INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb on Monday unveiled his 2022 Next Level Agenda.
The governor’s priorities for 2022 include strengthening the state’s economy and focusing on areas including workforce development, early childhood education, infrastructure improvements, and public health services.
“The 2022 Next Level Agenda builds a foundation for a healthier state,” Gov. Holcomb said. “These priorities will cultivate a more competitive environment to attract new economic development opportunities, establish better access to public health resources and help connect Hoosiers to better employment and training opportunities. Our efforts will advance Indiana’s reputation as a state Hoosiers want to live, work, play, study and stay.”
Economic Development
This portion of Holcomb’s agenda focuses on working with the state legislature to eliminate the 30% business personal property tax on new equipment. Holcomb says this move will impact the state’s competitiveness when it comes to attracting new businesses to the state.
Gov. Holcomb also wants to modernize the Indiana Economic Development Toolkit to:
- Create a new funding mechanism to more competitively invest in transformational economic development opportunities
- Provide greater flexibility within our existing economic tax credit incentive programs
- Incentivize and attract more remote worker jobs to Indiana.
Holcomb says he will also work with state lawmakers to ensure more than 900,000 Hoosiers receive the upcoming automatic taxpayer refund.
Education, Training, and Workforce Development
Gov. Holcomb says he will focus on strengthening early childhood learning opportunities and will direct the Department of Education to establish an Office of Kindergarten Readiness to partner with the early childhood team at the Family and Social Services Administration.
The Dept. of Education will also move forward with the Indiana Graduates Prepared to Succeed, a new school performance dashboard.
DOE is also building a new teacher supply-and-demand marketplace that will connect educators with job opportunities in Indiana, according to Holcomb.
Public Health and Wellness Development
Gov. Holcomb wants to remove the stigma of mental health by creating easier access for people in need of services, building awareness and expanding education, and growing the workforce in mental health.
The governor’s agenda also includes expanding data collection surrounding sudden unexplained infant deaths to understand the root cause. It also prioritizes creating guidelines for universal lead screening and connecting children with the proper care.
Community Development
Gov. Holcomb says his agenda will help communities strengthen cybersecurity efforts by developing a grant program to help local governments develop improvement plans.
The governor says he is committed to overseeing the implementation of the $500 million READI program as the 17 regions start developing their projects.
The governor’s agenda also calls for continued progress on capital projects and building better infrastructure by completing roads, trails, broadband, and facility projects.
Good Government Service
With his 2022 Next Level Agenda, Gov. Holcomb wishes to focus on firefighter safety by setting up a program that collects and properly disposes of PFAS, chemicals found in firefighting foam that can have adverse health effects.
The governor’s agenda also addresses the changes prompted by the third-party review of the state’s law enforcement agencies.
This includes a commitment to do the following:
- Work with legislative leaders to enhance membership of the Law Enforcement Training Board to include more civilians as well as all satellite academy directors as voting members
- Establish personnel at the Law Enforcement Training Board to expand development and oversight of statewide training and curriculum that includes implicit bias and cultural awareness
- Develop a strategic plan for Indiana State Police to accomplish recruiting and diversity goals
- Modernize state law enforcement information systems to better track and analyze performance metrics
