Protect Hoosier Taxpayers

 

Ø  Adopt a Budget with no Tax Increases

 

Ø  Support the Tax Cap Referendum

 

Ø  Meaningful Transparency in Government Budgets

ü  Establish One Comprehensive User-Friendly Website so Taxpayers can Review how their Tax Dollars are Spent at all Levels of Government

ü  Require State Agencies to provide:

§  Budget information by agency

§  Major Contracts – Duration and Expense

§  List of State-owned property

§  Employee and Elected Officials Salaries

ü  Require Local Governments, K-12 Schools and Higher Education to Provide:

§  Budgets

§  Employee and Elected Officials Salaries

§  Major Contracts – Duration and Expense

§  Debt Service

§  Revenue Sources

 

Promote Hoosier Job Creation

 

Ø  Revitalize Hard Hit Communities

ü  Enhance the Industrial Recovery Site (Dinosaur Building) Tax Credit

§  Lower the number of years the facility must have been in service, the amount of required interior square feet, the percent of facility vacant and the number of years vacant

ü  Provide Local Communities with Additional Economic Development Tools

§  Reduce the Age Limit Placed on the Property Tax Deduction for Rehabilitated Property from 50 years to 25 years

§  Streamline and Enhance the Abatement Process for Real and Personal Property

·         Allow the abatement of existing commercial/industrial real and personal property if the unit finds that the abatement is needed to retain or create jobs

·         Enhance abatement schedules to allow up to three years of 100% abatement if the business meets one of the following criteria:

o    Locates in a Dinosaur Building

o    Agrees to invest at least $10 million in the community

o    Rehabilitates and occupies property in designated downtown areas

o    Locates in a county with high unemployment

 

Ø  Increase Access to Start-up Capital

ü  Increase the amount  of Venture Capital Investment Tax Credits Available for a “Qualified Indiana Business” (QIB) from $500,000 to $1,000,000

ü  Suspend for Two-years the Application Fee Required for a Business to Become a QIB

 

Ø  Focus on Entrepreneurship and Small Business

ü  Require the Commission for Higher Education (CHE) to Survey and Develop Entrepreneurial Education Programs for all Indiana Universities

ü  Work with Ivy Tech to Develop Up-to-Date Computer Programming Courses and Expand Entrepreneurial Course Offerings at High Schools by Partnering with CHE and the Business Community

ü  Streamline the one-stop shop portal for new entrepreneurs and small businesses within the IEDC

 

Expand Education Opportunities

 

Ø  Reward Quality Teachers

ü  Allow Merit Pay for High Performing Teachers

ü  Provide Bonus Pay to Teachers Passing a Voluntary Competency Test in their Core Subject Area

ü  Allow Improvement in Student Test Scores to be One Part of a Teacher’s Overall Evaluation

ü  Address Retention of High Performing Teachers in Layoff Situations

 

Ø  Focus Education Dollars on the Classroom

ü  Continue Progress on Education Dollars Following the Child, not Funding Institutions

ü  Give Incentives to Schools to Lower the Cost of Insurance Benefits to the State Employee Cost

§  School corporations should join consortiums, trusts or the state employee health insurance pool if cost savings can be realized

§  Utilize insurers or medical management companies who provide the deepest discounts and have a proven track record on cost savings

§  Provide for the option of at least one (1) consumer driven health option (HSA or HRA).

§  Require dependent audit studies on an every 3 year cycle

§  Encourage wellness plans and on-site medical clinics when appropriate and/or cost-effective

ü  Encourage all School Corporations to Utilize Joint Purchasing Options Available through either the State Purchasing Office or their Regional Education Service Center Office

 

Ø  Expand Educational Options for Hoosier Families

ü  Protect and Expand Existing School Choice Options in Public Schools

ü  Provide Children who Attend Failing Schools Grants to Attend a School of Choice

ü  Enhance the Education Scholarship Tax Credit to Provide More Low-Income Families with School Choice Options

ü  Eliminate Caps and Statutory and Financial Barriers for Charter Schools 

ü  Remove Caps and Enhance Funding for Virtual Charter Schools and Distance Learning Opportunities

ü  Provide that Additional Entities may Serve as Authorizers and Organizers of Charter Schools

 

Stand up to Washington D.C.

 

Ø  Oppose Socialized Health Care – Options to Consider

ü  Work with Indiana’s Congressional Delegation to Repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)

ü  Opt-out of Applicable Portions of the PPACA if Congress does not Repeal

ü  Support Attorney General Greg Zoeller’s Constitutional Challenge to the PPACA

ü  Pass the Freedom in Health Care Model Legislation

ü  Hold a Public Referendum Similar to Missouri Opting-out of the Requirement that Everyone must Obtain Health Insurance or Face a Tax Penalty

 

Ø  Adopt Meaningful Immigration Reform – Options to Consider

ü  Empower State Law Enforcement Agencies to Work with Federal Authorities to Enforce Existing Federal Immigration Laws

ü  Require Officers to Make a Reasonable Attempt to Determine the Immigration Status of a Person Stopped, Detained or Arrested if there is a Reasonable Suspicion that the Person is Unlawfully Present in the U.S.

ü  Require Verification of Immigration Status of any Person Arrested Prior to Releasing that Person

ü  Require Proof of Legal Residence Prior to Receiving Public Benefits and In-State Tuition at Universities

ü  Establish a Civil Offense, Enforceable by the Department of Labor, for an Employer who Knowingly and Intentionally Hires an Undocumented Worker

§  Employer must knowingly and intentionally hire the individual without proper documentation

§  Maximum penalty of $1,000 for the first offense

§  Allow immunity if the employer uses E-Verify

ü  Encourage our Congressional Delegation to Secure our Borders

 

Ø  Oppose Cap and Trade Legislation

 

Ø  Discourage Out-of-Control Federal Spending