By Sydney Byerly
The Indiana Citizen
July 31, 2026
MARION, Ind. — Micah Beckwith, the Republican lieutenant governor, held a town hall Wednesday night in Marion in which he called for Indiana to amend its constitution to mandate a religious oath – and also tackled a long list of other topics raised by attendees.
He answered questions from constituents about Medicaid changes, faith-based initiatives, data centers, immigration, foreign policy and the role of religion in public life.
The town hall at God’s House, part of Beckwith’s “92 & You State Tour,” lasted more than two hours. Beckwith then stayed afterward to speak individually with attendees beneath the church’s vaulted ceilings and stained-glass windows.
Here are some of the topics that emerged during Beckwith’s town hall:
Valerie Moody, of Gas City, asked Beckwith about the expansion of data centers and the use of Flock license plate reader cameras.
Beckwith said he is skeptical of large-scale data center development without safeguards, but also said he has concerns about China’s influence and the future of artificial intelligence infrastructure.
“If we lose this data center war, China will win it,” Beckwith said, comparing control of data infrastructure to control of the internet.
Immigration also emerged as a recurring topic.
Beckwith said he supports legal immigration but argued immigrants should assimilate into American culture and learn English.
He criticized government services offered in multiple languages, including at Bureau of Motor Vehicles branches, saying those services discourage assimilation.
“We need to stop that wrong, just like we’d do with any other wrongdoing,” Beckwith said.
The evening’s most heated discussion involved religion, Islam and the role of Christianity in American society.
Beckwith said Muslims should be free to worship but argued the country should not ignore what he described as its Christian foundations.
When an attendee challenged his comments and said rhetoric about Islam risked creating hostility toward Muslims, Beckwith argued he was calling out ideas rather than targeting people.
“I’m not asking for anyone to take out a sword and kill Muslims,” Beckwith said, adding that he believed leaders have a responsibility to identify what he sees as falsehoods.
“A shepherd does not let the sheep get eaten by the wolf,” he said.
Beckwith pointed to the growth of the Muslim community in Indiana and newly built or expanded mosque projects emerging across the state in recent years. He also said he does not believe Americans should avoid confronting what he considers harmful ideas and criticized calls to “eradicate hate.”
One of the longest exchanges of the evening came after home health nurses questioned Beckwith about changes to Medicaid and whether new eligibility reviews could harm Hoosiers who rely on care services.
Carrie Jeffries, a registered nurse who works in home health care, raised concerns about patients who may lose access to assistance even if they remain eligible.
Beckwith said the state has to ensure taxpayer dollars are reaching people who qualify for help, arguing there is significant waste, fraud and abuse within government programs.
“There will always be innocent collateral damage,” Beckwith said, “But we’re trying to mitigate that as much as possible.”
Ashley Collins, another registered nurse at the town hall, argued that government changes shouldn’t move so quickly if they risk harming people who need assistance.
“If you can’t help, don’t hurt,” Collins said.
“We are uncovering a whole lot of waste, fraud, abuse from previous years, and so we are only a year and a half into this our first term — I’m telling you, it’s like cleaning up a bomb explosion,” Beckwith responded. “We’re finding things that were totally just blatant fraud or abuse, and so when we are going back, we’re doing that, and it’s getting better.”
The Braun administration has made reducing Medicaid waste, fraud and improper payments a priority, launching audits of Medicaid providers and, more recently, partnering with the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to pilot an artificial intelligence system designed to detect suspicious billing patterns before claims are paid. In April, the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration announced audits of five home- and community-based attendant care providers that identified an estimated $198 million in improper payments over multiple years, although providers disputed some of the findings.
Throughout the evening, Beckwith repeatedly returned to the role he believes churches and community organizations should play in addressing social problems.
Pastors Joandy and Jodi Angrand of God’s House, where the event was hosted, asked the lieutenant governor about how churches can help even more in their communities despite little funding.
He discussed efforts through the lieutenant governor’s faith-based initiatives office, including worker reentry programs, homelessness assistance and partnerships with churches.
“We’re all broken. We’re all flawed human beings,” Beckwith said while discussing the need to help people struggling with addiction, incarceration and poverty.
Beckwith said churches have a responsibility to be more involved in their communities.
“We’ve dropped the ball,” he said.
He also encouraged churches to work together with government, pointing to programs focused on helping people reenter the workforce and strengthening chaplaincy programs in jails, particularly in areas with high incarceration rates.
“That’s how you fix Indiana,” Beckwith said.
Beckwith highlighted the importance of local pastors and community leaders as “movers and shakers” who can help address problems at the local level.
Sydney Byerly is a political reporter who grew up in New Albany, Indiana. Before joining The Citizen, Sydney reported news for TheStatehouseFile.com and most recently managed and edited The Corydon Democrat & Clarion News in southern Indiana. She earned her bachelor’s in journalism at Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism (‘Sco Griz!).
The Indiana Citizen is a nonpartisan, nonprofit platform dedicated to increasing the number of informed and engaged Hoosier citizens. We are operated by the Indiana Citizen Education Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) public charity. For questions about the story, contact Marilyn Odendahl at marilyn.odendahl@indianacitizen.org.
