Candidate Statement
I have had the wonderful fortune of serving the people of House District 39 since 2024, when I first won election to the House. I have nearly 20 years experience in both the political and private sectors, experiences and relationships I am able to leverage on behalf of our communities. These include serving as Deputy Chief of Staff to Governor Holcomb, Chief of Staff to then LG Holcomb, and Executive Vice President of Pacers Sports & Entertainment, in addition to numerous boards and commissions through which I am able to make impact for our district and our state. I serve on the House Ways and Means Committee, where I actively help write our state's budget, reform our tax codes, and incent economic development.
Education
Master of Science - Sport Administration, Marketing, & Promotion
We have taken important steps to begin lowering property taxes in Indiana, and my priority as a member of the House Ways & Means Committee has been to find a balance between ensuring our schools and cities have the resources they need and providing relief for Hoosier taxpayers from double-digit increases in property taxes. That is ongoing work, and much of the next several sessions will likely be dedicated to this effort as we fully stairstep implementation of recent legislation. Last session, I also carried legislation through the House aimed at containing healthcare costs for Hoosier families, particularly in the Medicaid space. I also co-authored legislation to expand childcare access across Indiana counties. There is much to do on energy costs and healthcare costs, in particular, including building on our House Bill 1002 from last year which constrained costs utilities pass on to Hoosier ratepayers.
As we have for several sessions, the state plays a critical role in reducing healthcare costs on Hoosier families. For one thing, we must bring down our error and fraud rates in our Medicaid system, something that could cost our state hundreds of millions of dollars with the implementation of the new federal tax law. We also must continue to press our providers and insurers, jointly, on the many "hidden" ways fees end up in the lap of our families. This includes things like address issues in prior authorization, efficiencies in our hospitals, and dealing with Pharmacy Benefit Managers. We have also expanded opportunities and created incentives for employers to partner with providers to, for all intents and purposes, cut out the middle man and tailor plans specifically for their employees at lower costs. This model, implemented by some organizations already (the City of Fishers, for example) can be more widespread with the incentives we have put in place. That's our proper role.
Indiana has taken important steps to ensure that your tax dollars truly follow your child, regardless of what educational option is best for him or her. The fact is that, for too long, we have treated education as a one-size-fits-all system, though we have pivoted to making sure that we are funding a child's education and not a particular system. In places like Carmel and Westfield, our schools are exceptional and our educational outcomes are first-rate, so our families continue to choose our public school system. Where the system is not working for our children, we must ensure that families and their students aren't locked into educational situations that aren't right for them. Additionally, one of the things I have been vocal about is making sure we are not continually shifting the sand under the feet of our educators. Teaching is challenging enough without making it so that teachers have a different set of rules and regulations under which to play each school year.
Last year, I authored a significant reform of the Judiciary that is going to have important ramifications for public safety across all of central Indiana. My reform bill, HEA 1033, created new accountability measures to ensure judges are held accountable and there is greater communication across our criminal justice system, and the structural changes my bill put in place in Marion County, specifically, were steps that had not been tackled in a decade. Given that 4 of 10 inmates in donut county jails are Marion County residents, what happens in our capital city is truly important to the rest of the region. Moreover, we must continue to support our local law enforcement by giving them the tools to deal with the people we ought to be scared of while we have off ramps or alternative programs for folks who need treatment, not punishment.
We actually have a long track record of success, both in attracting high-wage jobs and investment to our state. In 2024, Indiana's capital investment number was nearly $40 billion, and more and more companies from across the country and the globe have opted to relocate their headquarters to Indiana. We must continue to be aggressive in this space, even while we work toward greater transparency. In 2025, I carried legislation through the House to enhance that transparency while not hamstringing our economic development agencies from continuing the important work they do in job attraction and retention. Last session, a number of my economic development bills merged into HEA 1406, including a new tax credit for investments in smaller Indiana communities and a commitment of $50 million in redevelopment tax credits for regional projects in central Indiana and beyond. My language also set up a framework for Indiana's new drone testing hub opportunity.
Without question, HEA 1033 will be as consequential a reform to the judiciary as we have seen in some time. I am proud to have worked hard with stakeholders and the judiciary itself to get to the right outcome, and there are additional reforms we will continue to seek that will make places like Carmel, Westfield, and other communities in Hamilton County safer. I also had the chance to co-author the Department of Local Government Finance bill last session, the catch-all bill that dealt with everything from Hamilton County's innkeeper's tax to new investments in our economic development apparatus. Finally, I had the opportunity to expand access to Indiana's venture capital tax credit program this past session, an effort that means greater investment into tech and innovation in our state. These are the kinds of issues on which I will continue to spend my time, as they are the types of things that truly move the needle for our residents in Hamilton County.
