If those with a stake in Indiana's budget thought the first House and Senate versions were slim, just wait. Now, instead of setting eyes on preserving slight increases, everyone is holding their breath and hoping to break even.
Budget cuts are inevitable when money falls off.
The General Assembly should concentrate on trimming rather than coming up with new ways to tax. That said, in what promises to be trying days ahead, the General Assembly needs to set priorities and stick to them. Each chamber has been fairly stingy. But the House has been the most generous of the two, giving modest increases to school corporations and to higher education, including Purdue. At the same time, school corporations should be taking the vise to their own books and expectations for what should be a lean two-year budget.