INDIANAPOLIS — In Gov. Eric Holcomb’s 2021 State of the State address, he looked back at some of Indiana’s losses due to COVID-19 and reiterated some of his priorities for the current year.
In a rare pre-taped address, he discussed the 9,000 Hoosier lives lost to COVID-19 over the last 10 months since the pandemic hit the state in March.
After a moment of silence for the lives lost, Holcomb thanked health care professionals, law enforcement and spiritual leaders for their work during the pandemic.
Holcomb then spelled out a few ideas he proposed earlier in the year, either via his biennium budget proposal or his legislative priorities for the 2021 legislative session.
Some of the top issues include increasing K-12 funding by $377 million, pay down $400 million in teacher pension debt and pay off outstanding bonds on I-69 and mortgages on three state hospitals.
Holcomb touted the state’s COVID-19 vaccination effort, as more than 600,000 eligible Hoosiers have scheduled theirs.
He also pushed Indiana lawmakers to pass a pregnancy accommodations bill, as 30 other states have done. He wanted it a year ago, but the legislature didn’t do it.
“Women make up over half of Indiana’s workforce and should expect reasonable accommodations at their workplace, which often comes at little or no cost to an employer,” Holcomb said.
Watch the full speech below:
