Potential governors of Indiana present small business strategies

Fishers, Indiana – Although they disagreed on what they would alter, eight candidates from three parties stated on Tuesday that Indiana hasn’t done enough to promote small companies.

The National Federation of Independent Businesses and Americans for Prosperity Indiana hosted a forum on Tuesday that featured all six Republican primary candidates: Brad Chambers, Mike Braun, Eric Doden, Curtis Hill, Jamie Reitenour, and Suzanne Crouch. Additionally, the presumed Democratic nominee Jennifer McCormick, and the Libertarian nominee Donald Rainwater were also present. The issues that small businesses face were the main topic of discussion in the forum.

Education and healthcare expenditures were major topics of conversation. While Rainwater said that a large portion of the costs are being driven by onerous health insurance laws, Chambers and Reitenour pledged to urge politicians to support the elimination of noncompete agreements for physicians. According to McCormick, voters must reverse 20 years of Republican supermajority policies that gave rise to hospital monopolies.

Regarding education, Chambers, Reitenour, Crouch, and Doden declared that they will concentrate on creating career pipelines during the school years and motivating pupils to choose apprenticeships following high school. Braun suggested that more information about careers that don’t require a college degree should be given to parents and children by schools. According to Hill, educational institutions ought to revert to teaching core courses like civics and history and make sure students have early access to career options.

The contenders with the largest taxation differences were probably those. Crouch has consistently emphasized in her campaign that she wants to do away with the state income tax, and she brought up this point multiple times on Tuesday’s discussion. She said that removing the state income tax will boost the state’s economy by luring more visitors and businesses to Indiana as well as by encouraging residents to spend more money.

Hill stated that he would prefer to do away with the gas tax that was introduced by state legislators in 2018. Reitenour, Braun, and Doden expressed their desire to look into the potential of lowering or doing away with property taxes, especially for senior citizens. Although McCormick would be in favor of examining Indiana’s current tax structure, she claimed that hidden taxes resulting from what she described as inappropriate spending priorities are the true problem.

“That is happening because the system we have built is not paying attention to our expenditure priorities,” she said.

Rainwater declared that he would be in favor of capping property taxes and doing away with the state income tax.

One business owner changed his mind about voting after hearing the candidates outline their platforms and seeing them in person, he said. According to Brandon Reeve, he was unsure after the forum even though he had pretty much made up his mind before. He expressed his belief that voters have a good selection of candidates, which is a positive thing.

“I really was very impressed with quite a few people,” he said. “Read and definitely do your research. Don’t just vote based on names.”

May 7 is the primary. You have until April 8 to register to vote if you wish to participate in the primary but are not yet registered.