Issue Position: Community

Issue Position

Investing in Local Community Development to Make Indiana the Best Place to Live, Enhancing the Safety of Our Communities, Addressing and Acting on Public Health, Mental Health and Drug Addiction Challenges, and Protecting Indiana's Vulnerable Citizens from Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation.

* Invest in Local Community Development to Make Indiana the Best Place to Live

Expand the Regional Cities Initiative to encourage regional collaboration on projects that improve the vibrancy of communities across our state.
Expand the Stellar Communities and Mainstreet programs under the Office of Community and Rural Affairs so that projects in more of our smaller communities can be selected for transformational investments.
Streamline the various quality of place-related incentives managed by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation into a single tax credit that can be accessible to every community to support revitalization and redevelopment.
Instruct the Office of Management and Budget to waive annual audit fees for local Regional Development Authorities that continue to work in unison to prepare their communities for investment.
Increase broadband capabilities in rural communities.

* Enhance the Safety of Our Communities

Substantially increase the Indiana State Police compensation matrix to ensure Indiana can continue to recruit, equip, train, and retain the very best statewide police force.
Convene a working group to share best practices across state and local law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve, a working product of strategies that build upon ongoing successful efforts at developing trust between police and the Hoosiers they serve.
Focus on mitigating property crime and pharmacy robberies through increased focus on drug treatment and a matching grant program to enhance pharmacy security.

* Address & Act on Public Health, Mental Health, and Drug Addiction Challenges

Lead renewal and continuation of the Healthy Indiana Plan 2.0 with a focus on improving health status of participants.
Encourage the completion of the new mental health hospital at Community East and ensure the facility starts seeing patients in 2018.
Develop incentive programs aimed at boosting the number of doctors serving rural communities.
Support efforts to enhance awareness and use of telehealth services across Indiana to increase access to quality healthcare services to Hoosiers in rural counties.
Expand access to mental health addiction services in the Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP) and Medicaid program.
Combat drug overdoses by continuing to promote the use of life saving overdose intervention drugs, such as Naloxone.
Support state and local efforts to improve access to high quality health care and improve the health of Hoosiers by lowering Indiana's infant mortality, obesity, and smoking rates.

* Protect Indiana's Vulnerable Citizens from Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation

Support county prosecutors by giving them the tools and resources they need to protect vulnerable adults at the local level.
Direct officials at the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration to work alongside county prosecutors to collaboratively develop best practices for the Adult Protective Services program while preserving local control.
Protect abused and neglected children by ensuring the Department of Child Services has the resources and staff it needs to handle abuse and neglect cases.

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