Issues and Priorities

Roads and Infrastructure

Well-maintained roads and bridges are crucial to our economic development and our safety. For too long, Indianapolis has suffered from underinvestment in our vital infrastructure.

Indiana currently uses a "centerline miles" measure to determine road funding. This fails to take into account width or traffic of a particular road, leading to underfunding of Marion County infrastructure. Changing this measure is crucial to ensuring that Indianapolis can repair and maintain our roads.

We must also leverage new road construction technology, offering Indiana as a test bed for cutting edge transportation materials and methods.

Crime

We are living in an epidemic of crime. Indianapolis has broken murder records for five out of the last six years. A recent analysis by Fox59 found that 43% of suspects arrested for killing people in 2021 were out of jail on pre-trial release or out on parole when they committed those crimes.

Indiana state law currently requires courts to offer bail and other conditional release to both accused individuals and convicted criminals. Eliminating this requirement would allow courts to keep dangerous offenders off the streets.

We must continue to fund Indiana police departments to ensure that they are properly staffed and equipped to protect Hoosier citizens, and to recruit and train new officers, while also maintaining accountability and oversight of law enforcement. We must also introduce measures to ensure transparency and accountability for prosecutors, including the publishing of filing rates alongside conviction rates.

Also, state law requires Marion County to house State inmates, but only pays a fee of $35 a day, despite the cost of housing those inmates running $47-82 a day. We must fully fund counties that house state inmates.

Energy

Fuel prices are at historic highs, and the costs of heating and electricity aren't far behind. Indiana already has some of the highest gas taxes in the country and, with recent developments in Ukraine and the Federal Reserve, energy prices are poised to go much higher.

Also, in the post-COVID world, fewer white collar workers are commuting while workers in retail, service, manufacturing, agricultural trades must still commute. This lays the burden of gas taxes unfairly on the working class.

Cutting gas taxes, expanding price gouging regulations, engaging alternate fuels, and protecting energy assistance programs will help Hoosier families weather the cold seasons and pay their bills. Also, expanding securitization options (such as SB 386 2021) will allow energy companies to refinance debt, invest in new energy, and lower bills for customers.

Education

Every student deserves a quality education. Indiana must ensure that we have effective, proven curricula; and that we let teachers teach.

We must build and craft curricula that prepare students to enter the job market, promotes trades and in-demand industries to young people, and reinforces the values of their communities; while empowering teachers to give the specialized attention students need.

Study after study has demonstrated that class size has a direct and measurable impact on student success. Implementing and maintaining small class sizes, and properly equipping teachers, will ensure that Indiana's education system is one of the best in the county.

Economic Development

Indiana, as the Crossroads of America, with unique opportunities in logistics, agriculture, manufacturing, among other industries; is uniquely poised to be an economic powerhouse of the Midwest. But to do that, we must continue to maintain an attractive business climate, and expand our marketing efforts across the USA to make companies and investors aware of the opportunity that Indiana provides.

COVID

Having weathered the worst of the global
COVID-19 pandemic, it's now time to return to work and school. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of countless healthcare professionals, we now have to tools and information to take protection measures as we choose, and to end the emergency measures that have been in place for over two years.

Homelessness

Homelessness is caused by countless factors, and is a challenge for any community. We must continue to offer transitional and supportive housing, and supporting agencies and non-profit organizations who serve the homeless, as they build a path to stable housing.

We must also allow municipalities and counties to implement programs and measures to ensure that tenants are informed of their rights, and able to exercise them.

Poor tired depressed hungry homeless man or refugee sleeping on the wooden bench on the ur

Cannabis Legalization

Legalization of cannabis has prevented countless Americans from being needlessly incarcerated, and has invigorated the economies of the states who have leveraged their agricultural resources to take advantage of this market.

Indiana would be well served to take similar advantage of our vast agricultural industry to reduce our prison populations, and to benefit from this growing opportunity.

Drug Addiction

For too long, drug addiction has been treated as a crime problem, rather than a healthcare problem. This has been a disastrous approach, that has lead to the needless incarceration of countless Hoosiers, and allowed addiction to become an epidemic in Indiana.

Our state government should support options other than incarceration for victims of addiction, as well support programs to help addicts overcome their illness. We should support counseling, treatment, and recovery programs to help every Hoosier overcome the challenges of addiction.

War in Ukraine

The Russian invasion of Ukraine threatens freedom and democracy across Europe and the world. Indiana is far from Ukraine, but we must join the effort to support the people of Ukraine in these incredibly trying times.

The state of Indiana must express unequivocal support of Ukraine, and condemnation of Russia's brutal war of conquest. We must support non-profits supporting refugees and the Ukrainian people however we can.

We must also identify any Russian financial interests in Indiana and sever them, to ensure that no Hoosier dollars support this needless and inhumane invasion.

Public Transportation

Public transportation is a key component of improving opportunities for underprivileged communities, and for maintaining Indianapolis as a world-class city, attractive to events and business investment.

While more study is needed on determining the best public transit options across the state, the current ban on light-rail is counter-productive to improving public transportation, and should be repealed.

Environmental Protection

Indiana's waterways are some of the most polluted in the country. According to the Environmental Integrity Project, 68% of Indiana's waterways are impaired by pollution. The most common sources of this pollution are coal ash disposal and agricultural runoff.

Both SB 412: Responsible Coal Ash Disposal and HB 1334: Property Tax Deductions for Wetlands Preservation were introduced in the 2021 session, but died in committee.

Indiana must introduce similar measures in the next session, and ensure they are heard and passed. We must fully fund the Department of Environmental Management (whose funding has declined by roughly a third over recent years) to ensure enforcement of environment regulations. We must also introduce incentives for farms, companies, and communities to act responsibly to protect our waterways for wildlife, drinking water, and our own quality of life, including the planting of buffer strips, and performing proper manure placement.

Affordable Housing

Indiana currently has a crisis in affordable housing. According to the National Low-Income Housing Coalition we currently have a shortage of over 130,000 affordable homes for extremely low-income renters.

We must fund affordable housing programs, eliminate barriers to accessing assistance, and discourage out-of-state investors who are artificially inflating housing prices; while protecting homeowners who have invested in their own homes and communities.

We must also empower local governments to take charge of abandoned homes and properties to convert to low-income housing, and to hold absent and negligent property owners accountable.