WEINZAPFEL OUTLINES PLAN TO PROTECT WORKING HOOSIERS

As workers face unprecedented health and economic challenges, today, Jonathan Weinzapfel outlined his plans to better protect working Hoosiers as Indiana’s next Attorney General.   “From demanding safe working conditions and appropriate PPE for all employees, to making sure workers are paid what they’ve earned and supporting Hoosiers’ right to organize, it’s time the Indiana Attorney General stands up for everyday working people – and that’s what I intend to do,” said Weinzapfel. Weinzapfel, who has a long record of advocating for working men and women, will emphasize the following as the state’s Attorney General:

• Better Enforcement of Workplace Safety Standards: As Attorney General, Weinzapfel will work with the Indiana Department of Labor to hold organizations that put workers in danger accountable, including filing civil lawsuits, issuing subpoenas to compel the release of information, offering advisory opinions to aid local prosecutors, releasing reports on workplace safety violations and other measures designed to publicly admonish bad actors. 
• Protecting Hoosier’s Wages. As Attorney General, Weinzapfel will hold businesses accountable that don’t pay employees in a timely matter, that seek to restrict future employment with unlawful non-compete clauses, and those that treat full-time employees as independent contractors, thereby denying them benefits, taxes and other agreed upon wages.  
• Using the Office to Support Workers Rights. From fighting to ensure equal pay for equal work, to advocating for raising the minimum wage for essential workers, to supporting the rights of workers to bargain collectively, Weinzapfel will use the office’s bully pulpit to shed light on issues all working Hoosiers are facing.
• Protecting Health Care.  As Attorney General, Weinzapfel will immediately withdraw Indiana from a lawsuit that seeks to overturn the Affordable Care Act. If successful, the lawsuit would strip away health care from both employed and unemployed Hoosiers who rely on the ACA for coverage, gut protections for those with pre-existing conditions and destroy the states’ Healthy Indiana plan which covers low-income families. 

“COVID-19 has shed new light on the people who make our economy work. We need to protect them, just like they continue to protect us,” added Weinzapfel. “This is our opportunity to reset and demand better. As Attorney General I will use this office to lift working people up, to make their lives better and to respect and honor the dignity of work…all work.” Weinzapfel has a long record of backing working families and helping to create jobs that pay a living wage. As Mayor of Evansville, in the middle of a recession, he put thousands of tradespeople to work building a downtown arena and spurring the resurgence of the community’s downtown district.