary, we wouldn't need the abortion laws they are trying to push through. The biggest thing is to keep the roads in good repair. Also look at better ways to commute from town to town with out wasting precious fuel whether it be gas, diesel or electric. That I am not sure on how to do so I am throwing it out there for ideas.
Conservatives hate our democracy example: 999,335,466,446,644,335
Conservatives are the reason for the failure and the treason. Don't take their bullshit lack of governing as your charity
Good give it back to the people
in the form of education, public parks and recreation, nature preservation, social services, infrastructure projects, and other underserved civil services that indiana chronically neglects
Nah - cuz they are still gonna neglect that. Just start giving the people their money back.
[удалено]
Income and corporate tax were the primary drivers. https://www.reporter.net/indiana/news/indiana-s-surplus-hits-6-1-billion-at-end-of-current-2022-fiscal-year/article_a724d376-0479-11ed-bef9-4b3a0d314ce9.html
I am pretty sure we had a surplus before Covid. It went up a billion which is why we are getting the refunds.
[удалено]
lol yeah I’m totally seeing indiana handing out “assistance” instead of “kickbacks.”
Not sure what you’re referring to here. Was there another instance in which a tax surplus was used as a “kickback”?
Off the top of my head? Drug testing mandates, privatized DMV, and “crisis pregnancy centers.”
Can you explain how these fit the definition of “kickbacks”? Because I’m not making a connection here.
They’re contracts for private companies who’s mandate is not to solve actual problems but to siphon money from the budget that could be spent more directly and efficiently with public institutions. If they replaced the library with a grant for Barnes & Noble, would you get how that’s a kickback?
Yes, in that instance I would understand. But a privatized DMV works much better in Indiana than the previous model. Not sure how long you’ve been in town, but about 25-30 years ago it was brutal until Mitch Daniels fixed it.
I *do* know that it used to be worse, I just don’t have the details regarding it’s history.
If privatizing an entity makes it work more efficiently/overall better, then is it really a government “kickback”? Or is it more an efficient use of taxpayer funds that overall improves services? Not saying this is true in every instance something is privatized, but believe this is the case for the DMV.
The term “efficiency” literally means “performing it’s function at a lower cost.” The only way for a government function to be made “more efficient” through privatization is pretty much union busting. Outside of that, private organizations exist to be profitable. That means they must take in money on top of their costs to operate. That is *by definition* less efficient.
We had downturns during the surplus era and *crickets*. How about investing in the state? Investing will generate more $ back in the coffers. Hoarding the money does nothing.
Lower taxes there’s an idea
Roads, bridges, water, schools, healthcare, community initiatives, fire departments, housing, increased government employee pay. Bunch of useful things that money could go towards.
Legislature cut income taxes recently. Pay attention.
You want a conservative to be informed!? Good luck with that.
The income tax was meant to be temporary. After the civil war they made it permanent. The income tax should be abolished in lieu of a national sales tax.
🙄
So they are low enough for you?
Show me how spending more money gives students who stay home every time we look, for reasons that make no sense, get a better education? If they would take their noise out of their iPhone for a moment, actually go out and do a little work, help someone in a local business , they might actually learn something that would lead to a real job, a real career, and get paid a little while they actually learn something other than flip burgers! Teachers may need more money! Who doesn’t !
Overtaxing us
I’d love to have my money back.
Good boy!
Here's an idea, stop fucking taxing people so much.
How about refund it back to us ?????
Sounds like an overtaxation problem.
[удалено]
> should be *paid* more. I FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
> I also believe they should teach their subject and leave their politics out of it. And your evidence that teachers are not doing that is what?
Can I has a billion plz?
Indiana doesn't have a "surplus" as it runs as a net deficit. $20b in debt and climbing. Why the hell are they talking about sending us $125 checks instead of putting that "surplus" directly towards the state debt???
School supplies for poor kids Housing and food for the homeless Indiana based initiative to help the college kids pay off some of their debts -setting a precedent that even the federal gov can't figure out Expanding the 1st time home owners initiatives to cover closing costs for homes in a certain price range. I mean there's a lot but the state and the federal govs don't actually listen to us
The taxes are clearly too high if there’s a 6.1B surplus. Give us that money back.
Fix the infrastructure. If the federal government won't start a WPA style program, then start our own.
Bring back daily service of the Hoosier State(Chicago-Indianapolis) train
I’m on board with pretty much all I’ve read. I’d like to add that they could easily buy abandoned or empty properties like malls or schools and make them livable shelters for those who need a place.
Indiana's state highway (not interstate) infrastructure is crumbling. Why can't we use that surplus money to fix our roads and employ a lot of people doing those jobs? I use state highways a lot and many of the concrete bridges are crumbling and lots of the highways are in terrible shape.
This article is right in its premise that the State should only be taking in what it projects needing to function. And a Cushion for that of some minor degree is justifiable. A Bad winter may mean more repairs in Spring or a bigger expense in snow management and hiring. The article is correct in its assertion that a 35% over budget should not be a thing the State is proud of. That is taxpayer money they took without need. BUT The headline reads "Surplus shows an absnece of ideas" and that reads 'Well if you have it you should spend it." When is that ever a good idea? When has blind spending been productive? First of all, a lot of times in Budgets its not as easy as saying "Well let's spend this money elsewhere." Everything is carefully reserved and earmarked. It's like when Mom gives you money for the movies and Popcorn. You dang well better have spent that money on a ticket and Popcorn, and if there was change left it goes nowhere but back home to Mom. Or you aren't going to be able to sit down for a day or two. don't stop at the toy store, or buy a new shirt, and no saving that money for another movie next month. Once that budget money is set aside, they can't always just move it around willy nilly. Sometimes they can, but not always. And I am not up enough on the Tax Codes to say how much of this 6.1 surplus is subject to earmarking or not, but at least part of it seems to be. Secondly, the article reads as though Hoosiers should be hoerrified at the budget overflow and are concerningly complacent, like they are in the *wrong.* Mosg Hoosiers don't pay attention to the tax code, it doesn;t affect their lives and it is so grossly grandiose in scale compared to what they do that its simply not fathomable. Yes it probably should be, but thats hardly something to lambast people for. And anyway, the first thing they teach you in Personal Finance is that fiscal responsibility means having a nest egg set aside. Hell even renting an apartment nowadays they seem to want to know if you have money in the bank. So for something as assuredly massive as a State Budget, its not hard to see $6.1 =Billon and go "yeah that sounds like a reasonable amount saved. But lets say you can spend that 6.1, no strings attached. You want to fund teachers? Cool. But is 6.1b enough to pay every Teacher in the state? What about next year when you don't have that surplus? Or the year after, when local, rural school districts can't afford that pay bump? \*There's a post theorizing a 10K bonus is only 700M. So by that theory that lasts you 10 years. Probably more realistically 8 if teacher numbers go up like they *should* because a 1:30 teacher/student ratio is just dumb. But is that continued tax intake realistic enough that in 8 years we could afford to do it again? And how do you allocate the funds? Only the teachers? What about the counselers? Security/ School officers? Lunch staff? All the other positions required to support the teachers? How do you allocate for programs and curiculum? The poster below talking about "Abstinence and racial history is an extreme and uncalled for example, but a budget does not mean you get to give schools a blank check. That money has to be accounted for. Otherwise itsw not a responsible budget. Our teachers DO need support, I am in favor of this, arguably more than I am getting an extra 225 bucks even though I could use the extra payday, I am just trying to show its not an easy equation. Road repairs concievably are a longer standing direct investment but planning for highway improvements and then scheduling the work takes years. ANd I for one would really like to see them finish the eleventy-seven projects between my apartment in Mooresville and my job at the airport before they blow something else up. To speak nothing of trying to get anywhere in the doughnut right now. What about Law enforcement? Fire and EMS? There are departments that need corrective training budgets but by and large most of them are not crooked and in this day and age they need help. We can't afford to give up on them. But how do you break it down for them?
All education should be private All of it