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Pence address set to expand on 1st-year priorities

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Indiana Gov. Mike Pence might be shying from specifics ahead of his first State of the State address, but the details of a first-year agenda that will focus on jobs training, expanded spending on private schools and an across-the-board tax cut are largely known at this point, following interviews with state legislative leaders and the delivery of the governor's first budget.

"Stay tuned," he told reporters when asked for some insight into the speech.

The governor is scheduled to deliver his address Tuesday evening at 7 p.m. at the Statehouse, roughly a week after he was sworn in as Indiana's 50th governor. His inaugural message was brief, and continued much of the vague language he relied on throughout the campaign.

Tuesday's speech, however, is expected to fill in the details of how Pence hopes to achieve the goals envisioned in his lofty rhetoric.

"I really believe that this is an extraordinary time in the life of our state, and the case I will make to the General Assembly on Tuesday will be a case for continuing to be bold, to be optimistic and to be relentless in our effort to promote the kind of policies that will meet the needs of our state, the people of our state, but also will set our state on a pathway to get this economy moving again and create expanded opportunities for every Hoosier, every Hoosier family and every Hoosier community."

Pence has declined requests in the past week to comment on any of the measures, saying he will not upstage his own speech.

Despite his silence, many of the specifics are already floating about the Statehouse, thanks to a General Assembly that began its work a week before the governor and a small window for submitting legislation, which closed last week. And the key proposals deal with the same issues lawmakers of all stripes are talking about this year: education and jobs.

Senate Education Chairman Dennis Kruse, R-Auburn, is carrying Pence's proposal to create nine regional works councils, which would spend the coming year studying how to align Indiana's job training programs with the advanced manufacturing jobs available throughout the state.

House Education Chairman Robert Behning, R-Indianapolis, said last week that he has been tasked by the governor with expanding school vouchers to military and foster families, along with the families of special needs children. Behning also is pushing Pence's goal of putting Indiana children in private preschools through a scholarship program that would match private donors dollar for dollar.

The first Pence budget, delivered to lawmakers last week, includes plans to cut the state's personal income tax by 10 percent, spend $64 million on a program that would reward high-performing schools and clear up some pre-existing issues, such as hiring more workers at the state's embattled Department of Child Services.

Pence also delivered on some campaign promises via a series of executive orders he signed on his first day in office. He placed a moratorium on new state regulations, will require some agencies to begin assessing the impact of state rules on married families by drafting "family impact statements" and established that 3 percent of state contracts be filled by veteran-owned businesses.

Improvements to how the state cares for its military families is an issue that has not garnered much attention in public yet, but expected to be a priority of the new governor's along with the big two: jobs and education.

The Pence agenda also includes a so-called "loser pays" tort reform measure that would force the loser of a lawsuit to pay all legal fees. Sen. Mike Delph, who is shepherding Pence's tax-cut through the Senate, also said he was tasked by the governor's office with carrying the tort reform piece of his agenda.

The proposal was never included in Pence's campaign "roadmap" and quickly sparked the ire of the Indiana Trial Lawyers Association. Pence and his staff have refused to comment directly on the tort measure since it was first reported by The Associated Press.

"My attitude is, I've got an open mind, not an empty mind," Pence said on the show "Indiana Lawmakers." ''I want to listen to legislators. I want to have an ongoing dialog with legislators. But what I intend, as I said at our first Cabinet meeting, what I intend to do in our administration, and to encourage to the General Assembly, to advance is policies that will move our state in the direction of making progress in terms of those six goals. And we're going to consider lots of policies to advance that."

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  1. liek the rest of America

  2. These quaint,obsessed musings by the stalkers are certainly entertaining, but I'm trying to figure out what, if anything, all the yelping below has to do with Zak Brown.

  3. It's evident that Moffett was pushing the right buttons and corporate America is now trying to squash him. He just wanted to withdraw the free pilot services provided to the company by the pilots to try and put some pressure on a company that has not been interested in negotiating a contract in over 5 years. The company does not provide a contract because not having one has saved them a bundle of money. Shame on any Republic pilots not standing behind their union leader just because things are getting tough, can you not see such strategic moves by the company as putting the last union president in a corporate position and into THEIR pocket. Do you really believe the last union president is so appalled at the attempts by Moffett, do you not remember his oppositions to the company? We stood behind him. It has been proven over and over again for thousands of years without fail, a man cannot serve two masters. Anyone that believes people vote contrary to their paycheck and livelihood deserve to be taken advantage of, the recent statements by the former union president are laughable as he denounces the current union president from his new corporate position. Have you ever seen a drafted sports player score points for his previous team, it cannot be done, he is not on the pilots side anymore, he gets his money a different way now than you and I do, and he should not be allowed to remain on the seniority list. A drafted player brings strength, credibility, tactical knowledge, and a strategic advantage to his NEW team, he would not be drafted or paid were it otherwise. We are all forced to choose only one side to play for and support, not doing so has many references in life such as insider trading and shaving points, all illegal for good reason. This basic fact is why corporate moguls, scientist, and engineers all sign non-discloser agreements and non-compete clauses, as protection in case they are lured into switching sides as our former union president has done. No NFL coach ever drafted a player so that both teams could benefit and better understand each other, they are recruited to win the game against that former team, period. Likewise the company does not recruit the former union president by accident or mutual understanding, its strategy. Don't confuse playing the game with good sportsman-like conduct in support of common business and prosperity goals, with the requirement to only play for one side. Good men we all love and favor fall subject to this manipulation, often without their knowledge, and it is not a betrayal of their friendship to oppose them when they switch sides. If we did not love and trust them, they would not have been chosen and lured to the other side in the first place. The deception by the drafted player is not made at a conscious level, it's just human nature and it's all about money and power which corrupts our ability to be objective and loyal to two masters. This is why our court system created the defense attorney, and why our military created counter intelligence. Its strategy and its propaganda, and it works, and that's why the "powers to be" manipulate the chess pieces by sometimes changing their colors. Some players know they are being manipulated when their color is changed, but it brings them more money and power so they do not care. The rest have good intentions but do not even realize they are being manipulated. This tactic is also known by another name, Divide and Conquer. In battle sending an imperfect message with an imperfect team is obviously not ideal, but it's still being sent by YOUR team, your union leader, a leader that has common goals and common rewards with you, they are the best, because we have elected them to do a job for us. If you are not backing Moffett but believing the spin by those that have recently switched sides, you are taking food out of your own mouth. Showing unity and backing an imperfect situation still results in taking just as much ground, it's about unity and bargaining power. It's not necessary to wait around for that perfect attack because it will never come, the company will spin and attempt to destroy anyone that gets in their way. Ultimately it's not about any specific attack anyway, ASAP or whatever it makes no difference, it is and always has been only about power. If this company cared about safety it would not build pairings with 8 hour overnights, come on, are you that naive? Besides, do you really think Hoffa cares, no, he got a call from corporate America and was squeezed into denouncing Moffett. If he didn't they would spin the safety card against him and the Teamsters National with implication for truckers, future contracts, insurance rates etc...saying something like the Teamsters use safety as a bargaining chip, blah blah blah... Do you really think any pilot is going to do something unsafe for the contract, absolutely not, the only ones threatening safety here is the company with reduced rest, fatigue, and poverty. Do you not find it odd that Hoffa and the Teamsters are opposing a Teamster president publicly? Would the Teamsters National not normally support and work with one of their own? Why did they not sit down and help him strategize, correct any mistakes, and charge ahead? Would the Teamsters National not normally support and leverage a contract for all those pilots that have been paying Teamster dues, isn't that why we have all been paying Teamster dues in the first place? I sure haven't been paying dues so that the Teamsters National could come along and write this kind of an article undercutting our union leader and our unity. Whose side is the Teamsters National really on, it's obviously not the Republic pilots side.

  4. No matter what Moffatt does the company is going to spin it like he is the terrorist and brainwash people like you into believing it, wake up, back your players that are trying to change things for you and your livelihood. Where has Hoffa been for the last 6 years, except collecting our dues. Seriously, do you really think an FO going for upgrade, signed off by a checkairman ready for the upgrade, who then fails, is not even capable of returning as a First Officer.

  5. whoa!

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