Increasing health care costs are a drag on Indiana’s economy and put a strain on household budgets. While costs are rising nationally, Indiana residents are spending a greater share of their paychecks on health care than residents in other states. More Hoosiers are uninsured even though more are employed, and more Hoosiers are going without their medications because they can’t afford them. This is wrong. 

It’s time we fix these problems in Indiana. 

We can address our high rate of chronic disease through less costly measures focused on prevention. We can reduce maternal and infant mortality through better education and access to health care. And we can keep the public safe and healthy during a public health crisis, with better management and planning. 

Indiana needs a governor who understands the health care industry the way I do and who will be an advocate for all Hoosiers. As governor, I’ll put the health care needs of Hoosiers first and make fixing our broken health care system the priority that it should be. 

Now is the time to put a doctor in the Governor’s Office.

Hear Woody speak more on this issue: https://youtu.be/2MlAt0oFsrg

Education is the best investment we can make to develop a workforce that’s prepared to fill good-paying jobs now and in the future. Governor Holcomb and Republican lawmakers have underfunded public education for years and use bogus statistics to claim otherwise. Indiana spends less per student than almost every other state. This is not only bad for our children, but is also bad for our economic future. 

Our students and teachers deserve better. 

We can empower our public schools by giving them the resources and funding needed to provide a high-quality education to all students. We can take a hard look at our voucher program; while school choice has a place in our education system, the current program is not serving us well. It has created more demand for limited resources, reducing the funding available for classroom instruction and teacher salaries in public schools. We should make transparency and accountability of taxpayer spending in education a priority to restore public confidence and improve academic results. 

We owe our students a high-quality education. As governor, I’ll restore public confidence in our education system by providing the funding necessary for our students to succeed and our teachers to thrive.

We must reduce the effects of climate change on our residents and businesses. As a manufacturing-rich state, we use a lot of energy – most of it supplied by fossil fuels. Our state has a reputation as a big polluter and that needs to change. We cannot continue to destroy our environment or prop up dying industries because we’re afraid of change. We can protect our environment by transitioning our workforce away from fossil fuels to good-paying jobs in renewable and sustainable energy sources. 

Indiana must become more energy efficient and shift to more renewable energy to meet our electricity needs and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As governor, I’ll update Indiana’s renewable energy standards and set a new clean energy goal to renew our commitment to a cleaner future. I’ll inventory our greenhouse gas emissions and develop realistic reduction targets just as 22 other states have done. 

Through investments to incentivize innovation in the clean energy industry, we can create economic opportunity and more good-paying jobs, as we tackle the climate crisis and safeguard our environment for future generations.

More about climate: https://youtu.be/rRXK89tv64A

A strong economy should benefit all Hoosiers, not just those at the top. While Indiana’s economy is growing and more people are working, not everyone is prospering. Some Hoosiers must work two or three jobs to make ends meet when one job should be enough. In certain parts of the state, workers are trapped in low-paying jobs because there aren’t enough high-paying jobs available in their communities. In other parts, we have job openings that go vacant, because there aren’t enough skilled workers to fill them. 

Indiana used to lead the Midwest in economic performance, and now we rank in the bottom half of states for economic stability and potential. 

We can do better. 

As governor, I’ll immediately work to diversify our economy so we’re less susceptible to economic downturns and labor force disruptions. I’ll implement policies to improve our business environment, with a focus on recruiting businesses that bring more good-paying jobs to all parts of the state and supporting existing businesses with retention policies that help them remain competitive. I’ll be the governor who breaks down social, cultural and financial barriers that hold people back from success to give everyone a chance to prosper. It’s time we had an economy that works for all of us.

The strength of our economy rests on the quality of our workforce. Indiana currently ranks among the 10 worst states in educational attainment and lacks the appropriate policies to support learners who haven’t fared well in college. 

Our diverse population demands multiple pathways to obtain good-paying jobs whether through a college degree, a certificate, apprenticeship, or vocational training. Already too many have fallen short of their educational and vocational goals, contributing to Indiana’s talent shortage. We aren’t prepared to withstand the pressures of automation and its squeeze on jobs that’s predicted for the future, with too many workers in dead end jobs vulnerable to loss. 

We can immediately expand and refocus our workforce development system on training workers for jobs of the future, not just on jobs for today. As governor, I’ll devise a new approach to education and workforce training that will equip workers with the right skills to adapt to changing workplace conditions, while also encouraging upward mobility. I’ll also shore up the cracks in our workforce development and higher education systems, enabling Indiana to upgrade and enhance the skills of its workforce to be competitive again.