Dear Editors of Current in Carmel and Fishers:
As President and CEO of the Indiana Manufacturers Association, I want to express our appreciation for the pro-manufacturing legislation supported by your state senator, Luke Kenley (R-Noblesville), during this most recent session of the Indiana General Assembly. Specifically, Sen. Kenley served as primary sponsor of House Enrolled Act 1001-2013, Biennial Budget.
There are five key provisions in the $30-billion state budget most helpful to manufacturers:
- The retroactive repeal of the state inheritance tax will save taxpayers about $180 million during the next two years.
- The phased-in reduction of the individual adjusted gross income tax rate from 3.4 percent to 3.23 percent will benefit manufacturers organized as pass-through entities.
- The recoupling to many provisions of the Internal Revenue Code and elimination of various “add-backs” under the state individual income tax and corporate income tax is good policy and, hopefully, a first step in easing the tax preparation burden while providing additional tax relief.
- The budget requires 100 percent of the excess reserves in calendar year 2013 to be transferred to the Pension Stabilization Fund to pay down our unpaid obligations.
- The state will maintain a structural surplus each year and a total combined reserve balance of about $1.8 billion providing a sufficient buffer in case of another economic downturn.
Indiana has the highest share of manufacturing as a percentage of private industry Gross State Product in the U.S. (29.7%), and the highest percentage of the workforce employed in manufacturing (16.4%). Therefore, legislation that is good for Hoosier manufacturers benefits the overall Indiana economy.
We commend Sen. Kenley for his leadership and support of pro-manufacturing legislation.
Sincerely,
Patrick J. Kiely
President & Chief Executive Officer