The new chair of Indiana’s Republican Party, a very nice man named Jeff Cardwell, told the party faithful in an email last week, “Indiana remains strong and its economy is growing.”
Problem is, that rhetoric doesn’t match reality.
Republicans are bragging what their supermajority legislature did this year in the sector of education. Predominately white, growing suburban schools serving GOP strongholds got more cash. Urban schools serving Democratic strongholds got less. The new Republican created “complexity” formula seemingly stripped schools that needed the money most, from receiving it.
Cardwell and Gov. Mike Pence brag about the good news that more Hoosiers are working than ever before in the state’s history. However, they omit the fact that many of those workers are receiving lower wages.
Despite giving more tax breaks to businesses, Indiana’s economic status remains in peril. Indiana tax collections continue to slow. It’s got nothing to do with the RFRA mess; but more about structural weaknesses in Indiana’s economy.
Pence, Cardwell and Republicans get quiet when you tell them these facts!
Indiana is America’s 16th largest state in population. But we’re nowhere near that economically.
An example is in March, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, part of the U.S. Commerce Department, issued their annual analysis of personal income growth in America.
Personal income is the sum of all income, money earned by people. The total personal income of Hoosiers in 2014 was over $250 billion up 2.5 percent from 2013.
However, nationally, American personal income rose 3.9 percent between 2013 and 2014. Of the 50 states, Indiana ranked 45th in personal income growth.
That’s not good, Pence and Chairman Cardwell.
Median Household Income in Indiana, according to the last Census American Community Survey (ACS) Report was $47,529; 35th lowest of any state. Of our peer states in the Midwest (Ohio, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan) Indiana’s median household income is lower.
Poverty? Indiana’s got the 23rd highest rate of poverty of any state, says the Census ACS. Only Michigan and Ohio have higher poverty rates of Midwestern states than Indiana.
Indiana Republicans’ race to the economic bottom began during the Great Recession, but has been exacerbated by those Republican legislative majorities. First through their ramming down Hoosiers throats Right-to-Work (for less) legislation three years ago.
Then this Legislative session, the Republicans went after white blue collar skilled workers with their Common Construction Wage Repeal, which does nothing but open up the door for non-union contractors, using unqualified workers, to build public facilities like schools and firehouses around the state.
Once you leave the gilded affluent enclaves of Indianapolis and its suburbs, and some wealthy outposts scattered around the state, a clear picture of pain emerges.
Indiana and its residents are hurting economically.
Consider the HIV disaster in Scott County.
When people in the past have heard about HIV outbreaks, they’ve assumed it’s a problem occurring within the LGBT community or the African-American community. But this is not the case in Scott County, an area of 23,712 people; 96.4 percent white non-Hispanic.
The latest Census ACS says Scott County’s lost 1.9 percent of its population since the 2010 Census. Median Household Income there is $42,898. Scott County poverty is 19 percent, with 31.6 percent of children living in poverty. Unemployment was 14.9 percent in 2013.
The combination of no jobs, no income and despair translated into petty crimes and drug use, which led to a rise in HIV.
Meanwhile Republicans continue to say: “Indiana remains strong and our economy is growing”? Please!!
Slowly, white Hoosiers are arriving at the same conclusion African-American Hoosiers figured out long ago. Indiana’s current Republican state leadership is not helping incomes, wages and job opportunities.
Democrats sense an opening to make political gains next year.
The legislative session hadn’t been over 13 hours before 2012 gubernatorial candidate John Gregg officially declared he was again running for governor.
And State Supt. Glenda Ritz, finally fed up with the disrespect (and some deceit) from Pence and GOP legislative leaders chipping away at her lawful authority as the elected Superintendent of Public Instruction, hinted strongly that she might run for governor.
Meanwhile, Republican leaders and donors are openly sniping at Gov. Pence’s leadership. I’ve not seen that kind of public feuding with an incumbent Republican governor in my years in Indiana.
But, Hoosier families who’re hurting economically don’t want political gamesmanship from Indiana’s politicians. They want to hear real solutions to growing jobs and income from the candidates for governor; regardless of party.
That’s especially true of African-Americans.
Will we get that honesty from Gregg, Ritz, Pence and other 2016 governor hopefuls? We’ll see!
What I’m Hearing in the Streets
It‘s not a car rental, it’s a car sharing service. That’s what Herve Muller, president of the entity that is bringing those controversial Blue Indy Electric cars to town explained to me last week. After widespread outrage, the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) nixed Indy electric customers from paying the cost. The Blue Indy service is scheduled to start this summer, with the company putting up some $30 million and maybe the city paying $6 million from parking meters.
Appearing on WTLC-AM (1310) “Afternoons with Amos,” Muller explained how his service works, which could provide a way for licensed drivers to use or “share” an electric car for $5 every 20 minutes to make quick errands from one part of the city to another and back.
Muller also explained their Blue Car charging stations could be used by any electric car; not just Blue Indy’s. This policy had been unclear before.
Blue Indy’s service is in Paris, but Muller couldn’t tell me how well it’s used in Parisian low-income neighborhoods. So it’s still unclear whether this service would be helpful.
See ‘ya next week!
You can email Amos Brown at acbrown@aol.com.
