Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels is one of the country’s most fiscally successful governors:
“Many states and some localities are never ever going to be able to honor obligations they made,” Daniels said. “That will never be the case in Indiana.”
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On June 30, the state closed the books on Fiscal Year 2012 with nearly $2.16 billion in the bank, which is roughly 15 percent of the state’s budget. That made $360 million available for pensions and $360 million available for taxpayer refunds.
The contrast with Connecticut is stark. Daniels passed only minimal tax increases to achieve these remarkable results.