Jim Banks (Taxpayer Friendly)

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Address: 238 S. Eagle Glen Trail, Columbia City, IN 46725
Phone: (260) 248-8406, (260) 579-5828
E-mail: S17@in.gov 
Website: http://www.in.gov/legislative/senate_republicans/homepages/s17/index.htm; http://jimbanks.us/  

2013 General Assembly Voting Record
Voted YES on House Bill 1001, which is Taxpayer Friendly because the 2013-15 state budget makes better use of the existing state Gasoline Tax and state Sales Tax revenues from gasoline purchases with NO NEW TRANSPORTATION TAX INCREASES to increase transportation funding for INDOT by 11%, cities and towns by 34%, and counties by 23%.
Voted YES on House Bill 1011, which is Taxpayer Friendly because construction of a costly light rail transportation system cannot be approved by a new central Indiana transit district before March 14, 2014.
Voted YES on House Bill 1313, which is Taxpayer Friendly because it (1) supports the establishment of a 2013 interim committee to study local government regulation of  residential leases and (2) prohibits a local government from adopting regulations for landlord licensing, mandatory landlord classes, and rental inspection and registration fees until July 1, 2014.
Voted YES on Senate Bill 319, which is Taxpayer Friendly because it prevents a significant shift of the property tax burden to farm working families by (1) using the current soil productivity factors until 2015 and (2) requiring the Department of Local Government Finance to confer with the College of Agriculture of Purdue University and submit a 2013 interim study committee report on soil productivity factors.
Voted NO on Senate Bill 389, which was Taxpayer UNfriendly because it created the possibility for a minority of county income tax council members representing a minority of the county population to impose a county-wide motor vehicle excise surtax and wheel tax. 

2012 General Assembly Voting Record
Voted YES on House Bill 1003, which is Taxpayer Friendly because (1) public access to government meetings and records is improved and (2) it is less likely that public agencies will intentionally violate the Public Access Laws.
DID NOT VOTE on House Bill 1005, which contains six Taxpayer Friendly local government Conflict Of Interest provisions and sixteen Taxpayer Friendly local government Nepotism provisions.
Voted NO on House Bill 1376, which is Taxpayer UNfriendly because (1) the automatic taxpayer refund excess reserves trigger is increased from 10% to 12.5% and (2) Hoosier working families will possibly receive an automatic taxpayer refund every even-numbered year instead of every year.
Voted YES on Senate Bill 25, which was Taxpayer Friendly because (if it had passed the House) much improved oversight would have been provided for redevelopment commissions and departments.

2011 General Assembly Voting Record
Voted YES on House Bill 1001, which includes among its 16 Taxpayer Friendly state budget provisions no tax increases and an operating surplus in both the 2012 and 2013 fiscal years with a satisfactory reserve balance on June 30, 2013.
Voted YES on House Bill 1002, which is Taxpayer Friendly because (1) charter schools have the potential to help increase the academic growth of lower socioeconomic students, (2) the number of Indiana nonprofit private colleges and universities authorized to create charter schools is limited, (3) the Indianapolis mayor is the only Indiana mayor who may authorize charter schools, (4) conversion from a public school to a charter school is sufficiently stringent, and (5) property taxes are NOT improperly used to support charter schools.
Voted YES on House Bill 1003, which uses state K-12 tuition support money to fund scholarships for nonpublic school students and is Taxpayer UNfriendly because (1) nonpublic private and parochial schools are not equally open to all children, (2) nonpublic school budgets are not approved by a directly elected public body, (3) evidence-based research does not support greater school choice as a means to achieve overall educational improvement, (4) it is very likely unconstitutional, and (5) state tuition support dollars would go to nonpublic schools that are not uniformly distributed throughout the state.
Voted YES on House Bill 1022, which would have implemented a number of Taxpayer Friendly local government provisions related to nepotism and officeholder conflict-of-interest.
Voted NO on House Bill 1074, which provides that school board members selected by election must be elected at November general elections and is Taxpayer Friendly because the greater voter turnout in general elections will make it more difficult for local vested interests to unduly influence school board elections.

Watchdog Indiana Candidate Questions - May 4, 2010, Primary Election
1. QUESTION: Do you support or oppose the Constitutional Amendment on the November 2, 2010, statewide ballot? ANSWER: HAS NOT RESPONDED. POSITION (from Website): I will support efforts to stop the alarming growth of government through property tax caps and other restrictions on government spending.
2. QUESTION: How should the 2012-2013 state budget be balanced? ANSWER: HAS NOT RESPONDED. POSITION (from Website): I will vote against wasteful government spending in the state budget just as I have done on the Whitley County Council. I will vote to direct more of our tax dollars to the classroom and less toward administration in public schools. I signed the Americans for Tax Reform's Taxpayer Protection Pledge on February 1, 2010, promising to never support tax increases if I am elected to the Indiana General Assembly. 
3. QUESTION: Do you pledge to maintain both the Homestead Standard Deduction and the Homestead Supplemental Deduction without ANY change? ANSWER: HAS NOT RESPONDED.
4. QUESTION: Do you support changing the Indiana Code so approval of the General Assembly is required before I-69 becomes a toll road between I-64 and Martinsville? ANSWER: HAS NOT RESPONDED.
5. QUESTION: Do you wish to make some additional comments about your candidacy? ANSWER: HAS NOT RESPONDED.

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This page was last updated on 04/29/13.