IBJNews

Pence seeks family analyses; Gregg proposes tax credits

Back to TopCommentsE-mailPrint

Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Pence gave a hint Wednesday at what social issues he would push for as governor, while Democrat John Gregg called for a new tax credit he claims would help companies return jobs from overseas.

The Pence campaign issued a "roadmap" Wednesday that included most of the campaign's previous policy announcements and added a few new ones. The campaign said it would improve law enforcement training and help foster families and adopted children get better educations.

The plan also stated that Pence would "promote marriage by requiring a family impact statement for state regulations." Pence spokeswoman Christy Denault said the campaign would explain what that meant in the coming weeks and declined to answer questions about the new proposals.

Family impact statements have a long history on the national stage, stretching from the culture wars of the '90s back to a Senate investigation on the status of the American family led by then-Sen. Walter Mondale in 1973. In 1987, President Ronald Reagan ordered that the executive branch look at whether new rules and regulations "strengthen or erode the family and, particularly, the marital commitment."

Kristi Hamrick, spokeswoman for the Washington-based conservative group American Values, said the goal of the statements was to help lawmakers and regulators see how federal laws and regulations unintentionally rip families apart. Welfare programs and tax laws, for example, discouraged low-income mothers from getting married by giving more money to single mothers, she said.

"It's in the federal government's interest if we live in the context of strong families," she said. Hamrick was unsure exactly how family statements would apply at the state level, but guessed that education would be an obvious choice for assessment.

It would be impossible, however, for government to properly determine personal concepts such as an impact on a marriage, said former Indiana Democratic Party Chairwoman Ann DeLaney. She said that the impact statements of the '90s supported only one narrow definition of family.

It's unnecessary for state leaders to assess family situations, she said. "Most of us who have been in a traditional marriage a lot longer than Mike Pence do not feel like we are under attack," DeLaney said.

The Democratic ticket, Gregg and running mate Vi Simpson, meanwhile spent the morning in Indianapolis talking about job tax credits and creating smaller state contracts they said are needed to help Indiana companies compete for state work against out-of-state contractors.

Gregg proposed covering the employment taxes for each job a company brings back from overseas over the next three years. He also proposed helping Indiana companies transition to supplying renewable energy ventures.

Simpson said the biggest complaint the two have heard from Indiana companies is that they can't compete for large contracts, consisting of smaller contracts bundled together by the state. The work often goes to larger companies from states like Ohio and Illinois, she said.

"If we are serious about job creation — and we are — we need to do everything we can to give Hoosier manufacturers and small businesses a leg up, and then get out of their way," Gregg said in a statement.

ADVERTISEMENT

Post a comment to this story

COMMENTS POLICY
We reserve the right to remove any post that we feel is obscene, profane, vulgar, racist, sexually explicit, abusive, or hateful.
 
You are legally responsible for what you post and your anonymity is not guaranteed.
 
Posts that insult, defame, threaten, harass or abuse other readers or people mentioned in IBJ editorial content are also subject to removal. Please respect the privacy of individuals and refrain from posting personal information.
 
No solicitations, spamming or advertisements are allowed. Readers may post links to other informational websites that are relevant to the topic at hand, but please do not link to objectionable material.
 
We may remove messages that are unrelated to the topic, encourage illegal activity, use all capital letters or are unreadable.
 

Messages that are flagged by readers as objectionable will be reviewed and may or may not be removed. Please do not flag a post simply because you disagree with it.

Sponsored by
ADVERTISEMENT

facebook - twitter on Facebook & Twitter

Follow on TwitterFollow IBJ on Facebook:
Follow on TwitterFollow IBJ's Tweets on these topics:
 
Subscribe to IBJ
  1. So the Mayor adds another non value added layer to having a vehicle towed? Whereby the City Government RECIEVES AN ILLEGAL KICKBACK FROM A LGOISTICS COMPANY THAT SUBS THE WORK TO LOCAL TOW COMPANIES? What is the service the City performs for receiving the "tribute"? This is RICO!!!!! What a corrupt and unnecessary layer. What a dirtbag Mayor and his cronies.

  2. Owner occupied housing. Clear enough?

  3. So people think I am paranoid. It's from experience in dealing with puds requested by developers who make major donations themselves to representatives, have nice fund raisers for those running for office and hide through pac's. then there are the public relation firms. You will note some pr comments below. You there Clyde Lee? My opinion. Commercial along 421, great. Multifamily housing, terrible idea that will change the town. Senior condos or zero lot line homes west, great. I suggest keeping all entries to commercial areas at 421. All entries to owner occupied on sycamore. Will keep the traffic on sycamore down some. Two other things. You can't trust what will be there in 10 years. Steve builds quality stuff, but areas change over time. Look at the changes at the wall mart center at 86th and 421 over the last 10 years. Look at the apartments and neighborhoods behind St Vincent's. Raintree properties WILL decrease in value if commercial and multifamily goes in near. It has already been happening around the bridges area. The houses that have been sold recently are way below market. Several deals not closed due to the Illinois construction and the whole unsurety of the bridges. It's pretty simple, Zionsville will approve the whole thing because the city council has been groomed over a LONG period of time for this. I might even suggest some are in their position as a result of this.

  4. Esta, do you have a dog in this fight? You seem to really want to knock anyone against this project. No, I didn't move to Indiana for the architecture. I moved here for that red barn in the field. The horses and fields of corn. A place that is NOT overdeveloped. There are plenty of nearby places in Indianapolis that could be REDEVELOPED instead.

  5. RKW - OK, we get it, you're paranoid. The question is, are you paranoid enough? Greg - Yes, Pittman(s) is (are) at it again. They are developers, they build things. It's what they do. So when you go to work tomorrow, Greg, you're at it again too. Cliff - Really? You moved to Indiana for its progressive architecture? That's like moving to England for the cuisine. Zionsvillain - The house you moved to was once a field or woods. I'm willing to bet folks were upset when that ground was plowed under and a house was built. But I guess now that you are in, everything should stop? "My house was OK, but the next one is sprawl." SE Guy - Please don't paint us with such a wide brush. Most reasonable Zionsville residents welcome planned, measured development.

ADVERTISEMENT