Analysis: Pence builds resume even as he discounts presidential talk

By Lesley Weidenbener
TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS – Gov. Mike Pence sidestepped questions this week from conservative media mogul Steve Forbes about running for president but the conversation that emerged sounded very much like a resume for national office.

Pence bragged on the state’s AAA credit rating, plugged recent tax cuts and predicted its private school voucher program could soon become the largest in the nation.

“The success we’ve enjoyed in Indiana has been because we have found a way, part and parcel, to be doing things differently, to be innovating and creating state-based solutions,” Pence said. “I really do believe that the key for the country going forward in some measure is a reinvigoration of that competitive federalism.”

Forbes interviewed Pence at the opening session Thursday in his Reinventing Summit at the JW Marriott in Indianapolis. Forbes asked about what’s working in Indiana and why private sector job growth has been stronger recently in the Hoosier state than in almost any other place in the nation.

In his answers, Pence essentially laid out a case for why he could be a strong contender for the GOP nomination, even as he denied interest in the job. Here are just a few things Pence had to say and why it might matter in a GOP primary fight:

Tax cuts

Forbes – a big advocate for lower, flatter income taxes – touted cuts that Pence and the General Assembly have made recently in taxes for individuals and corporations. Pence also signed a bill that lets counties cut property taxes on business inventory and another law that sped up the elimination of the inheritance tax.

“We ended death taxes. Death is no longer a taxable event in Indiana,” Pence said. “We’ll just leave it there.”

Tax cuts are a huge resume boost for any Republican candidate. They appeal to almost all segments of the party and particularly to business leaders who are big spenders in GOP primaries. Of course, most Indiana observers know that the corporate and inheritance tax rates were already dropping under action taken before Pence came into office, although he was an advocate of speeding up or expanding the cuts.

Pence also proposed the individual income tax cut, although he got only about half of what he wanted. And he pushed for a much bigger bite out of the personal property tax but settled for the local option.

Education

Pence told Forbes that he’s pushing for more vocational education in Indiana schools after learning from business leaders that they can’t find enough high school grads who are ready to go to work. He also described the state’s efforts to write its own curriculum standards – eschewing the controversial Common Core standards – and he said Indiana could soon have the highest number of students in the nation attending private schools through vouchers.

Pence is part of a national movement toward voc ed and away from an earlier sentiment that every student needed to be prepared to go to a four-year college. He worked with lawmakers to set up a web of state and local councils trying to reestablish those programs in schools, although it’s too soon to judge the results.

As for vouchers, Pence is truly reaping the rewards of the system created before he was elected – a program that is already the broadest in the nation in terms of eligibility. The fact that the state may soon have the most kids enrolled is a testament to how easy conservative lawmakers have made it to qualify.

But his predecessor, Gov. Mitch Daniels, also left Pence another gift: Common Core. The former governor appointed a state school board that endorsed the standards, which gave Pence the GOP-led General Assembly the opportunity to repeal Common Core when it became controversial. Now Pence can hype a locally-written set of standards and brag that Indiana was the first state to formally withdraw from Common Core. Never mind that the new standards borrow heavily from their less popular cousin.

Regulation reduction

There are few things Republicans – especially the business wing of the party – get more excited about than reducing regulations. Of course, this is not something that gets the hearts of voters incredibly engaged. But remember, big money GOP donors dislike regulation and they matter in a GOP primary.

In his first day in office, Pence imposed a moratorium on new regulations – save those required by federal law. That’s not to say plenty of state rules haven’t made their way through the system since his election but they appear to be getting a much stricter look.

Meanwhile, several agencies in the Pence administration are seeking to reduce regulations. In particular, the Professional Licensing Agency is working with lawmakers to eliminate or reduce oversight of some jobs. And Pence has joined other governors in fights to persuade the Obama administration against new regulations for energy and trade.

Following the Forbes event, Pence reiterated that he is planning to run for reelection as governor in 2016. He said he’d make a decision about his future next spring, after the 2015 legislature adjourns for the year and maybe pads his resume a little bit more.

Lesley Weidenbener is executive editor of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.