ISSUES

AFFORDABILITY

For too many Hoosiers, including those in Saint John, Dyer, Schererville, Merrillville, Griffith, Highland and Calumet Township the necessities of life are getting further and further out of our reach. There are two sides to the affordability equation. For too long the Republican supermajority in the Indiana General Assembly has attacked the ability for Hoosiers to earn a fair wage. They’ve exploited Hoosier workers and our communities so they can make our state “business-friendly”. Let’s call it The Indiana Discount. They have made it harder to unionize. They have made it harder to make ends meet when workers are laid off. They have failed to establish a minimum wage that can cover the basic necessities of life.

Meanwhile, costs of healthcare, childcare, utilities and housing keep going up. Working families continue to fall further behind. Some of this can be addressed with policies that put working families ahead of the ultra wealthy and corporate donors.

We need legislation that at least:

Increases the minimum wage to a family sustaining wage.
Reverse the law that gives nobody a right to work but is intended to weaken Labor Unions, making it harder to collectively bargain in Indiana.
Bring back prevailing wage standards for projects funded by the state.
Restores childcare relief vouchers which will allow working families to work while having the peace of mind knowing their children are affordably and properly cared for.

FULLY FUNDING PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES

Public schools used to be the great equalizer. They allow each successive generation to thrive and become informed citizens. The Republican supermajority in the General Assembly has squeezed public schools with unfunded mandates to educate every student no matter what their needs may be while simultaneously cutting resources to our public schools. This places the burden on school districts to find ways to fill the gaps. Often the shortfall in state funding creates the need for local referendums to increase property taxes to cover the shortfall inflicted by the Republican supermajority in the General Assembly. We have trouble retaining good public school professionals, which forces teachers, librarians, teaching assistants, nurses, counselors, custodians and principals to either go to Illinois or change professions to get fair wages and benefits.

We need legislation that:

Provides fair taxation to fund our public schools.
Keeps local control of public schools through elected school boards.
The ability for teachers to bargain over their working conditions, which are our children's learning conditions.

ENDING CORPORATE WELFARE

We need oversight of our regulatory agencies. They have all been captured by corporations who want to pad their corporate profits at the expense of Hoosier workers and our communities. Lax regulatory agencies allowed NIPSCO to increase our utility bills by 25% in 2025. Did Hoosier workers get a 25% wage increase this year? Too many have sucked up our resources, poisoned our air, polluted our water, and ruined our soil without so much as a whimper from IDEM.

Data centers are popping up all over the state with little to no consideration for the communities they are affecting. While data centers may be necessary, community input has to be front and center in the discussion. Big tech is the driving force behind this and they are pushing through these developments as fast as they can without consideration to the effects on our neighborhoods.

We need legislation that:

Gives local communities the ability to decide the best use of land after meaningful public input.
Requires community benefit assurances with claw backs for non compliance.
Include Project Labor agreements that assures good union jobs both during construction and continued operation.