Press release from Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels office:
Governor outlines 2011 legislative priorities
(INDIANAPOLIS, November 4, 2010) – Governor Mitch Daniels said today that a balanced budget, K-12 education, local government reform and a fair redistricting plan are among his top priorities for 2011.
“I want to present to the citizens of our state the outlines of a very ambitious agenda for more positive change in Indiana,” said Daniels. “It’s a big set of assignments and we are really excited about the chance for Indiana to surge forward on all of these fronts.”
The governor said over the next several weeks specifics of the agenda will be further developed. Daniels has already begun to meet with legislators from both parties to jumpstart discussions about these ideas.
Here are the governor’s legislative priorities:
Protect taxpayers
- Pass a balanced budget without a general tax increase
- Enact a straightforward state government spending cap in the form of an automatic taxpayer refund
Put students first and strengthen local flexibility
- Evaluate teachers on student learning so we can pay our best teachers more
- Hold schools accountable for student learning while giving them the flexibility to deliver better results under local control
- Provide more quality options so parents can make informed decisions
Reward and protect our best state employees
- Protect the paycheck of every state employee by prohibiting mandatory dues payments
- Require annual state employee performance reviews so we can identify the best performers
- Update and streamline the state employee classification system so we can pay our best performers more
Improve transparency and efficiency of local government
- Eliminate nepotism and conflict of interest in local government
- Abolish township boards and other outdated layers of government
Broaden public-private partnerships (P3) for public infrastructure
- Free state government to enlist the private sector as a partner in building new roads, bridges, and other infrastructure
Develop a fair redistricting plan
- Redraw Indiana’s political districts on the basis of logical geographic and community boundaries
Tackle the imbalance in the unemployment insurance trust fund
- Pass a bill that brings premiums and benefits in balance
Address issues in Indiana’s sentencing laws
- Develop a comprehensive sentencing reform package that incarcerates all dangerous criminals while managing non-dangerous offenders in more cost-effective ways
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