The governor plans to present his budget proposal for the next two years to Hoosiers today.
It will be broadcast live on the Internet, television and radio at 6 p.m., according to a press release from Governor Mitch Daniels' office.
The State Legislature did not approve a budget before its regular session ended on April 29. A compromise budget passed in the Senate but was defeated in the House.
The governor must now convene a special session of the legislature to approve a budget before the previous budget runs out at the end of June. He will officially send the budget to the legislators Tuesday and is expected to call a special session of the legislature to vote on a budget in mid-June.
State Rep. Dennis Tyler, whose district includes Ball State, said he is "cautiously optimistic" about the budget. But he said he expects there to be cuts made that some may find difficult to accept.
State Senator for Delaware County Sue Errington and Tyler said they would have trouble voting for a budget that makes large cuts in education.
Errington said higher education becomes even more important during a recession when people who are unemployed seek additional training.
Tyler added that Ball State construction projects were some of the only job creation money included in the budget for Muncie. He said the project create hundreds of good jobs in the area.
But they also both said they were hopeful because the governor called education a priority when he was in Muncie on Friday.
State revenues are projected to fall by about $1 billion, according to the state budget committee. This new projection was not around when the budget was being negotiated in the regular session.
"I don't know where he's going to find a billion dollars [to cut] in that budget without getting into some issues that are extremely important to a lot of people," Tyler said.
Mike McDaniel is a lobbyist who used to represent Ball State and a former state Republican chair. He expects the governor's proposal to be less than the failed regular session budget. He said the budget would likely not contain major cuts, but also no major increases.
McDaniel said the governor wants to avoid using the state's surplus. He said maintaining the surplus would decrease the possibility of tax increases in the future. He predicts the biggest fight will be over whether to cut into that surplus.
Tyler said the state should keep its rainy day fund as an option.
Errington said she agreed. She said legislators should look at what programs are essential and then see if using the surplus is necessary to fund them.
"That is what a rainy day fund is for," she said.
Both Errington and Tyler said they hoped the legislature could compromise and find a budget that they could vote for.
If a budget is not passed by the end of June, state government will be forced to shut down. Errington said this would include state universities.
She said that scenario would be a "drastic crisis" and said she felt that it was unlikely to happen.
"We've had special sessions before and they've always gotten their work done," she said.
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