State spending, Pence's style: His policies to leave mark on new budget

But the work preparing it has already started behind the scenes. And this time, it will have a distinct new style.

“You’re going to see a deeper stamp of (Gov. Mike Pence’s) administration on this budget,” State Budget Director Brian Bailey said.

In 2013, former Gov. Mitch Daniels’ staff had done the heavy lifting putting together a budget, and Pence had been in office only two days when it was presented to legislators.

Indiana law requires the General Assembly to pass a budget every two years. The current $30 billion budget covers a period that ends in June. Meanwhile, the state is sitting on a $2 billion surplus, or savings account.

But the situation isn’t all rosy. Tax collections for the fiscal year that just ended were below collections for the same time period the year before, and the first two months of this fiscal year haven’t met projections.