INDIANAPOLIS – Plans by State Rep. Gail Riecken (D-Evansville) to begin finding immediate solutions to Indiana’s shockingly high infant mortality rate has been derailed by Gov. Mike Pence and his super-majorities in the Indiana House and Senate.

Administration officials and key negotiators in both legislative chambers refused to include Riecken’s proposal to create an Infant Mortality Reduction Grant Fund in the final version of Senate Bill 408 that was approved today in the Indiana General Assembly and sent to the governor for his consideration.

“Indiana ranks fifth in the nation in the number of child deaths,” Riecken said. “The problem is immediate, and the time to find solutions is now.”

Riecken’s proposal was designed to use interest on the money contained in the Indiana Checkup Plan to finance grants that would have funded a variety of programs that work to reduce infant mortality rates. One example would be campaigns that work to inform mothers about the serious risks of drug use during pregnancy.

“The top two causes of infant mortality in our state are babies who are born too small and too early,” Riecken said. “Of the nearly 300 children who died in Indiana in 2011, substance abuse was found to be a factor in nearly half of those cases.

“To have even one child die under such horrible circumstances is one too many, and I believe these are cases that could be prevented through proper education,” she continued. “My proposal would have laid the groundwork in providing that type of instruction.”

However, during negotiations on Senate Bill 408, Riecken said she was told that the Pence administration did not support the grant program and did not want it included in the final bill, a contention supported by negotiators for the Republican super-majorities in the House and Senate.

“This program to protect babies would not have cost one dime in new state money, since it would have used only the interest from an existing fund: the Indiana Checkup Plan,” Riecken said.

“The price tag would have been a small amount, compared to the hundreds of millions of dollars that are going to be devoted to cutting taxes for large corporations in Indiana,” she continued. “Of course, these babies do not have the ability to pay for high-priced lobbyists to curry favor in the halls of the Indiana Statehouse, so it is easy to ignore their cries for help.

“These are the times that make me wonder about the priorities of those who control our state government,” Riecken said. “It is very easy to talk about caring about protecting families, but doing something about reducing our terrible infant mortality rates appears to be a lesser priority than protecting big corporations.

“Today’s actions were very disappointing, but I will continue to fight for these children now and into the future,” Riecken concluded.

Meet John Montrastelle Republican Primary Candidate for Vanderburgh County Council, District 4, the first CCO Mole TV “Good Public Policy” forum guest tomorrow. The program is being recorded at the studio of Woods and Woods Law Firm. We shall be airing this show on the CCO “Mole TV” network web site in a couple days after the program is recorded.  Also this program shall be shown on “ME TV” cable channel this coming Sunday.  Information concerning the agreement between ME TV, CCO and WOODS AND WOODS law firm shall be announced in a couple of days.

The City County Observer and Woods and Woods law firm is pleased to announced that John Montrastelle the Republican primary candidate for County Council, District 4 shall be the first guest on the Woods and Woods “Good Public Policy’ forum on March 13, 2014.  His Republican primary opponent Pete Swaim originally accepted an invitation to participate in this forum but later decline to come on this show because of advice he received from his close political advisors.  Mike Woods, the  the program moderator of this forum stated, “we are extremely surprised and disappointed in Mr. Swaim decision not to come on my show so the voting public can get to know both Republican primary candidates running  for 4th District County Council seat.  Looks like Mr. Montrastelle shall have the entire forum at his disposal because of Mr. Swaim decision to be a “No Show” on our program”.

We also reached out to Vanderburgh County Commissioner Marsha Abell and her Republican primary opponent Bruce Ungetheim to be our special guests on our next “Mole TV” forum. Commissioner Abell told CCO editor Joe Wallace, that she needs to think about appearing on the program and will let him know at a later date.  Bruce Ungetheim immediately has accepted to be our special guest on “Mole TV” Forum.  Next week we shall be announcing the date for our next forum. This is a developing story and we will keep you posted.

                                  MEET CCO “MOLE TV” FIRST PROGRAM GUEST: JOHN MONTRASTELLE

John Montrastelle is a lifelong resident of Evansville and has such a great sense of pride about our community and the people who live here. John considers the people of this community to be warm, caring, volunteering and generous. Vanderburgh County is a great place to live and raise a family. John also believes, very strongly, that we should operate government to be fully transparent and fiscally responsible at all times. Our ability to understand county programs, departments, budgets, along with sound policies and procedures regarding how we operate the functions of government, is essential to our success.

John believes that individuals who care about their community should get involved. Being a public servant to make your community a better place, regardless how involved you are, is very important. He has served on the Board of Commissioners of the Evansville Convention and Visitors Bureau (ECVB) for the past three years and served as President of the Board for two years. As President of the Board, along with the other Commissioners, they have transformed the ECVB into a strong and well founded organization. With leadership and guidance from the commissioners the ECVB developed new policies and procedures, comprehensive budgeting, special event policies, grant criteria guidelines and policies, new marketing initiatives for Evansville and most importantly a transparent organization. The most exciting and challenging effort during his tenure at the ECVB has been the new sports complex that is currently approved for construction, using lodging tax versus local taxes as the funding source. This sports complex will serve as one of the finest quality of life projects ever built in our community without costing the local taxpayers of Vanderburgh County and the City of Evansville.

The tourism industry in Vanderburgh County is a 523 million dollar industry that supports over 6,400 employees. This industry is one of many legs on the stool that stimulates our economy. When you consider the strengths of our local economy we are fortunate to have Universities, Healthcare, Manufacturing, a strong Small Business climate and the Port of Evansville. Understanding how our economy works is important when it comes to serving government.

It is based on his commitment to public service, and quality government, John Montrastelle has filed to run as the Republican Candidate for Vanderburgh County Council from District 4.

Biography

Montrastelle is second generation Evansville and graduated from Reitz Memorial High School. He’s also a graduate from the University of Evansville and Leadership Evansville. At age 55, John has been married to his wife Karen for twenty-nine years and they have three daughters. Karen is a registered Cardiac Sonographer and a Technical Director at The Heart Group in Evansville. Their three daughters attended Reitz Memorial High school. The two oldest are graduates from Murray State and Western Kentucky. The youngest is currently a sophomore at Ball State. Montrastelle has been employed at Anchor Industries for the past seventeen years, currently serving as the International and Government Sales Manager. Anchor was established in Evansville in 1892 and is the largest tent manufacturer in the United States. Montrastelle has traveled to over twenty-five countries and a dozen or more US military bases serving Anchor and its customers. Quality services coupled with quality products is a main stay at Anchor

He currently serves as the President of the Board of Commissioners for the Evansville Convention & Visitors Bureau Board (ECVB), and takes great pride in the accomplishments of the organization. The transformation of the organization has lead to positive results in both the marketing and promotion of Evansville as a premiere destination and the revenues generated by the tourism industry. From the accomplishments with the ECVB, Montrastelle would like to use his business and common sense approach in working with others to make Vanderburg County a Smarter, Healthy Community.

Montrastelle wants to ensure that we get the most out of every tax dollar spent. Spending tax money wisely to ensure quality services is most important to Montrastelle. Doing what’s right for Vanderburg County and its citizens is what Montrastelle’ strives for. Johns promise is to remain creative and serve the county with honesty, integrity and hard work.