Down party lines, the House voted 53-44 Sunday to approve Indiana's two-year budget. The Senate voted 31-18 on the $21- billion budget.

But at least one representative is hoping Gov. Frank O'Bannon vetoes the budget.

Monday, State Rep. Bill Ruppel (R, District 22, North Manchester) said he is hoping the governor will veto the budget.

"The new budget was passed. I voted 'no' on the budget," Ruppel said. "Basically, there was only 53 votes from the House for the budget and they were all Democrats. It went straight party lines."

State Senator Robert Meeks (R, District 13, LaGrange) said, "I voted 'yes' because ... I worked the last four months to put this together."

State Rep. David Wolkins (R, District 18, Winona Lake) did not vote on the budget. He said if the budget came up at the last minute, a group of representatives agreed not to vote on it because they wanted time to review it, but Wolkins was about the only one who didn't vote.

Wolkins said he would have voted "no" on the budget. "It spends every dime we've got. There's no cuts. It spends more than we take in; it's a deficit budget."

At least one error in the budget has already been found and Wolkins said he expects more will be found and will have to be dealt with in June on technical corrections day.

"I can almost be sure we'll be back June 12" to correct it, said Wolkins.

The new budget, Ruppel said, will require $1.25 billion to $1.5 billion more than Indiana will take in on projected revenues. "That is including a tax hike on businesses, farmers and the working people," said Ruppel.

Meeks disagreed with Ruppel. Meeks said Indiana still expects to collect more than $1.2 billion over the next year. If Indiana experiences an economic upswing, the state will be OK. If the economy slides, there may be some problems.

"Right now, we spend everything we take in," said Meeks. Democrats have control of the House and the governor's office, he said, as well as the House Ways and Means Committee. Republicans control the Senate.

As for school funding, Ruppel said Wawasee and Warsaw school corporations will be helped, but not Tippecanoe Valley.

"Tippecanoe gets hit pretty hard and they're going to have to increase their property taxes," said Ruppel, if they want or need additional funds.

Basic funding for schools increases by an average of 3.5 percent in each of the next two years under the approved budget, with every school district receiving at least 2 percent more, according to Meeks. Approximately $515 million was dedicated to K-12 education.

"It is important to note that we supported education in the Senate," said Meeks, "and always have."

But Ruppel said that in the next fiscal year, Tippecanoe Valley will actually receive 0 percent more and less than 1 percent the following year.

"They really got hurt," Ruppel said of Tippecanoe Valley.

"That's probably so," said Meeks. He said the state took some money back from school corporations, approximately 120 of them, if they had dual enrollment.

Dual enrollment means schools enroll private or parochial students for part of the school day and include those students in their enrollment figures.

Those figures help determine the level of state funding.

"Those school corporations that elected to do that, we took money from them," Meeks said.

Regarding school funding, Wolkins said, "They did as well as they could."

Along with Tippecanoe Valley, Wolkins said Whitko School Corp. also will be hurt.

More than $400 million in delayed payments to schools and universities - a bookkeeping tactic that pushes those costs into the next budget cycle - also will be used.

The personal property tax credit of $12,500 that was given in 1999 was repealed.

"It was absolutely repealed," said Wolkins.

According to an Associated Press story, legislators agreed to change the personal property tax exemption to an income tax credit, which delays the benefit for six months. But the new budget repeals the existing credit for 2002. The change takes the $750 to $1,000 some farmers and small businesses saved annually since 1999 and gives it back to the state - a tax increase of more than $300 million.

In two years, when the legislators begin planning the 2004 budget, Ruppel said, $712 million will already be owed because of the approved budget. "We're going to be that far behind," he said.

O'Bannon also is allowed to dip into the Rainy Day Fund if needed under the new budget. And he can do so without legislator approval.

"In other words, he can draw it down to zero," leaving no surplus, Ruppel said. By state law, Ruppel said, the state must have a surplus.

Meeks said, "What's wrong with that?" He said the intent of the Rainy Day Fund was to have money available during economic downturn in the state so taxes would not have to be raised. The state, and the governor, will need to practice fiscal restraint so they don't use the entire Rainy Day Fund, Meeks said.

Under the approved budget it will take four years to replace the Rainy Day fund, if all else is frozen and there's no growth in the budget, Ruppel said. "The state," he said, "is in bad shape."

Wolkins said allowing the governor to spend the Rainy Day Funds down to nothing "is just unprecedented."

Ruppel also said, "I think (the budget) is showing the leadership has been spending more than it's been taking in." It shows the state has poor leadership and couldn't care less about farmers, he said.

Anyone concerned about the budget, Ruppel said, should contact the governor and tell him to cut the spending and not to let the state spend more than it takes in.

"Right now," Ruppel said, "if they have concerns, we've got to get on the governor."

Ruppel himself is sending the governor a letter.

Under the budget, the state is assisting several corporations.

Cummins Diesel, Columbus, which made more than $500 million in profit last year, will get a $35 million loan from the state - to create jobs in New York to develop engines with fewer emissions, according to Ruppel.

"They're not worried about our steel mills in Gary or the little companies," said Ruppel. He said he tried to get a $2 million loan for a Tippecanoe company that would possibly have provided jobs for people in the Mentone area, but that never got approved.

Meeks said the $35 million is not a loan. He said it's a guarantee so Cummins has collateral when they get their loan from banks. The money actually will come out of a Public Deposit Insurance Fund (Indiana Code 5-13-12) if for any reason Cummins goes bankrupt and cannot repay their loan to the banks.

The PDI Fund has almost $300 million in it and was started in 1967 by Indiana banks.

Meeks said New York will benefit from the guarantee, but by doing so, Cummins committed to keeping their corporate headquarters in Columbus, and guaranteed to keep some of their engine line in Columbus. Their 6,500 Columbus employees also will retain their jobs.

Cummins is one of a handful of Fortune 500 companies in Indiana, Meeks said, and "we think we have an obligation."

Wolkins said, "I always have been for helping businesses and companies, but the way this was done, it just doesn't smell right."

He said a majority of the money is going to be spent on a factory in New York and the way it was approved "absolutely amazes me," Wolkins said.

Other industries in Indiana have had losses, Wolkins said, but "what was so important about this one? We've lost jobs elsewhere."

Of the overall budget, Meeks said, "I think it's a good budget." He said the demands on the state government continue to grow and it's very difficult to put a budget together. [[In-content Ad]]