Holcomb began his speech with the Hoosier Playbook, a 12-point initiative to improve health care, education, quality of life, infrastructure, public safety and business.
The playbook is a guide that brings local leaders and state resources together to help the community. Holcomb emphasized his commitment to this approach, stating in a press release, “This Administration and this year’s agenda approach the work ahead as an all-hands-on-deck effort to connect Hoosiers with the assistance they need when they need it the most.”
“I want to take Indiana to the world and bring the world back,” he said in his speech.
The big reveal of Holcomb’s 2024 agenda was his new One Stop to Start initiative, a statewide workforce development program to raise awareness and connect Hoosiers with existing job-related training programs.
“I hope there is universal awareness to this one,” he said, emphasizing the need to simplify access to essential services.
Addressing literacy rates in K-12 education, Holcomb acknowledged the adverse impact of chronic absenteeism on student learning. He pledged to be part of legislative discussions on the matter and urged parents not to underestimate the long-term consequences of keeping their children out of school.
Holcomb’s 2024 agenda continued with an emphasis on early and higher education, specifically a requirement to review degree programs at state universities. The governor hopes this review will lead to the schools beginning to offer more three-year degrees. In a post-speech press conference, he said, “We don’t want people to be held back or forced on a track that takes four years when otherwise it could have been three.”
The governor also proposed expanding Hoosiers’ child-care service eligibility while ensuring an adequately trained and supervised workforce. He emphasized that with the right training, individuals should qualify and be eligible to work in child care whether 18 or 16.
In response to Holcomb’s agenda, Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray, R-Martinsville, said in a press release, “Senate Republicans share several of the governor’s priorities like expanding access to child care and supporting our students—especially as it pertains to ensuring our third graders have the foundational reading skills they need to be successful as they progress in school. We look forward to another productive legislative session working on behalf of Hoosiers alongside the governor and our colleagues in the House, and we are excited to share the details of our Senate Republican legislative agenda later this week.”
House Speaker Todd Huston, R-Fishers, also commented in a press release, saying, “Whether it’s growing our workforce, boosting third grade reading proficiency or expanding child-care access, we have many of the same goals laid out by Governor Holcomb. We look forward to continuing to work together with our House and Senate colleagues, and the administration on our shared priorities.”
The other side of the chamber weighed in with a press statement from Rep. Ed DeLaney, D-Indianapolis:
“It is clear that Republican leadership is out of ideas. This agenda consists of miniscule adjustments to existing programs that are failing to meet the needs of our working families.
“Notably, this agenda fails to address the $1 billion ‘mistake’ in Medicaid projections in the last budget, along with the IEDC’s extreme spending brought to light through the LEAP project. These are matters of importance to all Hoosiers, and yet Republicans clearly don’t want them up for discussion.
“Consistent with House and Senate leadership, Republicans are looking to get this session over with as quickly as possible instead of putting in the work to solve very real problems for Hoosiers.”
