Governor Eric Holcomb delivered his yearly state of the state address laying out for the legislature what he wants to see achieved coming up in the 2023 legislative year.
Before he got into his goals for the 2023 year he talked about the years that passed and how he wants to keep those achievements going like a balanced budget for the past 6 years in a row.
Governor Holcomb announced while he can keep a balanced budget each year they have not raised taxes once since being in office. Governor Holcomb told the legislators that in 2017 the state’s revenue was 15 billion then in 2022 it was 23 billion. While the revenue is up he said since taking office he has paid the state’s debt down 31% improving the state’s credit borrowing power.
At the same time while taxes have not increased the state’s surplus is up year over year and Governor Holcomb can make investments in one-time projects to improve the infrastructure of the state.
Governor Holcomb also took the chance to talk about Forbes saying that Indiana is the number one state in the country to start a small business and grow that small business. Governor Holcomb also said the average state hourly pay was between 50 to 70 dollars an hour.
Education
Governor Indiana told the residents of Indiana that the best possible outcome for students’ success is a good working relationship between the parents and the teacher. While also giving the tools to the teachers they need to make sure students succeed.
Governor Holcomb wants to give all teachers a raise by increasing the new teacher salary to 40,000 dollars a year and continue to work towards the goal of every teacher making or exceeding 60,000 dollars a year. Governor Holcomb also announced that he wants to make a 1 billion dollar investment into the teacher’s pension fund.
Governor Holcomb also wants to eliminate the problem many face each and every school year. He explained even though the state has public schools all students are expected to purchase their books for the school year costing some families up to 630 dollars a year. Governor Holcomb said he wants to provide the schools the money to purchase the books to save families money. He wants this program to go into effect in the 2023–24 school year.
Governor Holcomb also wants to start a program where every month students will get free books in the mail to read at their own reading level to help them become better readers.
Public Health
Governor Holcomb also discussed the importance of public health is improved. Governor Holcomb told the legislator that the state of Indiana ranks 45th in smoking, 43 in mental health, and, 41st in childhood vaccinations. Governor Holcomb wants to invest 120 million dollars this year and another 200 million the following.
He explained that poor children vaccination level is dangerous for the future of Indiana because children being healthy is the future for the country and should be a top priority.
Public Safety
Governor Holcomb also announced he wants to raise the starting salary for state police to 70,000 dollars a year.
Governor Halcomb also wants to increase the funding for school safety by 30%.
Governor Holcomb wants to make improvements to the states court system to bring it back into the 21st century.
