INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – For all their policy differences, the three choices for Indiana governor agree on two things: lowering property taxes and rethinking Indiana’s approach to economic development.

Governor Eric Holcomb, a Republican, is term-limited. On Nov. 5, Indiana voters will decide whether he will be succeeded by fellow Republican Mike Braun, Democrat Jennifer McCormick or Libertarian Donald Rainwater. All three names are familiar to voters across the state. Braun has represented Indiana since 2018 in the US Senate. McCormick was Indiana’s last elected superintendent of public instruction, serving as a Republican from 2017 to 2021. Rainwater is making an encore appearance in the 2020 governor’s race, where he took home 11 percent of the vote, the best performance of any third-party candidate. for governor since before the civil war.

All three candidates sat down with News 8 for Sunday’s “All Indiana Politics.” The show airs on Sundays at 9:30.

Property and housing taxes

Housing issues have driven electoral politics at all levels this year. For Braun, McCormick and Rainwater, the housing crisis ultimately comes down to property taxes. All three have proposed plans to change Indiana’s property tax structure. Braun wants to allow each homeowner to deduct 60 percent of their home’s assessed value from their tax bill and take a standard deduction of $48,000 if their home has an assessed value below $125,000. He also wants to limit annual property tax increases to 2 percent for seniors, low-income homeowners and families with children under 18, and 3 percent for everyone else. McCormick wants to cap the increases at 10 percent, increase the maximum property tax deduction for a homeowner from $2,500 to $3,500 and expand deductions for seniors and disabled veterans. Rainwater wants to cap property taxes at 1 percent of a home’s sales price and end property taxes seven years after a person buys it.

McCormick said Braun’s plan would deprive local governments of revenue needed to support services like police and fire protection. She said her plan builds on proposals Republican and Democratic state lawmakers have advanced in recent years. She said her plan has already been vetted by state budget analysts as a result and is ready to go on day one. Braun said any problems with local revenue are the result of local governments not adjusting their rates down when they should have, adding that state lawmakers will work out the details. Rainwater said his plan ensures homeowners don’t pay property taxes in perpetuity and aren’t at risk of the government repossessing their homes for nonpayment.

News 8 asked each candidate what they would do about housing besides changing the state’s tax system. Braun said he will work with multifamily housing developers to identify state and federal regulations that drive up the cost of housing. Rainwater said he would ensure that housing development grants go only to starter homes, such as rehabbed unoccupied homes. McCormick said he will look at the state’s fair lending practices and tenant protections, as well as scrutinize whether state programs support housing that is truly affordable.

“When I’m all over the state and I ask (developers), they say they’re building affordable housing and they start at $300,000, which is not affordable for a lot of our Hoosiers,” she said.

Education

Much of the candidates’ discussion of education has focused on the school voucher program. Currently, a family of four earning less than $231,000 a year can receive a taxpayer-funded voucher to pay for sending their child to a private school. McCormick has harshly criticized the program, saying it deprives the state’s traditional public schools of more than $1 billion that could be used for teacher pay raises and other needs. She said she would narrow eligibility for vouchers, though she stopped short of calling for them to be eliminated entirely.

Braun and Rainwater both called for universal school vouchers. Braun said vouchers are not a zero-sum game. He said the state can still find the money to raise teacher salaries by redirecting funding to things like physical buildings. Rainwater called the state’s public school system a monopoly and said the state’s poor test scores are a sign the current system isn’t working, despite its dominance of the state budget.

Fixing Medicaid

It’s been nearly a year since the Family and Human Services Administration first disclosed that the state’s Medicaid fund was short nearly $1 billion. Officials blamed an accounting error. The agency has cut back on a number of services to save what money it has left. In particular, parents of medically complex children lost eligibility for reimbursement under the companion care program, and waiting lists were implemented for waivers that allow low-income adults to receive Medicaid funding for assisted living facilities.

McCormick said the Medicaid crisis is a prime example of the dangers of long-term one-party rule. She said she would launch a thorough review of how the problem arose, adding that no fix would be quick because of the scale and complexity of the problem. Rainwater said it will first try to recover more than $700 million that was allegedly overbilled to the state’s Medicaid system. He would also look for ways to improve program management and find other sources of funding within the budget, such as redirecting funding from the Indiana Economic Development Corporation.

“We shouldn’t be cutting the Medicaid promised to people because we made a mistake,” he said. “We need to make sure we have people in the FSSA who are managing the program properly and who are focused on delivering the service that the government has promised to the citizens that they have promised that service to.”

Braun said the state’s cash flow should be able to make up the shortfall, but the state’s health care system should be refocused on health and prevention. He said these upfront investments would reduce people’s need for treatment services, including through Medicaid.

Abortion

Indiana made national news in 2022 when it became the first state to enact a new abortion ban following the US Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade. McCormick has been a vocal critic of Indiana’s abortion ban. She said she would work across the aisle to allow voters to have a say on abortion rights through a ballot initiative, something state law doesn’t currently allow.

Braun has consistently said he believes state lawmakers got it right on the abortion ban. When News 8 asked if he would make any changes, he said he would leave the issue of changes to the legislature.

Rainwater, who described himself as a pro-life libertarian, said he would not support repealing Indiana’s abortion ban. Instead, he said Indiana voters should pressure lawmakers to make whatever changes they think need to be made.

Economic Development and the LEAP District

All three candidates criticized the way the Indiana Economic Development Corporation approached its mission, particularly the way it handled the development of Boone County’s LEAP district. Rainwater said he would privatize the LEAP district and end state government involvement in trying to attract businesses to certain parts of the state. He said promoting growth in one area, such as the LEAP district or major cities, always comes at the expense of other parts of the state. McCormick said he applauds the LEAP District’s intent, but the state shouldn’t be acting as a real estate agent. She said she would begin work on a statewide water management plan. Instead of focusing on one or two major jobs, McCormick said he will instead focus on the regional grant model, such as the READI grants. Braun said any development at the LEAP District will have to fit within what the state’s existing water and power infrastructure will allow. He said he would focus on bringing good-paying jobs to the state and increasing state support for small businesses and entrepreneurs.

“They just need more organic help. No major investment will be required,” he said. “It can change how we help them become more capable, and you’ll reap dividends from every corner of the state in between.”

The death penalty

Indiana is scheduled to carry out its first execution in 15 years on Dec. 18, when Joseph Corcoran is set to die by lethal injection for a 1997 quadruple murder in Fort Wayne. According to data compiled by the Death Penalty Information Center, 20 people have already been executed in eight other states this year, and seven more, including Corcoran, are scheduled to be executed by the end of the year. Three other men on Indiana’s death row have exhausted their appeals, and Attorney General Todd Rokita has asked the Indiana Supreme Court to set an execution date for one of them.

Rainwater said he would not approve any executions if elected and would lobby the General Assembly to abolish the death penalty. McCormick said he would follow the law for Indiana’s current capital sentencing, but added that the death penalty is “a permanent solution to an imperfect system” and should only be used when there is absolutely no question of a person’s guilt. people. Braun said he would carefully review each case before deciding whether to proceed with authorizing an execution.

Problems that escaped

News 8 also asked each candidate to name an issue they think was overlooked during the campaign. Braun called childcare. He said a lack of access to affordable childcare is preventing parents from re-entering the workforce. Braun said he’s seen approaches by individual entrepreneurs during his time on the campaign trail that he’s interested in exploring on a larger scale. McCormick said there hasn’t been enough conversation around education as a whole system that affects the growth and well-being of children, especially in the 0-5 age range. She also showed care for seniors. Rainwater said the other candidates didn’t say enough about the impact on farmers of the Mid-States Corridor, a proposed freeway bypass connecting I-64 and I-69 in southwest Indiana.

Voting notes

Early voting continues until Monday, November 4 at noon. Polls will be open from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm local time on Election Day, Tuesday, November 5.