Democrats on State of the State: Struggling Hoosiers Need More Attention
STATE HOUSE–Gov. Holcomb didn’t pay enough attention to Hoosiers who are struggling, said Democratic leaders in the Indiana House and Senate, following Gov. Eric Holcomb’s State of the State speech Tuesday night. That includes Indiana’s teachers.
“This is the third State of the State in a row that I have heard the governor promise teachers that they deserve a raise,” said House Minority Caucus Leader Rep. Terri Austin.
The governor’s plan this year is similar to last year’s, providing a $377 million increase in K-12 public education money, and suggestions for districts to cut costs and use that money to raise teacher pay.
“I think that the governor is tone deaf,” said Austin. “The families that I talk to, not just in my own district but around the state, are struggling.”
Austin said that even though the state may not want to take over designating money especially for teacher pay, and may want to continue to leave that to the districts. But, she said she believes there could be some accountability for the districts on whether they actually use that money for teacher pay increases.
A large portion of the governor’s speech, as in previous State of the State speeches, focused on filling over 100,000 jobs, and getting people educated to be able to fit those jobs.
“They’ve got to be able to first meet those family obligations before they ever think about how they’re gonna raise their own level of skill up,” said Austin, speaking of struggling families. Sen. Greg Taylor, the Senate Democratic leader, said in a Facebook live video following the speech, that he sees the struggles created by the pandemic as an obstacle that the governor did not properly address.
“How does it seem fair that we’re gonna still have Hoosiers after this pandemic and people in these essential jobs that can’t get paid a living wage?” he asked. “I want to see that message spread across state government, that we will make sure that you’re not kicked out of your rental unit, on the street, because you can’t pay your mortgage.”
House Democratic Leader Phil GiaQuinta, said he believes the governor has his priorities backward.
“We have continued to see the governor throw cash at pet projects like the swine barn (at the state fairgrounds) instead of making critical investments in the human capital of our state,” he said. “There seems to be a bigger emphasis on passing a ninth straight balanced budget, something that it’s constitutionally mandated to do, than there is on helping Hoosiers who are struggling now.”
GiaQuinta praised the governor for his job creation efforts and his attempts, including this year, to pass a pregnancy accommodations bill, which would make some accommodations state law for expectant working mothers.
