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(INDIANAPOLIS) – Some state programs could face spending cuts to steer money to the Holcomb administration’s top priorities.

The administration will lay out a detailed budget proposal next week, but it’s already given a few hints. State budget director Jason Dudich told a conference last month the governor will propose increases for schools, the Department of Child Services, Medicaid, and state pensions and salaries, but the rest of the budget is likely to look a lot like the current one.

Legislative leaders have been warning of a tight budget, thanks to a nearly $300 million shot of cash for Child Services as caseworkers wrestle with swelling caseloads. In the past, the department has used federal grants to cover some of those expenses. And Holcomb made a one-time dip into state reserves last year to raise caseworker salaries, one of the recommendations of an independent review of the agency. He’s now proposing incorporating that money into the budget.

The DCS increase plus a projected jump in Medicaid costs means there’s not much new money for anyone else, despite predictions of continued strong economic growth. Holcomb has said he believes there’s more money than meets the eye, and Dudich says there could be spending cuts elsewhere. He says the administration is looking for programs that aren’t working or have outlived their usefulness, with an eye to redirecting that money elsewhere.

Holcomb has said he wants to maintain an 11{a951f02a8cac8e6d7fde2726b1b22da104131bed62748b49fddce88fa07005a6} surplus, about the same as what it is now.

Next week’s presentation to the House Ways and Means Committee is just the first step in a four-month journey to a final two-year spending plan, which the General Assembly will approve just before the legislative session concludes at the end of April.

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