GOP’s DCS legislative reform game plan? ‘Progress reports’
INDIANAPOLIS – Rookie Governor Eric Holcomb allowed a prime opportunity to lay out a clear plan to right the Department of Child Services slip away on Tuesday, dedicating just seven sentences of a thirty minute address to the embattled state agency. Holcomb’s call for civility didn’t survive the evening either, as Statehouse Republicans took their turn at the mic to criticize Democrats’ call for immediate action and legislative involvement. This as Indiana’s child welfare crisis dwarfs all surrounding states’.
Democratic leaders questioned whether Holcomb is taking the scope and scale of the crisis at DCS seriously.
From Indiana Public Media: Holcomb Address Sets Specifics On Workforce, Touches On DCS
“The Holcomb administration says there will be at least two progress reports delivered to lawmakers and the public before the legislative session ends in mid-March.
“Senate Minority Leader Tim Lanane (D-Anderson) says solving the problem will take more than that.
“I think it’s going to have to be concrete plans on identification of what the issues are, what are the solutions, what are the resources needed,” Lanane says.”
Statehouse Republicans took to the barricades, backing Holcomb’s defensive handling of the crisis and utilizing the opportunity to lash out at Democrats.
From Indiana Public Media: Holcomb Address Sets Specifics On Workforce, Touches On DCS
“House Speaker Brian Bosma (R-Indianapolis) waved aside Democrats’ criticisms.
“Well of course the minority would like to see more emphasis on a negative,” Bosma says. “I think the governor did it just the way he should.”
Indiana Democratic Party Chairman John Zody questioned Holcomb’s light touch and Republican leadership’s defensiveness.
“Vulnerable children are at risk and Holcomb just looks the other way?” said Zody. “These ‘progress reports’ are little assurance to the tens of thousands of Hoosier children caught up in the child welfare system. Are they really the best Republican Statehouse leaders can do? Hoosiers want leaders that act but Holcomb and his Republican allies look defensive and more than willing to let another week tick by without a clear plan to reform an agency on the edge.”
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