Pence Turns To Public For Tax Cut Support After Republican Lawmakers Turn Their Backs On Him

Gov. Mike Pence is learning the hard way that having super majorities in the Indiana General Assembly doesn't mean a whole lot when most of the Republicans in the legislature are RINOs. Pence is now having to appeal to the public to support his proposed 10% cut in state income taxes after Republican lawmakers pretty much told him to buzz off. They say they have more pressing priorities than helping ordinary taxpayers, like raising income taxes to finance a multi-billion dollar boondoggle of a mass transit plan for Central Indiana and giving $100 million to the Hulman family to spend on their race track in consideration for the campaign contributions and free tickets being put in their pockets. The South Bend Tribune reports on Pence's plea on behalf of taxpayers:

His desire to trim Indiana's income tax rate from 3.4 percent to 3.06 percent -- a 10 percent drop -- figured prominently in his message.

"I'm someone that believes government should collect only what it needs," he said. "And when government collects more than it needs, I think it should return that to the hard-working taxpayers who earned it in the first place." 

Pence said the tax relief would help Indiana residents and small-business owners at a time when federal tax rates have risen.

"When you lower the personal income tax rate, it's also the best way to lower taxes on job creators," he said.

"Most statistics show that more than 90 percent of business enterprises in the state of Indiana don't file their taxes under the corporate tax rate; they file their taxes under the personal income tax rate," he continued. "If you want to lower taxes on job creators, lower the personal income tax rate so small businesses can hire more employees and purchase new equipment and grow."

Pence said the tax cut would also make Indiana "the lowest-tax state in the Midwest," according to the Tax Foundation.

"We might just have to put that on all the billboards facing out," he said.

It hasn't been easy, however, for the new governor to sell his tax plan to the General Assembly, even though Republicans hold large majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. 

Neither the House nor the Senate has advanced budget proposals that include the tax cut during this year's legislative session.

The Tribune notes that Indiana is currently running a more than $2 billion surplus. Pence's tax cut would reduce annual revenues by about $500 million a year.