Area legislators are giving Gov. Eric Holcomb mixed reviews for his State of the State speech, especially his statements about the state’s economy and education.
During his prerecorded speech Tuesday, as a result of COVID-19 concerns and safety concerns after the recent insurrection at U.S. Capitol, Holcomb called on state legislators to support a new regional development program to help the state bounce back from the pandemic.
Rep. Julie Olthoff, R-Merrillville, said Holcomb did a good job addressing that the state “stayed strong with our financial numbers” even during an uncertain year.
“Of course, there were some dips, but it looks like we’re going to — and we are — recovering pretty nicely. I was encouraged that there are grants available to businesses that didn’t do so well through the pandemic,” Olthoff said.
Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Ogden Dunes, said she’s “a little unhappy” with some of the governor’s statements about the economy considering the state received billions of dollars to help with pandemic relief but legislators didn’t get a chance to give input because the previous session ended in March and the new session didn’t start until January.
“What I’m a little upset about is that we’ve got billions of dollars coming into the state and this money doesn’t seem to be going through the budget process. It’s one thing for the governor to do things during an emergency when we’re not in session, but we ... write the budget,” Tallian said. “Some of those billions of dollars ought to be flowing through the state budget, which means that we, the legislature, need to kick that around and find out where we’re going to spend this money and how.”
When Holcomb addressed teacher pay, Olthoff said she echoed his statement that the state budget has increased the dollars that go to school districts. The recent report from Holcomb’s Next Level Teacher Compensation Commission gave a blueprint on what state officials and local officials can do to support education, she said.
“To start working on (the report findings) I think will put our teachers in a better place,” Olthoff said.
The state “just spent a lot of money and a lot of time” on the commission’s study which recommended that extra money be put into the budget to increase teacher pay “in order to be competitive with other states” and avoid a growing teacher shortage, Tallian said.
“I don’t see that he addressed that at all,” Tallian said. “This is your own commission; you didn’t address that at all.”
Gary Teachers Union President GlenEva Dunham said that she hasn’t had a chance yet to review the speech, but that people keep reaching out to her about it and sharing notes with her — and she’s “not pleased” with what she’s heard.
But, Dunhum said the commission’s recommendation to increase the state budget 2% the first year and 1% in the second year for education, is not enough.
“We still feel like they’re not doing enough,” Dunham said. “They’re trying to pacify teachers, but that’s not enough.”
Lake County Democratic Party Chairman James Wieser said Holcomb seemed to express “supposed concern for teachers and education” while teacher pay remains among the lowest in the country and funding for education has not increased over the years.
“Every year, the Republican leadership, including our governor, talks about what they’re going to do and then don’t have a plan. If you noticed, he didn’t have a plan. He issued some platitudes about it, said we have to do something, but ultimately they don’t do anything and it’s hurting our educational system,” Wieser said.
While it is a positive that the state has $2 billion in reserves and a AAA rating, which Wieser said he doesn’t discount, the state is financially healthy at the determent of constituents.
In addressing social issues, the speech “falls flat,” Wieser said. He would’ve liked Holcomb to more directly address the current political climate, particularly the recent attack on the U.S. Capitol. The only thing Holcomb said was that Indiana is a resilient state, he said.
“I don’t disagree with that at all, but, unfortunately, so many of us have to be resilient because of attacks on our form of government, attacks on democracy,” Wieser said. “It would’ve been a good idea to have expanded his speech to that extent.”
Olthoff said she supports Holcomb’s call for legislators to approve $100 million toward improving internet service in rural areas, especially since so many students and employees are doing their work from home.
When considering Holcomb’s calls about improving internet service to rural parts of the state, Tallian said she wondered if Holcomb envisioned spending money the state received from the federal government in COVID-19 relief or budget money.
“We need to have a big picture of what new money we have, what money needs to be spent immediately, what money we can wait on, and we’re not getting that information,” Tallian said.
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