Indiana builds momentum through memorandum of understanding with Ontario to advance cooperation and economic growth

JANUARY 28, 20245

INDIANAPOLIS – Governor Eric J. Holcomb returned to Indianapolis yesterday, concluding a two-day economic development trip to Ontario, Canada, focused on advancing government, business and industry partnerships to accelerate sector growth, innovation and educational collaboration and exchange initiatives. “Indiana and Canada share a strong and proven partnership, and I was pleased to be back in Ontario earlier this week as we worked to build on the ties that help us realize our shared vision for the future,” said Gov. Holcomb. “Our newest memorandum of understanding signed this week with Premier Ford further affirms our commitment to take decisive action fostering even deeper bonds that will shape the very future of opportunities in our respective regions.”

In Ontario, Gov. Holcomb met with provincial leadership, including Ontario Premier Doug Ford, to foster ties between Indiana and Ontario and identify collaborations to advance economic growth across the two regions. The two leaders signed an official memorandum of understanding, building on Gov. Holcomb’s first trip to Canada in 2018 and further solidifying Indiana’s and Ontario’s joint efforts to accelerate economic growth and workforce development for tomorrow’s economy. The agreement between Indiana and Ontario creates a framework for collaboration across economic development and investment, workforce development and regulatory cooperation, and aims to advance innovation and growth across key, shared sectors, including infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, automotive, aerospace and aviation, agriculture and agricultural technology, life sciences, energy, information and communications technologies and sports economy. In Canada, Gov. Holcomb and a delegation from the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) joined Ontario’s Minister of Energy and visited the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station in Ontario to meet with leadership from Ontario Power Generation – one of North America’s largest, most diverse electricity generators. The two groups discussed the push to meet the growing clean industrial power generation needs through leveraging storage advancements and renewable sources like hydrogen and solar. Indiana has landed multiple commitments from companies like Canadian Solar, Doral Renewables and Bila Solar to advance solar energy. The state is also home to innovation on small modular technology, which the delegation identified as an opportunity for future collaboration. Gov. Holcomb and the delegation also met with numerous Canadian and global business executives and industry officials during a roundtable hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Canada and at a reception hosted by the U.S. Consul General Baxter Hunt. The governor highlighted the state’s robust economic momentum, unprecedented investments in community development and quality of place through READI, and commitment to advancing entrepreneurship and innovation, pitching Indiana as a premier destination for business, investment and talent. Indiana and Canada share strong economic ties, with more than $26.2 billion of goods exchanged between the two regions in 2022. Indiana is home to 78 Canada-owned business establishments – a number that continues to grow. Since 2017, 22 Canada-based companies have made plans to locate or grow in Indiana, together committing to invest $1.75 billion and create more than 3,700 new Hoosier jobs. Last year, Canadian Solar announced plans to locate its second U.S. solar module production facility in Jeffersonville, investing a projected $800 million at River Ridge Commerce Center and creating up to 1,200 new jobs, while Nova Chemicals Corporation, a producer of sustainable polyethylene, announced plans to establish its first mechanical recycling facility in Connersville, creating up to 125 new jobs. This marks Gov. Holcomb’s 17th international economic development trip as governor and his second official trip to Canada. Indiana is home to more than 1,050 foreign-owned business establishments, representing more than 40 countries and territories – including approximately 78 from Canada. In 2023, 37 foreign-owned businesses committed to locating or growing in Indiana, together planning to invest more than $20.6 billion and create more than 8,509 new Hoosier jobs.

“When I was elected, I promised Hoosiers that I would go to Washington to fight for them and get results. I’m proud to be named the most active and effective Republican Senator and to represent Hoosier work ethic in the Senate.” – SENATOR MIKE BRAUN

WASHINGTON – The numbers are in. You can now read Senator Mike Braun’s Solutions Update for 2023, with 8 bills passed into law, recognition from 3 independent organizations as one of the most effective legislators in the Senate, $11.4 million returned to Hoosiers, and all 92 Indiana counties visited for the 5^th year in a row.

In 2023, Senator Mike Braun was named Most Effective First Term Republican Senator by the Center for Effective Lawmaking – a nonpartisan legislative ranking group run by the University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University, cited by the Washington Post as “the most oft-cited data on legislative success.”

Senator Braun was ranked as the 6th most effective overall Republican in the Senate, behind Senators that have served in Congress for 20 years, 12 years, 12 years, 42 years, and 20 years, respectively. Senator Braun has served 5.

The Center for Effective Lawmaking also recognized that Senator Braun was the most effective Republican lawmaker in two issue areas important to Hoosiers: agriculture, and health.

Senator Braun’s 2024 is already off to a productive start: 2 out of the 3 bills passed by the U.S. Senate so far this year were authored by Senator Mike Braun.

WHAT’S INSIDE THE 2023 SOLUTIONS UPDATE:

Senator Braun’s 8 bills that were signed into law in 2023:

• The COVID-19 Origins Act (Public Law 118-2)
• Reforming Benefits for Children of Vietnam Veterans with Spina Bifida (Public Law 118-8)
• The Wounded Warrior Access Act (Public Law 118-21)
• The Administrative Pay-As-You-Go Act (included in Public Law 118-5)
• The Korean American VALOR Act (Public Law 118-20)
• The Department of Defense Overdose Data (DOD) Act (Public Law 118-31)
• Supporting the Provision of Veteran Survivor Benefit Plans (Public Law 118-31)
• Flexibility and Funding for the World Trade Center Health Program (Public Law 118-31)

Senator Braun’s bills passed by the Senate and awaiting House action:

• The GAO Inspector General Parity Act
• Working Dog Health and Welfare Act of 2023
• Train More Nurses Act

This Solutions Update includes information about Senator Braun’s new bills introduced in the last months of 2023, including his landmark bill to reveal the prices of health care services to drive down prices, the Health Care PRICE Transparency Act, as well as his work in committee for Hoosiers and bills passed by committee and awaiting action on the Senate floor.

The Solutions Update also includes Senator Braun’s challenge to President Biden’s ESG 401(k) rule, which would allow money managers to invest your 401(k) based on ESG factors like environmental scores or diversity ratings instead of rate of return. Braun’s challenge was passed by both the House and the Senate but vetoed by President Biden.

Senator Braun also excelled at regular order in 2023, or passing bills in the way Congress was designed to do. Only 23 standalone, clean bills were passed into law in 2023. Senator Mike Braun was the author of 4 of them.

SENATOR BRAUN’S 2023 SOLUTIONS UPDATE MESSAGE:

I’ve spent my life building a business in my hometown, from a small company of three employees all the way to a national industry leader. That’s the best job I’ll ever have. My employees were like family, and creating jobs for my neighbors in my hometown is a great feeling.

I left my company to run for the U.S. Senate because I was tired of seeing our country driven into the ditch by career politicians who cared more about getting elected than they did about our kids and grandkids.

I promised Hoosiers if they sent me to Washington, they’d get more than just talk. They’d get a workhorse who wouldn’t take ‘no’ or ‘that’s not the way we do things’ for an answer.

I’m proud that in my five years in the Senate so far I’ve been named one of the Most Effective Senators by multiple rankings, with a focus on the issue areas matter so much to Hoosiers: healthcare and agriculture.

Traditionally, first-term Senators are supposed to be “seen and not heard” – that wasn’t going to work for me. The Center for Effective Lawmaking – a nonpartisan organization run out of Vanderbilt and the University of Virginia, which The Washington Post this year called the most-cited ranking of legislative effectiveness – recognized my office as the most effective first-term senator and the 6th most effective Republican in the entire Senate: every Senator listed above me has served at least 12 years. I’m the only first-termer on the list.

Over this last year, I was proud to shepherd through a bill to declassify all COVID lab leak intelligence (which we passed unanimously in both chambers of Congress, forcing President Biden to sign it). We also passed a measure to protect your 401(k) from being politicized with “ESG” investing.

In the last few months of the year, I passed several pieces of legislation designed to help Hoosier veterans. One bill makes it easier for veterans to access their health records online, where previously they would have to go to a VA office. Another aims to address the epidemic of opioid overdoses among veterans.

I promise to run hard through the tape as I end my Senate term. My office has big things planned for Hoosiers in 2024, and I hope you will reach out if you have thoughts you’d like to share with us.

Indiana’s best days are ahead, and I hope you enjoy reading about my work for you in 2023 in this edition of the Solutions Update.