Press Release

STATEHOUSE— In a rare joint announcement, House Speaker Brian Bosma (R-Indianapolis) along with Senate President Pro Tempore David Long (R-Fort Wayne) and Governor Mitch Daniels announced their support for an additional $150 million investment in K-12 education emphasizing early learning opportunities for Hoosier students.

“Our first priority was budget integrity and adopting a responsible budget without increasing taxes on Hoosier families. Investing in K-12 education, especially early education opportunities have always been our caucus’ next most important goal.  I am pleased that we are able to direct $150 million into education including the extension of full-day kindergarten to every five-year-old in the state” said Speaker Bosma.

The announcement came prior to the Revenue Forecast Technical Committee meeting. The updated revenue forecast predicts that the state will receive more than what was projected under prior forecasts.  The increased revenues in addition to prudent reserve balances prove that the disciplined financial efforts by Republicans in the General Assembly and the Governor are paying off for the State of Indiana.

The recession brought Indiana’s economy to a screeching halt. The state’s budget was cut in order to live within the state’s means without raising taxes. Education makes-up over 50 percent of the state’s budget, and a portion of K-12 education was cut in 2009 due to fiscal revenue being severely low.

While Indiana carefully begins to increase funding for education, many other states across the nation have had to continue to make dramatic cuts to education funding. In Ohio, South Dakota, Florida and Pennsylvania, K-12 education was cut by 10 percent.

Even though $150 million dollar increase is not fully restoring the cuts that were made, due to the unknown financial climate the Speaker stated there is still a need to be prudent. Education is the only area in the state budget that will now show an increase in funding.  About a quarter of the $150 million will be used to complete the extension of full day kindergarten to every school district in the state. A smaller fund will go towards a “teacher excellence” fund which will reward teachers through pay based on performance, not seniority.

“Our Caucus’ core value continues to be fiscal integrity. Because of that primary goal we are able to forward our commitment to K-12 education and put an emphasis on early education,” said Speaker Bosma.

Rep. Burton sponsors bill to protect employee’s rights

State Rep. Woody Burton’s (R-Whiteland) legislation to help protect employees’ rights to carry a firearm, to and from their place of employment passed out of the House today with a 80-17 vote.

Last session, the General Assembly passed legislation to enable employees to carry a firearm in order to protect themselves while traveling to and from work. As a condition of that law, the firearm had to be legally obtained, the employee had to have a permit and the firearm had to be locked in the employee’s vehicle.

The legislation did exempt some facilities, including certain schools and government buildings.

However, since its passage, lawmakers have been contacted by constituents, detailing complaints that public and private companies were requiring employees to disclose information about whether the employee owns, possesses, uses or transports a firearm to and from their place of business.

In addition, under a condition of employment, the employee must forgo his or her lawful ownership, possession, storage, transportation or use of the firearm.

As a result, Senate Bill 411 was filed to enable an employee the right to take civil action against a public or private employer.

“We passed legislation last year to help protect Hoosiers’ right to bear arms when traveling to and from their work,” said Rep. Burton, a sponsor of the legislation. “Now, we are hearing stories about employers trying to revoke that right, something I strongly disagree with.”

“If the firearm is legally obtained by someone who has a legal permit, they should be able to carry that firearm in order to protect themselves. They shouldn’t have to leave it at home because their employment doesn’t agree with our gun laws. Nor should they have to agree to leave it at home as an agreement upon employment.”

If signed by the governor, the bill will take effect July 1, 2011.

STATEHOUSE — Rep. Woody Burton (R- Greenwood) voted to support House Bill (HB) 1003, which passed out of the House Wednesday evening. HB 1003 was authored by Rep. Bob Behning (R-Indianapolis) and co-authored by House Speaker Brian Bosma (R-Indianapolis).

“I support this bill because it gives Hoosier families and students a choice in their educational decisions,” said Rep. Burton. “We have focused on a comprehensive educational reform package and HB 1003 is a major component in our quest to providing the best educational opportunities in this state.”

The following are highlights included in HB 1003:

• Creates school choice scholarships for low income families to attend a quality school of choice, either a public or private school;

• Focuses eligibility on lower income families;

• Families at or below the income threshold for the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch program of approximately $40,000 for a family of four can receive 90 percent of their per student home school corporation state tuition support;

• Families with incomes of approximately $60,000 for a family of four can receive 50 percent of the state tuition support amount per student. However, $4,500 is the maximum a student in grades 1-8 may receive;

• Requires students to have attended a public school for at least two semesters, excluding kindergarten, to be eligible;

• Requires eligible schools to be accredited by the Indiana State Board of Education; a national or regional accreditation agency recognized by the state board; must fall under the state’s accountability standards; and administer the statewide ISTEP test;

• Requires schools to hold a public hearing and conduct a random drawing, if it has more choice scholarship applicants than available seats; and

• Caps student participation at 7,500 for the 2011-2012 school year and 15,000 for the 2012-2013 school year.

“This bill allows low and middle income families more options when it comes to their children’s education,” said Rep. Burton. “The essence of this bill is about quality choices in education.”

HB 1003 now moves to the Senate for further consideration.

STATEHOUSE—State Rep. Woody Burton (R-Whiteland) supported legislation today that dealt with physician requirements for abortions and various other abortion matters. House Bill 1210 passed with a 72-23 vote.

The bill would allow an abortion to be performed after the first trimester, but before the earlier of viability of the fetus or 20 weeks of post-fertilization age of the fetus. The bill would require physicians to determine the post-fertilization age of a fetus before performing an abortion.

A physician who performs an abortion would be required to have admitting privileges at a hospital in the county, or in a contiguous county to the county, where the abortion is performed. The physician would be required to notify the patient of the hospital location where the patient can receive follow-up care by the physician.

The physicians would also be required to inform the patient orally and in writing before the abortion can be performed concerning the risks involved, information concerning the fetus, available assistance and existing law. Currently, Indiana law only requires the information be given orally.

“If a woman chooses to get an abortion, they need to be well-informed of the risks,” said Rep. Burton. “They should also be fully aware of available assistance and existing law. Before it was only necessary that they be informed verbally and we wanted to ensure they were informed both verbally and in writing.

“It also requires a woman seeking an abortion to view the fetal ultrasound imaging unless she states, in writing, that she does not want to view the fetal ultrasound imaging.”

In addition, the bill would prohibit qualified health plans under the federal health care reform law from providing coverage for the abortion.

House Bill 1210 will now head to the Senate for further consideration.

STATEHOUSE—State Rep. Woody Burton (R-Whiteland) was floored on Tuesday when he received a more than 50-page document, outlining 349 amendments filed by House Democrats to make changes the state budget bill.

House Republicans filed 12 amendments; House Democrats filed 337 amendments.

“According to the Legislative Service Agency, a non-partisan agency that works with all legislators, this was the biggest amount of amendments filed under a single bill,” Rep. Burton said.

“They have continuously stated our agenda was too radical and that we were ‘hurting the middleclass.’ However, their amendments would have raised taxes on the middle class by spending more than half a billion dollars in state expenses.”

Two issues that were addressed during the budget discussion yesterday included the state’s CHOICE program and the Access Johnson County Public Transit system.

The Community and Home Options to Institutional Care for the Elderly and disabled program or CHOICE, enables residents who don’t qualify for Medicaid to receive in-home care instead of nursing home care. In addition, the Access Johnson County Public Transit provides the necessary resources for transportation needs to Johnson County residents.

“CHOICE and Access Public Transit are programs I personally hold very dear and it pained me to have to vote against amendments that would have provided them with additional funding. But Indiana’s current revenue intake isn’t where it needs to be in order to give what we wish or want.

“Although we are rushing to make deadlines, we are still in the early stages of the budget-writing process. As that process progresses, I pledge to try to give every advantage to our community and ensure the process is fair and balanced for our state.”