State Senate Approves Budget, Tax Restructuring

The Senate has approved a two-year budget proposal that would steer more money to education and a bill that would overhaul Indiana's property tax system. The budget would spend 26-point-three billion dollars and provide more money to universities, prisons and Medicaid while capping overall spending increases at a maximum of 4 percent each year. The property tax restructuring bill would have the state would assume all public school operating costs and mostly eliminate state subsidies of local property taxes. It would allow counties to increase local income taxes. Both bills now head to joint House-Senate conference committees.