Every Hoosier should have a fair shot at success. I helped introduce Gateway to Careers Act (S. 1117) to provide resources to support partnerships between community or technical colleges and workforce development partners. Removing barriers that keep individuals from excelling in our ever-changing workforce should be a top priority for expanding our business and growing our economy.
It’s clear that automation is rapidly changing the way our workforce operates. That is why I’m co-leading the Workforce Data for Analyzing and Tracking Automation Act (S. 1738) to help measure the impacts of new technologies, like artificial intelligence, and record continuous, reliable data on technological advancements in order to ensure our workers aren’t left behind.
Small businesses are the backbone of Indiana and to ensure their development I helped introduce the bipartisan Main Street Employee Ownership Act (S. 2786), which gives the Small Business Administration the tools and authority it needs to support small businesses in transitioning to employee ownership.
We need revolutionary solutions to target the root problems affecting underserved communities, and for this reason I helped introduce and secure passage of the bipartisan Investing in Opportunity Act (S. 293). This legislation offers a temporary capital gains deferral in exchange for reinvesting those dollars into distressed communities.
I helped introduce the bipartisan Medical Device Access and Innovation Protection Act (S. 108), which would permanently repeal the job-killing excise tax on medical devices, saving countless jobs in Indiana.
With many individuals reaching retirement with little to no savings of their own, we must take a serious look at our current retirement programs. I introduced the Commission on Retirement Security Act (S. 1435) to create a federal retirement commission to review private retirement benefit programs.
I cosponsored and ensured passage of the bipartisan Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act (S. 362) to ensure the continued growth of Indiana’s craft beverage industry by reducing excise taxes, compliance burdens, and regulations for brewers, cider makers, vintners, and distillers.
I voted in favor of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act to reform America’s tax code for the first time in 31 years – allowing hardworking Hoosiers to keep more of their hard earned money. Almost immediately after the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act became law, American workers began to see the effects in the form of bonuses and raises.
I voted in favor of the bipartisan Dodd-Frank Reform, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (S. 2155, to offer much-needed reforms to help ensure that financial regulators can focus on the financial institutions that pose the greatest systemic risk to the economy. This bipartisan bill scales back some of the worst excesses of Dodd-Frank while maintaining key consumer safeguards.
I was a strong supporter and cosponsor of the Modernizing Recreational Fisheries Management Act of 2018 (S. 1520), which sought to conserve mixed-use fisheries while protecting the rights of sportsmen to fish America’s coastal waters.
In many professions, apprenticeships are the gateway to opportunities and well-paying jobs. For this reason I was the lead Republican cosponsor of the Apprenticeship Hubs Across America Act (S. 951), which seeks to provide grant opportunities to workforce intermediaries for the purposes of expanding the use of registered apprenticeships.
Indiana is a transportation and goods-carrying hub and to ensure our success continues in future generations, I introduced the DRIVE-Safe Act (S. 569), which addresses the mounting driver shortage that impedes commerce in the Crossroads of America.
In order to ensure employees are not having work hours reduced due to Obamacare regulations, I introduced the bipartisan Employee Flexibility Act (S. 1510), to restore the definition of a “full-time employee” to 40 hours per week rather than the current 30 hours.
In order to promote small businesses, I introduced the Investing in Main Street Act (S. 1994) to permit banks to invest up to 15 percent of their capital in a Small Business Investment Company (SBIC), which is a licensed and regulated private lending company that offers venture capital financing to higher-risk small businesses.
I helped introduce the Employee Rights Act (S.1774) to ensure employee rights are protected and union practices are fair through the creation of new, substantive protections for union employees.
In order to better understand the challenges facing under-served communities, I introduced the Innovation Zone Act (S. 1221), which will improve and reform the under-utilized and inefficient experimental sites initiative.
In order to reduce the burden of non-compete clauses and allow workers more freedom to choose where they wish to work, I introduced the Workforce Mobility Act (S. 2614), which limits the ability of businesses to require non-competes from its workers, clauses that stifle wage growth, career advancement, innovation, and business creation.
Tourism is important to Indiana’s economy, and we must optimize our Hoosier assets. I led the effort to recognize our Indiana Dunes and promote connected economic opportunities through introducing and ensuring passage of the Indiana Dunes National Park Act (S. 168), which re-designates the Indiana Dunes to a National Park.
I also worked to extend the Lewis and Clark Trail to include Indiana’s southern border. Extending the trail to Clarksville will provide great tourism and educational opportunities in southern Indiana.
