INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (AP) – Indiana state leaders closed out the most recent budget year touting a sizable cash reserve and solid budget surplus, but advocates for the state's schools, adoptive parents and others argue that fiscal standing has been built through painful spending cuts.
The state closed out the 2014 fiscal year June 30 with $2 billion in savings and $100 million more in revenues than what it spent. But that austerity prompted a lawsuit from adoptive parents who said the state shorted them on payments for special needs children they had adopted.
Public school leaders say they are still struggling to make ends meet.
Former Gov. Mitch Daniels made the deepest cuts through the recession. But Gov. Mike Pence has held the reins tight, asking agencies to cut again this past year.
