Hoosier Hometown Tour Continues in East Central Indiana

Long Thompson, Oxley lay out vision for economic growth 

RICHMOND, Ind. - Visiting counties with some of the state's highest unemployment rates, today Jill Long Thompson and Dennie Oxley continued their "Hoosier Hometown Tour" in East Central Indiana. 

The Democratic nominees for Governor and Lieutenant Governor made stops in Henry, Wayne, Fayette, Shelby and Union Counties on Monday.

"East Central Indiana has been hit hard by job losses, but it doesn't have to be that way," said Long Thompson. "These communities are much like the small towns that Dennie and I grew up in. There are challenges, but with the right priorities and right leadership, we have tremendous opportunities."

"To turn around this economy, I strongly believe that we must include everyone.  No county, no matter the size or geographic location, should be left out or left behind," added Long Thompson. "That's the fundamental difference between Governor Daniels and me."

On Friday the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the Indiana lost another 17,900 jobs from May to June and had 43,800 fewer jobs compared to June of 2007. Indiana's unemployment rate increase, from 5.3 percent in June to 5.8 percent in May, was the largest increase in the nation.

The same report found that Fayette County had the state's highest unemployment rate at 11.5 percent, with Wayne County's reporting a 7 percent rate, Henry County reporting a 6.8 percent rate and Union County reporting a 6.1 percent joblessness rate.

"Indiana can and should be doing better; these communities can and should be doing better," said Dennie Oxley, the Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor. "However, under Mitch Daniels we continue to fall further and further behind while he keeps telling us everything is going great."

 "We cannot continue down the path we are on- good-paying jobs continue to leave Indiana for other states, we are experiencing record high mortgage foreclosures and personal bankruptcies, and the price of food, fuel and taxes are spiraling out of control.  We must take a new approach to turning the economy around."   

Indiana now ranks 44th in the nation in personal income growth and Hoosier workers make only 88 cents on the dollar compared to the average American;  approximately 740,000 Hoosiers live in poverty including 260,000 children;  Indiana is among the leading states for home foreclosures, personal bankruptcies and health care costs; more than 850,000 Hoosiers live without access to health insurance and nine working-age Hoosiers die each week because of the lack of health insurance; Indiana has the second worst environmental ranking in the nation,  and nearly one-third of Indiana high school students do not graduate.

 "As Governor, I'm going to take an aggressive approach to not only attracting good-paying jobs to communities across this state, but to protecting the jobs that are already here," said Long Thompson. "We can do that by removing some barriers that impede our competitiveness and by targeting our investments in a more strategic way." 

Earlier this year, Long Thompson and Oxley began to lay out their plan. The "Grow Indiana Plan," centers on changing state policies to ensure they benefit all 92 counties.  Specifically, they would place performance-based incentives into the state's tax structure to help grow jobs, reform existing law to allow all individuals and businesses who chose to pool together to buy health insurance in bulk, and provide incentives to encourage telecommunications companies to expand into areas where broadband and high-speed internet access is currently not available, or not affordable.

Long Thompson and Oxley have also proposed instituting an "Economic Tiers" program to direct the state's resources to struggling counties.  Under their plan, each of the state's 92 counties would be categorized into three different tiers with the state's economic development dollars delegated accordingly.  The tiers would be updated regularly and determined by several factors, including the county's unemployment rate, median household income, population growth and assessed property value per capita. 

This is the third week in which Long Thompson and Oxley have been traveling to communities throughout Indiana on their "Hoosier Hometown Tour." To learn more about their trips and what Hoosiers are saying, visit their blog, which is updated daily at www.hoosiersforjill.com/blog.

For more information about Jill Long Thompson, Dennie Oxley or their campaign to restore Indiana's promise, please visit www.hoosiersforjill.com or call 317-635-Jill.

Source: Jill Long Thompson Press Release