Two Democratic Indiana legislators are calling for an independent audit into why $320 million in tax revenue was not moved into the general fund once it was collected.Sen. John Broden and Rep. Scott Pelath say they will ask the State Budget Committee to approve the audit when it meets next week.Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels announced Tuesday that the corporate income taxes accumulated because of a nearly five year old software programming mistake, but the money continued to draw interest for the state.Daniels downplayed the error during a press conference replete with Monopoly props and a miniature Christmas tree."This was sort of laughed off as a happy accident, and, you know, a fun thing to find," Pelath said in a conference call today. "It’s a part of that initial reaction and part of that prevailing attitude that has sort of driven us to call for this investigation."Some Democrats says they're furious because the money accumulated at a time when the state was undergoing budget cuts.Daniels says about half of the funds were collected during this calendar year and are a fraction of the state’s $14 billion budget.(Information for this story came from the Associated Press)
Rick Howlett was midday host and the host of LPM's weekly talk show, "In Conversation." He was with LPM from 2001-2023 and held many different titles, including Morning Edition host, Assignment Editor and Interim News Director. He died in August 2023. Read a remembrance of Rick here.
