INDIANAPOLIS -- Moving most of Indiana to daylight-saving time in the Central time zone and providing more tax breaks for growing businesses will jump-start Indiana's economy, gubernatorial candidate Mitch Daniels said Monday.
The Republican also is calling for elimination of the sales tax on purchases that businesses make for research and development.
Those proposals could cost millions of dollars, but Daniels said they would spur new development and help Indiana's economy, which would then pump money back to the government.
Indiana's current economic development policy is allowing jobs to disappear and has not helped new companies flourish, he said.
''We have played lousy defense and have no offense,'' Daniels said.
Moving as much of the state as possible to Central time and daylight-saving time would reduce confusion both within Indiana and for out-of-state companies wanting to do business here. Switching to Central time would mean the least amount of change for the most residents, he said.
Currently, 82 Indiana counties are in the Eastern time zone, but 77 of them do not observe daylight-saving time. Some southeast counties are in the Eastern time zone with daylight-saving time, while some northwest and southwest counties are in the Central time zone with daylight-saving time.
''It's just another factor dividing us,'' Daniels said.
Daniels also wants a sales tax exemption for research and development purchases. Currently, businesses don't have to pay sales tax on manufacturing equipment, but items used for research and development are not exempt.
That proposal could cost around $20 million to $30 million, Daniels said, but would help businesses grow and would be have a positive return over time.
Daniels' economic plan contains other proposals. One would allow expanding businesses and new companies to automatically classify for property tax abatements. Currently, local governments have the power to reduce a company's property taxes, and use that power to attract businesses.
However, the current process is too complex and time-consuming, Daniels said. By allowing automatic tax abatements for all new or expanding businesses across the state, the process would be streamlined.
Daniels supports increasing the state's research and development tax credit, and wants tax credits for all businesses that create jobs.
Daniels said he did not know how much all of his proposals would cost, but said they all would essentially pay for themselves by bringing more businesses to Indiana.
''I want this to be the easiest place in America for someone to build a new plant or build a new office,'' Daniels said.
Campaign officials for Democrat Gov. Joe Kernan said Daniels' plans are too vague and that many such initiatives already have been put in place.
''He failed to provide any original ideas, details on how to pay for initiatives, and a timeline for implementation,'' said Kernan campaign manager Bernie Toon. ''Instead he offered another negative attack on Indiana.''
Kernan supports moving to daylight-saving time, but he has not specified whether he wants to be in the Eastern or Central time zone.
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