(Indianapolis, Indiana) Gov. Mike Pence delivered a very utilitarian State of the State address this evening. If this was intended to set the stage for a run for higher national office, the governor hid the agenda well.
“To the governor’s credit, he focused his remarks on his current job and serving our state,” noted Libertarian Party of Indiana State Chairman Dan Drexler. “While the overall topics and soundbites were incredibly predictable, the lack of real substance on his education plans was actually a little surprising.”
In his remarks to Hoosiers, the governor suggested we put more children in quality schools without qualifying what makes a quality school. He noted emphatically that teacher pay needs to be increased, but tapered off quickly from that remark. Once again, he advanced the Democratic Party agenda of subsidized daycare through his continued support for taxpayer-funded pre-K education.
We applaud the governor’s call-out for a balanced budget amendment, although the necessity at this time is questionable. Promotion of expanded school choice and his defense of Indiana’s coal industry against overbearing federal rules was also welcomed.
Notably absent was any mention of his past attacks on same-sex marriages and his insistence on inflicting Hoosiers with his “The World According to Pence” small-minded views. Possibly we have witnessed our governor’s evolution on this topic? If that’s the case, we welcome him into the current century.