Bad weather and terrible road conditions would have kept many inside, but supporters and concerned citizens alike made their way to the Statehouse for Gov. Daniels' State of the State address Tuesday night.
The governor addressed a variety of topics, but focused on education and taxes. He urged the General Assembly to stop waiting and start doing during the 2011 session.
"We Hoosiers don't like to wait, when we can act," Daniels said.
Daniels set aside four major objectives for the General Assembly after receiving the budget later this week. He asked they consider no tax increases, keep the state out of debt, balance the budget and lastly, no gimmicks.
Sally Jo Vasicko, co-director of the Bowen Center for Public Affairs, said the governor is closer to getting what he wants on his projects than in past years.
"He's got a solid majority in the House and in the Senate and he is confident," she said. "If you watched his domineer he was very positive. He was comfortable as far as the delivery of the speech. That was one of the most confident speeches I've ever seen him give."
While higher education was not at the forefront of Gov. Daniels' speech, he addressed the possibility of help for incoming college freshmen.
"He did make an important statement about students who are able to complete their core courses and that doesn't apply to current students, but incoming students," Michael Thomas, technology chairman of the University Republicans, said.
"Anybody who is here [in college] can sympathize with a senior in high school. Them being able to spend the money they would have spent on their senior year to help defray the high cost of education is huge," said Thomas.
While the numbers are on Gov. Daniels' side to push through agenda issues concerning education, Nolan Born, president of University Democrats, sees a problem in his plan.
Last year Ball State suffered a $15 million budget cut and is proposed to cut 13.6 million in 2011.
"He briefly said that he didn't want to make schools wait until the state had cash to pay them," Born said.
"He is refusing to consider raising tax cuts for finding somewhere else to cut the budget. He wants Indiana to be a competitive state in the nation, but taking money from universities and schools is a very counterproductive way of doing that," he said.
Holly Gillham, public relations chairperson for University Republicans, said the governor's tax and education proposals are going to benefit Hoosier students in the long term.
"His ideas are solid and will provide more opportunities for students and workers across the state," Gillham said.
As for a presidential bid, University Republicans feel like Daniels is focusing on Indiana before a national run.
"I think the fact that he is waiting to make the announcement shows that right now this legislative session is his first priority," said Gillham. "First he wants to take care of the state of Indiana then he'll focus perhaps on putting the financial backings that he's brought to Indiana with the rest of the country."
Gov. Daniels could announce his presidential bid as early as April, which is the end of the state legislative assembly, according to University Republicans.
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