Senator tours Muncie; says healthcare reform 'is a moving target'

Indiana's junior senator, Republican Todd Young, was in Muncie on Wednesday afternoon to tour the Arc of Indiana's Erskine Green Training Institute inside the Courtyard hotel downtown.

The institute trains people with disabilities who want to work in the hospitality or healthcare fields.

After the tour, Young called it a "unique operation." It's the first of its kind to help make a dent in the unemployment rate — as high as 70 percent — for people with disabilities.

In a quick interview, Young offered his thoughts on several issues facing Hoosiers.

On the federal budget:  A blueprint released by the Trump administration last month proposes deep spending cuts in social programs, boosts in defense spending and money for a proposed border wall along the Mexico border.

"We're going to produce our own budget in Congress," Young said. "There's a lot of disagreement on Capitol Hill about the merits and demerits of the president's budget." He said all federal programs will be examined and if they're not performing their stated purpose, they should be reformed or replaced. Block grants to cities and states, which the budget proposal has proposed slashing, will be debated "and we'll see where we end up. One thing is for certain, no changes will be made unless there's some bipartisan agreement," he said.

On U.S. withdrawal from the Paris climate accord: "This is really, to my mind, not news," Young said, because Trump indicated weeks ago he was going to withdraw the U.S. from the pact. "This is just more of a public statement as much as anything else." 

Young said the real issue is the Clean Power Plan, which he said would adversely affect lower income Hoosiers, senior citizens and industry because they would pay more for electricity. That policy, supported by the Obama administration, was aimed at mitigating climate change by lowering carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired generating plants.

Noting he ran on a platform of jobs and the economy, Young said "we need to make sure we're doing everything we can to be competitive as a state. He supports Trump's reversal of the Clean Power Plan.

On healthcare reform:  "It's a moving target." By August, he said, "we'll have a lot more clarity as to exactly where we're headed." He indicated there will be significant changes between the House and Senate versions, with the Senate contemplating spreading out tax credits differently "up and down the economic ladder." He prefers to be more generous to people of modest means with respect to tax credits so they can purchase health insurance.

"It's essential we maintain the Medicaid expansion or at least create the ability for the state to maintain the Medicaid expansion. In the end, it's going to be up to the leaders here in the state of Indiana to be responsive to the Hoosiers who want to fund the Medicaid expansion."

On the workings inside the Senate chamber: Young said since joining that chamber this year, he's observed how long it takes to bring matters to a vote. "That's not always a bad thing because one of the roles of the senate historically has been to ensure that we deliberate, we fully debate before we take action." He noted, without naming names, that there been a concerted effort to slow down the process by some members for "political purposes."

Jeff Ward is a news columnist for The Star Press. Email him at jward@muncie.gannett.com with tips, suggestions or story ideas. Follow him on Twitter: @JeffWardTSP.