INDIANAPOLIS - Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels urged a newly divided General Assembly to cooperate in moving Indiana forward, while also using his State of the State speech Tuesday night to tout initiatives that include full-day kindergarten, outsourcing the Hoosier Lottery and raising cigarette taxes to fund health programs.
Daniels focused most of his speech on his initiatives, including his proposed phase-in of statewide, full-day kindergarten. In what was clearly an olive branch offered to Democrats, he credited them with first pushing the proposal several years ago.
"It was your governors, and many of your legislators still serving, who first advanced and attempted this step," he said. "You were right."
There will be both academic and social benefits for the children, Patricia Clark, Ball State University associate professor of elementary education, said. Teachers will be able to know the children and their families better, she said.
"The only con would be if it's not done right," Clark said. "Teachers, administrators and parents need to understand that it's not first grade."
In order for all-day kindergarten to be successful, schools will need to develop programs that incorporate hands-on learning and provide professional development opportunities for teachers, Clark said.
"If you've got a good program, it's no problem keeping five and six-year-olds learning," she said.
Daniels plans to start two scholarship funds with the revenue earned from outsourcing the Hoosier Lottery to a private company.
The money would provide college scholarships for high-achieving students and attract top professors. Scholarship recipients would not have to pay back the money if they worked in Indiana for three years after graduating.
"Let's make the dreary term 'brain drain' a forgotten phrase," Daniels said.
Daniels announced his plans for the Hoosier Hope Scholarship and the World Class Scholars Fund several weeks ago, Tom Morrison, associate vice president for human resources and state relations, said.
It's too early for the university to work with either of the scholarships yet because the bills have not been formally introduced to the state legislature yet, Morrison said. The bills should be introduced by the end of the week, he said.
"We are encouraged that the governor is focusing on higher education," Morrison said. "It bodes well for [the students] and it bodes well for the institution."
Daniels said 2006 was a strong year for Indiana, partly because the state had a balanced budget after several years of deficit spending. The state is projected to take in $1.5 billion more in revenue over the next two years, and Daniels wants lawmakers to hold spending increases below that as they draft a new, two-year budget.
"As we compete about whether Indiana will be a blue state or a red state, let's agree together that Indiana will not be a red-ink state, not in 2007 or ever again," he said.
The governor renewed his call for increasing cigarette taxes, saying first that it would help reduce smoking or dissuade youth from taking up the habit. The additional revenue and newly leveraged federal money would be used in part to provide more low-income Hoosiers with health insurance. He wants at least an increase of at least 25 cents per pack, but would like it higher.
"The more you raise the cost of cigarettes, the more Hoosiers can be provided coverage," he said. "I hope you think big."
Daniels mentioned little about property taxes, which are expected to increase by double-digit percentages this year. The governor wants lawmakers to give local governments new taxing options to reduce reliance on property taxes.
In another kind gesture to House Democrats, Daniels said that while both parties wanted to provide health coverage to more Hoosiers, "those calls came earlier and more often from the loyal opposition."
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