ISSUES

One big problem Indiana has is our tax codes which favor the extremely wealthy. The tax burden has been shifted away from big businesses and millionaires and billionaires by changes in property tax codes and the lowering of income taxes in favor of a series of regressive taxes. While giving big tax breaks to the wealthy, Indiana increased the sales tax by 2%, levied a steep gasoline tax with automatic rate increases and put an extra fee each year if you own a hybrid or electric car, and created more expensive toll roads and bridges.

Education is the silver bullet for a strong and vibrant society. We need to increase funding for pre-K, public primary schools, and public higher education through an expansion of the 21st Century Scholars program The better educated Hoosiers are, the more competitive Indiana will be in the United States and the world.

Now that the United States Supreme Court has struck down Roe versus Wade with its Dobbs ruling, women’s reproductive health care is to be determined by the states. We need to protect women’s health care from politicians. The state of Indiana needs to give women the freedom to make their own health care decisions with the aid of their health care professional.

 A thorny issue concerns how to deal with the climate crisis. The eventual retirement of the AEP/Indiana-Michigan Power (I&M) coal plant by 2028 and the proliferation of solar farms have become a point of contention in southern Indiana. These are complex issues that will require common sense but there is a sense of urgency to transition from fossil fuels for our energy needs to alternative energy sources, especially solar and wind.

- I will vote to accelerate the transition to green energy.

- I will vote to protect Hoosier wetlands