September 5, 2015 Comments 0 Gary Snyder

Indiana Democratic Party 9-5-15 Weekly Radio Address

John Zody, INdiana Democratic Chairman, delivers this week’s wwekly radio address: “When Scott County was in the heat of its HIV outbreak, it took 65 days for Governor Pence to react – catapulting cases from 10 to 79.”

TRANSCRIPT:

This is Chairman John Zody, bringing you the weekly podcast for the Indiana Democratic Party

This week, Governor Pence was once again late to the game when he issued an executive order to create a task force to fight the ongoing drug epidemic that’s currently crippling Indiana.

While this may seem encouraging to some, it doesn’t hide his consistent failure to protect the health and well-being of our most vulnerable Hoosiers.

When Scott County was in the heat of its HIV outbreak, it took 65 days for Governor Pence to react – catapulting cases from 10 to 79.

And as our state saw a spike in child abuse and neglect cases within the Indiana Department of Child Services, the Pence Administration only provided the bare minimum resources to fight this epidemic.

Governor Pence may wait for a public relations crisis to act, but Democrats have a history of leading on these issues and solving today’s problems for the hardworking Hoosier family.

Also this week, Superintendent Glenda Ritz announced a new commission to fight the ongoing teacher shortage across Indiana schools.

This Blue Ribbon Commission highlights her leadership on this vital issue. She knows the importance of having excellent teachers in our classrooms and the effect they have on our students.

That is why Glenda Ritz will be using the work of this commission to shape the legislative agenda for the Department of Education for the upcoming 2016 legislative session.

And as for Governor Pence and other Republicans, well, they continue to put their ideology ahead of solving today’s problems for Indiana’s schools.

By investing in an unreliable voucher and charter school program, to blocking the opportunity for a statewide pre-k system, Governor Pence and Statehouse Republicans continue to put their ideology ahead of helping Indiana’s schools reach their full potential.

And finally, there’s more news this week concerning Indiana’s crumbling infrastructure.

On July 30, an embankment slide sent State Road 156 into the Ohio River, putting the safety of everyday Hoosiers at risk and the overall economic well-being of the local economy in jeopardy.

And while we’d hope there’d be a rush to repair this main road in Southeastern Indiana – this week it remains closed and Hoosiers are forced to take a detour, or sit in one-lane traffic.

Unfortunately, State Road 156 becomes another example of the mismanagement and sheer negligence of Indiana’s D+ rated infrastructure.

Pence has provided only “maybe” answers – pointing to a short-term fix in 2016 or a long-term solution in 2017 – when asked if he would consider using the $2.1 billion surplus to fix Indiana’s roads, that’s what he said.

But this is what Hoosiers get with Governor Pence – someone who will put his ideology ahead of improving the overall well-being of Indiana.

And in just one term, Governor Pence has managed to place two things Indiana is known best for in jeopardy: Hoosier Hospitality and the Crossroads of America.

Hoosiers, we deserve a better governor than Mike Pence. We must come together and make sure we elect a new governor – one who will unite and improve the lives of all Hoosiers across Indiana.

Until that time comes, Democrats in Indiana will continue to talk about ways in which we can do better for Indiana’s economy, our education system – and for the overall well-being of Hoosiers.

That starts with electing people to local office this fall that believe that government can be a force for good when you work efficiently to solve problems for those around you.