State lawmakers approve new budget INDIANAPOLIS, IN (wbaa) - State lawmakers have avoided a government shutdown by approving a new two-year state budget.

Governor Mitch Daniels signed the roughly 28-billion-dollar spending plan into law just after eight o'clock last night, about four hours before the scheduled end of the special session.

House Republicans, who voted en masse against a budget at the end of the regular session, voted solidly for this one.

Fourteen House Democrats including Lafayette-area lawmaker Sheila Klinker-- joined Republicans to push the bill through on a 62-36 vote.

Klinker says she voted in favor of the spending plan, despite believing that areas such as K-through-12 education and the arts deserve more money.

The governor says the budget "has its defects" but meets his main requirement: controlling spending enough to leave a billion-dollar surplus.
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