Fellow Republicans,

It took 175 days, a special session, numerous newspaper editorials,
and the threat of a government shutdown, but Speaker Pat Bauer has
finally freed his fellow Democrats and allowed them to vote on a state
budget. After finally passing both the Democrat-controlled House and
the Republican-led Senate, the result is a responsible budget that
protects taxpayers.

You may remember that prior to the start of the special session,
Governor Daniels gave a televised statewide address in which he
outlined five simple conditions he needed met in order to sign a
budget: No tax increases; at least $1 billion left in state reserves;
that legislators cut $1 for every $1 they spent beyond his proposed
budget; that one time funds be spent for one time purposes; and that
no gimmicks were used.

After weeks of grandstanding and foot dragging, House Democrats have
finally joined with legislative Republicans to ensure those conditions
were met.

This budget is good for Hoosiers for a variety of other reasons.
Foremost, when you look around the country, you’ll see most states are
looking at tax increases or massive cuts, including education. Indiana
is doing neither, and that’s a credit to our governor and our
Republican legislators. In fact, not only are we increasing education
funding, but the governor’s ‘education trigger’ has been preserved to
drive more money to our schools if revenues are better than projected.

The budget also addresses many other issues that are important to
Hoosier families, especially as far as the education of our children
is concerned. For instance, there are no caps on the growth of
charter schools; money is provided for a scholarship tax credit that
could help many low-income families send their children to non-public
schools; and for the first time ever, Indiana is exploring the
possibility of online schools that extend learning beyond the
traditional walls of the classroom. These are the kinds of reforms
that will aid Dr. Tony Bennett and his work on behalf of Hoosier kids.

None of this would have been possible without you. We know that
legislators heard your phone calls, read your letters to the editor,
and saw your support for the Republicans’ responsible budget. Thanks
for all that you do, and for supporting our party.

Sincerely,

Murray Clark
Chairman
Indiana Republican Party

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