Republicans vote down another Indiana teacher pay boost plan

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A Democratic proposal to immediately boost Indiana teacher pay by $100 million a year by stretching out payments to a teacher pension fund was rejected Thursday by a Republican-controlled committee.

The Indiana Senate Appropriations Committee voted 8-4 along party lines against the Democratic plan that aimed to free up money by lowering annual state payments to the same pension fund Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb used his State of the State speech this week to propose adjusting next year.

That extra $100 million then would have boosted funding for the state’s Teacher Appreciation Grant bonus program by 267% this year. Estimates released by Senate Democrats show that the average teacher bonus in northern Indiana’s Warsaw Community Schools could have increased from about $700 to nearly $1,900.

Committee members, instead, advanced a bill backed by Holcomb directing $291 million in unexpected state tax revenue to paying cash rather than borrowing money for several college campus construction projects that were part of the state budget approved in April.

Democratic Sen. Karen Tallian of Ogden Dunes argued that the state’s $2.3 billion in cash reserves are sufficient for lawmakers to take action now on boosting the state’s lagging teacher pay.

“I don’t understand why we can’t also consider some of these other desperate needs that we have,” Tallian said. “It is just wrong of us to ignore all these other things that we could correct this year.”

Holcomb proposed Tuesday making a $250 million early payment into that pension fund in 2021 to free up a projected $50 million a year by reducing needed annual state pension appropriations.

The debate over teacher pay comes after several thousand educators joined a boisterous Statehouse rally in...