NEW ALBANY — U.S. Sen. Mike Braun, R-Indiana, addressed the debt ceiling issue and his run for state governor during a recent visit to New Albany.
Braun toured the Floyd County Family YMCA and LifeSpan Resources Inc. during a Friday stop in downtown New Albany. The visit was part of his 92-county tour of Indiana.
During an interview with the News and Tribune, the Republican senator said there is a “higher level of concern” as the June 1 deadline to raise the debt ceiling approaches, but he feels confident the country will avoid default.
“I just don’t think we should keep kicking the can down the road,” Braun said. “We’re not going to default. It’s going to get worked out. I just think it needs to be with a few promises that we keep about how we’re going to change our ways so this isn’t an annual issue.”
Braun said this is a bipartisan concern and that “both sides of the aisle have been guilty” regarding the debt ceiling issue.
“We’re $31 trillion in debt,” Braun said. “To put that in perspective, just four and a half years ago, we were $18 trillion in debt.”
As the debt ceiling debate continues, Republicans are pushing for increased work requirements for federal aid programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Medicaid and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). These proposals have been heavily criticized by Democrats in Congress.
Braun voiced support for Republicans’ calls to cut spending and implement tougher work requirements for the social safety net programs.
“This is just taking back to a place where it’s common sense,” he said. “All of these programs are necessary. We just need to make them work better and a better value, and at least do it with the taxpayer money that’s given to us without having to borrow more to get the job done.”
He also feels the GOP’s plan is just a start.
“Just to put that in perspective, that only reduces the amount of debt by about 25%,” Braun said. “I mean, we’re still going to be borrowing a lot of money, so this is just an initial idea until we stem the flow of bad financial behavior.”
He said the resolution to the debt ceiling debate “may not be exactly what came out of the House, but at least it’ll be something.”
“In the past, we’ve done nothing,” Braun said.
The senator launched his campaign for the Indiana governor race in late 2022. Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch and businessman Eric Doden are also running in the Republican gubernatorial primary, which will take place in 2024.
Braun said he is “going to take on some of the issues that most other governors wouldn’t.” He said improvements to the cost and quality of health care for Hoosiers is one of his main priorities.
He will also focus on education spending, he said.
“I’m going to make sure we’re spending our education dollars, which is nearly 70% of our budget [for] both K-12 and secondary [so that] they are well managed,” Braun said.
He said he wants to make sure all state agencies are “really responding to Hoosiers’ needs,” and he wants to address issues such as rural broadband, affordable housing, workforce needs and career readiness.
“[I want to] make sure that we’re not letting the 130,000 jobs that need better high school skills go unfilled,” he said.