DR. WOODY MYERS AND LINDA LAWSON RELEASE AFRICAN AMERICAN AGENDA

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – Today Dr. Woody Myers and Linda Lawson announced their plan to improve quality of life and place for Black Hoosiers, with initiatives designed to lift Indiana out of its race to the bottom thanks to sixteen years of failed leadership in the Indiana Governor’s Office.
 
“Gov. Holcomb and Statehouse Republicans are failing African Americans in Indiana,” said Dr. Woody Myers. “They’ve had more than enough time to address issues that disproportionately affect Black Hoosiers: underfunded schools, poor public health infrastructure, corruption in state government, police harassment, discriminatory business practices, and low wages. We have got to put people first—not politics.”
 
“Black Hoosiers deserve better than Indiana’s 48^th ranking in public health investment,” said former State Representative Linda Lawson. “Black pregnant moms are dying at some of the highest rates in the country and their children are trying to learn in underfunded schools—all the while being the target of a consistently biased criminal justice system.”
 
Our communities deserve to have clean water and air and a true economic opportunity for our businesses to thrive. Indiana needs a Governor that understands structural inequality and prevents growth and opportunity.  
 
The Myers/Lawson plan addresses:
Building Generational Wealth

• Increase African American homeownership by eliminating redlining and discriminatory lending practices
• Incentivize creation of a statewide African American entrepreneurship fund/ investment pool for Black entrepreneurs and Black owned businesses in Indiana
• Review utilization plan, root out disparities, and expand use of minority and women owned businesses in state contracts
• Incentivize hiring of formerly incarcerated individuals in state agencies and contracts
• Remove barriers to employment
• Expand access to paid family and sick leave through state insurance program and access to quality, affordable childcare
• Ensure pay equity in all state jobs and contracts and businesses receiving state incentive dollars
• Support alternative lending programs to eliminate usage of predatory payday lending
• Support savings programs in African American communities
• Fix inequity in utility rates in low-income communities

Investing in our Future

• Change the public school funding formula so that funding is equitable across Indiana and schools have the resources needed to close the achievement gap
• Partner with community organizations and federal agencies to provide extracurricular activities in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), humanities, art, and pathways to careers in coding and renewable energy technology
• Re-instate the arts and music into our school to enrich opportunity for the artistically gifted Hoosier children
• Guarantee quality universal pre-k and kindergarten for all Hoosier children
• Prioritize improved student outcomes for African American children to end the school to prison pipeline
• Ensure access to physical and mental health services in schools, including additional nurses, social workers and counselors 
• Increase diversity of school counselors to help African American students graduate and navigate higher education options

Health and Wellbeing 

• Provide African American communities the resources needed to combat COVID including increased testing, treatment, and social supports
• Expand access to Medicaid and free preventative health screenings and services
• Decrease maternal and infant mortality by:
  • Increasing funding for access to contraception, preventative, and reproductive health services for African American women
  • Improving the delivery of prenatal and postpartum care and identifying best practices for healthy outcomes for mothers
  • Supporting Workplace Pregnancy Accommodations legislation
  • Developing a statewide postpartum plan for mothers from birth through a year after birth
• Expand access to low cost, nutritious foods by incentivizing grocery stores and farmers markets located in African American communities
• Work with the medical community to recognize cultural bias in treatment

Criminal Justice and Corrections Reform

• Decriminalize marijuana use and eliminate minor possession charges for past and future offenses
  • Legalize medical marijuana
• Increase state funding to support dashboard and body cams for local police
• Improve education, job training, and re-entry programs to prepare inmates for success upon release
• Improve police and criminal justice system bias training and address current officers with a history of biased actions
• Allow early release for inmates with low level offenses who are at risk for COVID exposure

Expanding Voter Access

• Invest in expanded voter engagement in African American communities
• Increase polling locations in African American communities
• Extend voting hours, early voting sites, and vote by mail and implement no excuse absentee voting
• Eliminate barriers to voting:
  • Simplify voter ID requirements
  • Reform voter registration to allow same-day voter registration

Environmental Justice

• Provide clean, lead-free water in every community
• Create and maintain public green spaces
• Reinvest in brownfield cleanup and coal ash waste ponds, prioritizing those in African American communities
• Renewable energy
  • Reinstate Energizing Indiana program by reinstating incentives to make homes and businesses energy efficient
  • Promote inclusive job training in renewable energy technology
  • Fix inequity in utility rates in targeted low-income communities