When Eric Holcomb, a behind-the-curtain political insider for most of his career, emerged on the political scene as a big public policy player last year, Hoosiers really had no idea what they were getting. Yet he was undaunted. He never got flustered. He stayed on topic. He was reasonable and civil in his discourse, and he seemed far less likely to devolve into the type of ideological warrior that would tar the state as intolerant and unaccepting of diverse populations.
Now, Gov. Holcomb’s agenda as the state’s top government executive is beginning to take shape. Indications are that Indiana will get from Holcomb what he promised, and he will go about advancing his agenda in a professional manner.
Holcomb delivered his first state of the state address to a joint meeting of the Indiana General Assembly on Tuesday night at the Statehouse in Indianapolis. He outlined five pillars of progress for the state in his coming term and made it clear that it was time for the state to address some of its underlying problems and needs. He didn’t shy away from the prospect of tax increases, a concept that in the past would have been rejected and reviled by state Republican leaders such as former Gov. Mike Pence who sometimes appeared to be focusing on preparing a resume for their next political office rather than addressing the state’s pressing issues.
We don’t know how Holcomb’s agenda will be accepted by his GOP colleagues who dominate the legislature with super majorities. Some of them signed pledges in the past that they would never raise taxes under any circumstances. He’s not shying away from the discussions nonetheless.
Holcomb’s pillars include diversifying the economy, long-term road funding, developing a skilled workforce, attacking the drug epidemic, and providing government services at a value to taxpayers.
While there are some elements of statewide progress missing from Holcomb’s agenda, he presents a solid plan. We particularly support his proposal to improve the state’s roads and infrastructure and look forward to learning more about his plan to raise the revenue to achieve that goal. He is also on target with attacking the drug epidemic, an issue that could easily be brushed aside rather than confronted.
We would like for Holcomb to embrace the concept of expanding civil rights protections to gays, lesbians and transgendered people, but at this point we don’t see him being hostile to those populations in ways the former governor was. We also hope he is open to an aggressive expansion of pre-K funding so that more of Indiana’s children can get a jump start on their education.
While there may be deficiencies in the Holcomb agenda, we’re encouraged by his vision and hope he can find a way to work well with the legislature to advance his ambitious and worthwhile plans for the state. He has set a constructive course.