INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Voters will decide whether the Indiana Constitution will be amended to obligate the General Assembly to adopt balanced budgets unless two-thirds of both chambers vote to suspend the requirement.
The issue goes before voters in the Nov. 6 election after it cleared two separate General Assemblies. It was proposed by Vice President Mike Pence when he was Indiana’s governor in his 2015 State of the State address.
Republican Rep. Todd Huston of Fishers sponsored the resolution in the Indiana House. He says the amendment should be approved because it “limits the amount of gimmicks that can be played” with the state budget, such as not funding pension responsibilities and bonding responsibilities.
Democratic state Sen. Karen Tallian of Portage opposes it because Indiana already has a constitutional provision saying the state can’t go into debt.