President Obama tells Congress, ‘Help or hinder progress’

By Maureen Groppe

WASHINGTON – Democratic President Barack Obama’s approval ratings in Indiana may be below 40 percent, but the priorities he outlined Tuesday night have some overlap with those of Indiana Republicans, who control the state legislature and governorship. Those include increasing access to early education, improving infrastructure and better equipping the state’s workers for a changed economy.

In his State of the Union address, Obama exhorted Congress to make 2014 a “year of action” on expanding economic opportunity for all Americans.

Here’s a look at how some of the issues he raised could affect Indiana.

> Income inequality: Obama said Washington’s job is to reverse the trends of deepening inequality and stalled upward mobility. In Indiana, the gap between the richest and poorest Hoosier households grew faster than in all but five other states in recent years, according to a 2012 report from two think tanks that focus on policies affecting low- and moderate-income families and on workers. One likely contributing factor is the loss of high-paying manufacturing jobs for workers with no advanced training.

> Job training: Obama promised to review all federal job training programs, and said Congress could focus funding on those that best connect workers to jobs. Improving Indiana’s workforce is also a top priority of Indiana Republicans, who point out that more than half the jobs in Indiana are expected to need some postsecondary education by 2018.

Read the full story by the Indianapolis Star.