Banner Graphic, Volume 22, Number 107, Greencastle, Putnam County, 8 January 1992 — Page 3

Bayh wants to avoid laying off

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Gov. Evan Bayh hopes that layoffs of state employees won’t have to be a part of a program to cut spending in order to close the state’s projected budget gap. At a news conference Tuesday, the Democratic governor said he plans to propose in his State of the State address on Thursday a series of economy measures to help the state make up for an anticipated $65 million drop in revenue in the current fiscal year. THOSE STEPS will include across-the-board spending reductions and other cuts that he said “will go a long way” toward also covering a projected $96 million revenue decline in the next fiscal year, which begins July 1. Layoffs of state employees could be included in the cost-cutting plan, but Bayh said he would view furloughs as a last resort. On Monday, Bayh’s budget director, Frank Sullivan, said it appears impossible to save enough money through spending cuts that don’t include layoffs. “Frankly, there are nothing but tough decisions remaining,” said Bayh. “Certainly, that (layoffs) is on the table. But I don’t want to have layoffs. I want to avoid that. We’re working to prevent that” BAYH SAID IT would be bad for the economy to add some of state government’s 36,000 workers to the unemployment lines during a recession when thousands of private sector workers have lost their jobs. “It’s something I don’t want to do because it’s not the compassionate thing to do while we’re in the recession,” he said. Bayh said he expects to an-

Bill would give schools additional funding for ’92

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Hoosier public schools could receive more than $22 million in additional state aid the next 18 months under a bill approved by an Indiana House committee. The Ways and Means Committee voted 21-1 Tuesday to send the amended version of House Bill 1201 to the full House. Before it was changed in the committee, the measure addressed only technical corrections in the administration of property tax laws. BUT WAYS AND Means Chairman B. Patrick Bauer, DSouth Bend, offered an amendment that will raise the cap on state aid to public schools $8.4 million in the current fiscal year and $13.7 million in the next fiscal year that begins July 1. The two-year budget enacted last year appropriates about $3.9 billion for tuition support for schools. Bauer said the additional money is needed because the enrollment in public schools was higher than predicted when the current budget was adopted. Much of school aid is tied to enrollment “THIS TAKES care of the additional (pupil) count,” he said. Republicans on the committee asked where Bauer proposed to get the additional money for schools at a time when the state is considering

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GOV. EVAN BAYH Prefers spending cuts nounce the final details of the costcutting plan in his speech and accompanying documents on Thursday. At that time, he said, he will announce expected economic savings from the cuts and what programs will be affected. HE ALSO MADE it clear he intends to proceed with cost-cutting administratively and not seek legislative assistance. Democrats are reluctant to reopen the state’s twoyear budget after last year’s acrimonious budget debate. However, Bayh said he would look with favor on any legislative effort that could produce more savings for the state than the administration will propose or that could help attract more federal revenue to aid state programs. Last year, the Legislature approved a two-year budget that appropriates almost $22 billion in state and federal revenue. However, since that budget was enacted, the amount of revenue the state expects to receive during the next 18 months has been revised downward as a result of the lingering recession.

spending cuts to make up for declining revenues. Bauer said he’s been assured by budget officials that sufficient money to cover the extra school commitment will become available when money that has already been, appropriated for other purposes is returned unspent. FOR EXAMPLE, he said, the state expects to have some money appropriated for Project Primetime and summer school returned. He also said it’s unclear how much extra school aid will actually be needed. Enrollment figures are still being audited, and it’s possible the enrollment increase and accompanying need for more aid might not be as great as expected. Rep. Brad Fox, R-Rome City, questioned whether H.B. 1201 had the appropriate technical language to allow Ute new school aid to be distributed to schools. Bauer said he’s confident the money can be distributed under authority in other statutes. FOX WAS ONE of several Republicans who have predicted that the shortfall in school funding could force the General Assembly to reopen last year’s budget and appropriate more money. But Bauer said Tuesday that his bill would allow reallocation of funds without writing a new budget-

Ways and Means panel approves betting theaters, charity bingo

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Horse players could place bets in off-track betting theaters and charities could reassert control over bingo games under a bill on its way to the Indiana House. The Ways and Means Committee voted 15-9 cm Tuesday to send House Bill 1050 on to the full House, where it will be eligible for amendment later this week. THE MEASURE sponsored by Ways and Means Chairman B. Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, would make major changes in the pari-mutuel law passed in 1990 and the bingo statute enacted a year later. Under H.B. 1050, the horse racing law would be rewritten to allow the operator of a track to open up to two off-track betting theaters, where wagerers could place bets on races beamed in by satellite for viewing on large screens. The bill would also allow up to two more off-track facilities

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operated by someone other than a track owner. THE MEASURE would also lower the state tax on betting receipts from the current 4 percent to 2 percent on bets taken at a track and 2.5 percent on wagers at offtrack facilities. Indiana Horse Racing Commission Chairman Michael R. Schaefer said the changes in the law are needed “to make it attractive as well as economically feasible for a developer or developers to build a horse racing facility” in Indiana. Three development groups have proposed building Indiana tracks since the pari-mutuel law took effect But so far, no tracks have been built and no races held. THE TRACK development groups spoke in favor of the legislation. However, Dick Stein of the Sagamore Park Group said his employer would like to see authorization for up to six off-track betting facilities and would also favor a 1 percent tax rate.

Without those changes, it’s unlikely a first-class race track would be built, he said. The bingo section of the measure was added as an amendment to the pari-mutuel bill. BAUER, WHO proposed the amendment, said it was necessary because the bingo law has allowed big-time operators to open bingo games and effectively drive out of business smaller games operated by charitable groups. The law was intended to benefit religious, charitable and fraternal organizations that hold the games. “It’s time the small bingo operator the (American) Legion, the Little League, the church and the parochial school be brought back into the business,” said Rep. Chester Dobis, a Merrillville Democrat and another sponsor of the amendment. UNDER BAUER’S amendment, the limit on daily prize money that could be offered by a bingo

January 8,1992 THE BANNERGRAPHIC

operator would be dropped from the current SIO,OOO to $5,000. An operator would be limited to holding only two days of bingo games a week, and there would be other provisions to discourage the hiring of professionals to conductbingo games for charities. St. Joseph County Prosecutor Michael Barnes told the committee that in many parts of the state, large - operators have practically cornered the market on bingo games. Those operators make huge profits, but only a small fraction of the money goes back to the charities that sponsor the games, he said. “LITERALLY HUNDREDS of charities that were supporting themselves with bingo games are going right down the chute,” said Barnes. Secretary of State Joseph H. Hogsett, who supported the measure, said the measure would also increase the amount of fines that could be imposed for violations of the bingo law.