How Gov. Pence fared on 4 key agenda items

INDIANAPOLIS – Lawmakers handed Gov. Mike Pence wins on nearly every piece of his legislative agenda during the 2015 session that ended April 29.

It was almost a sweep. And even some legislators seemed surprised by how well the Republican governor – who just weeks ago seemed crippled by a furor over a religious freedom bill – finished.

Gov. Mike Pence said he's pleased with the work of the Indiana General Assembly but hasn't decided whether he'll sign a gambling bill into law. Photo by Lesley Weidenbener, TheStatehouseFile.com

Gov. Mike Pence said he’s pleased with the work of the Indiana General Assembly but hasn’t decided whether he’ll sign a gambling bill into law. Photo by Lesley Weidenbener, TheStatehouseFile.com

“We had some pretty serious meetings in the governor’s office,” said Senate Appropriations Chairman Luke Kenley, a co-writer of the state budget. “He certainly pushed his agenda and stayed on message.

“He probably accomplished more than we thought he’d accomplish in terms of getting that agenda.”

House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, said that’s in part because the governor’s agenda nicely dovetailed with GOP legislative priorities. Plus, Bosma said, “We want to work with our governors.”

But Bosma acknowledged – when asked – that Republican lawmakers also wanted to throw the governor a bone after the religious freedom battle left him in the doghouse.

Here’s how four issues on the governor’s agenda fared:

  1. Regional cities
House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, said the governor's and the House GOP's agendas were similar. Photo by Lesley Weidenbener, TheStatehouseFile.com

House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, said the governor’s and the House GOP’s agendas were similar. Photo by Lesley Weidenbener, TheStatehouseFile.com

Lawmakers were initially skeptical about this Pence initiative, which is designed to boost the economies and quality of living in metro areas throughout the state. The governor sought $84 million for the program but lawmakers cut it to less than a third that much.

At the last minute, though, fiscal leaders agreed to dedicate $84 million from a tax amnesty program to fully fund it for two years. That’s money some lawmakers originally hoped to use to pay off a federal loan the state took during the last economic downturn to make payments to unemployed workers.

Bosma said lawmakers opted to pay for the governor’s program instead to give it a “two-year shot.”

“The more we heard about the program, the more comfortable we became with it,” he said.

  1. Balanced budget amendment
Senate President Pro Tem David Long, R-Fort Wayne, said changes made to the structure of the State Board of Education will give lawmakers a say in their dealings. Photo by Lesley Weidenbener, TheStatehouseFile.com

Senate President Pro Tem David Long, R-Fort Wayne, told reporters that changes made to the structure of the State Board of Education will give lawmakers a say in their dealings. Photo by Lesley Weidenbener, TheStatehouseFile.com

When Pence announced in his State of the State address that he wanted to amend the Indiana Constitution to require balanced budgets and keep the General Assembly in check, lawmakers generally scoffed. After all, fiscal leaders said, they’d done a pretty good job managing the state’s finances without a constitutional restriction in place.

Still, the proposal passed the House and Senate easily. The governor called it a “historic step to enshrine fiscal discipline in our state’s political charter.”

The measure must be approved again in 2017 or 2018 to go on the ballot for ratification.

  1. Increased funding for charter schools
Gov. Mike Pence displayed a poster that checks off the items on his agenda that the General Assembly acted on. He gave himself a check mark on every item but, in some cases, the legislature didn't give Pence quite what he wanted. Photo by Lesley Weidenbener, TheStatehouseFile.com

Gov. Mike Pence displayed a poster that checks off the items on his agenda that the General Assembly acted on. He gave himself a check mark on every item but, in some cases, the legislature didn’t give Pence quite what he wanted. Photo by Lesley Weidenbener, TheStatehouseFile.com

Pence proposed to give every charter school a $1,500-per-child grant to make up for what he calls an inequity in school funding. Charters – which are public schools that generally operate outside traditional districts and freed from some state rules – don’t receive property taxes like traditional schools to pay for transportation and capital projects.

Republican leaders support giving more to charters but they balked at Pence’s initial budget, which allocated roughly a quarter of all new education spending to the schools. In the end, though, they did give charters some new money – about $500 per student – assuming the school has a grade of A, B or C or can prove it’s doing as well as or better than other schools in the area.

The legislature also authorized $50 million from a reserve account to be used to make construction loans to charters.

Long said the additional funding is necessary to attract “a higher quality operator for our charter schools.”

  1. Reorganizing education board leadership

This was Pence’s one big loss – and it was a surprise.

Pence said he wanted to give the State Board of Education the authority to elect its own chair, a move that essentially ousted state Superintendent Glenda Ritz, a Democrat, from the post. Pence argued that dysfunction between Ritz and the board made the change a necessity immediately.

The House and Senate initially approved that idea in separate bills. But in the session’s waning days, lawmakers pushed back the implementation of the change so the superintendent will remain chair until after the next election.

Still, the Republican majority took other steps to move more authority to the state board and away from Ritz – steps Pence supported.

Senate Minority Leader Tim Lanane, D-Anderson, said that’s inappropriate.

“Republicans wrestling control from Superintendent Glenda Ritz – the only statewide elected Democrat – is exactly what it looks like,” he said. “Revenge politics.”

At left, House Minority Leader Scott Pelath, D-Michigan City, and Senate Minority Leader Tim Lanane, D-Anderson, said Thursday that the Republican majority did nothing in the 2015 session to promote job growth. Photo by Lesley Weidenbener, TheStatehouseFile.com

At left, House Minority Leader Scott Pelath, D-Michigan City, and Senate Minority Leader Tim Lanane, D-Anderson, said Thursday that the Republican majority did nothing in the 2015 session to promote job growth. Photo by Lesley Weidenbener, TheStatehouseFile.com

Article writer Lesley Weidenbener is executive editor of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.