INDIANAPOLIS — House Democratic Leader Scott Pelath, D-Michigan City, believes Republican Gov. Mike Pence may not be up to the task of leading Indiana's economy as manufacturing job losses mount across the state.
In recent days, United Technologies announced it will move its Carrier air conditioner plants from Indiana to Mexico, costing 1,200 jobs in Indianapolis and 700 more in Huntington.
An additional 600 Evansville aluminum workers are set to lose their jobs in March, and the Region is bracing for potential steel job cuts after ArcelorMittal and U.S. Steel together lost nearly $10 billion last year.
"This is a middle-class calamity in this state," Pelath said. "We have to get realistic about what it's going to take for our middle class to grow and to make this a place people are moving to instead of moving away from."
He said the governor needs to rethink his entire economic development strategy, starting with ensuring civil rights protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals, since Pence's big corporate tax cuts, support for Indiana's right-to-work law and repeal of the common construction wage clearly aren't helping Hoosier workers.
Pelath noted that Pence always is the biggest cheerleader when the Indiana Economic Development Corp., the state's commerce agency, announces a few hundred low-wage call center positions may come to the state in the next five years. But now is missing-in-action when Hoosiers need him most.
"When things don't go his way he seems to have a propensity to retreat, and that's actually the time we need him out front talking to everybody," Pelath said. "It's very important that a governor stand behind that bully pulpit and make sure that people understand that he is on their side."
Pelath insisted that's not a partisan critique, since he admits Democratic President Barack Obama often seems similarly aloof. Though he said the Pence administration must do more to help Hoosiers.
"He seems to always believe that the problem isn't what's been done, the problem is the way you talk about what's been done. That just only gets you so far," Pelath said. "They don't seem to be around when you have panicked households that don't know how they're going to be able to adapt to this changing time.
"Governors are not omniscient, but they can give people a little bit of hope and the feeling that they are ready to lead them through whatever mess is surrounding us at the moment."
In a statement, Pence blamed the Obama administration for the Carrier job losses and said the Department of Workforce Development is ready to help newly unemployed Hoosiers.
"While our administration continues to foster an environment within the state that is attracting record investment, federal regulations continue to stymie our national economy," Pence said. "The fact that these companies are leaving the United States speaks broadly about the need for reform in our nation's capital."