(Music) >> Announcer: Town hall, a conversation about jobs and the economy, is made possible with the support of A.R.P.

Indiana and by the following.

>> JIM SHELLA: Good evening and welcome to a town hall meeting with U.S.

Senator Mike Braun.

I'm Jim Shella participant is a production of WFYI and Indiana Town Halls, a nonprofit nonpartisan organization created to increase citizen access to the members of Congress.

For more about our organization and our sponsors you can go to our website at IndianaTownHalls.org.

Due to COVID concerns this is a virtual town hall.

Questions will come from a diverse panel of voters selected from across the state.

We intend to focus this discussion on issues related to the jobs and the economy.

Senator Braun, wasn't scheduled to be here in-studio but because of the votes taking place in the Senate, he is in Washington, DC and joins us via satellite.

Senator, thank you for this opportunity.

Would you like to make a brief opening statement?

>> SENATOR MIKE BRAUN: Sure.

And thanks for having me, Jim.

We are in the midst of getting through a series of votes this evening and I think I will be able to make it through the entirety of the hour we have scheduled or close to it.

I have been here in the Senate a little under three years.

Generally draw on experience I by running a Main Street enterprise for 37 years prior to becoming a senator.

Draw on that experience.

I'm on the agriculture committee, health education, labor and pensions committee.

The budet committee which we are wrestling with that issue right now.

We need to do a lot better.

We do well in Indiana.

We live within our means.

We have a balanced budget amendment.

We do actual budgeting processes.

We have gotten away from all that out here.

And that is part of why we run trillion dollar deficits annually.

So that is an area where I have been outspoken critic of fixing the system because so many people look to it.

I have been outspoken on reforming healthcare.

Many Republicans don't like to talk about that.

To me and my own business, that was the biggest challenge, giving affordable healthcare coverage for my employees and I did that 13 years ago and have been able to hold premiums nearly flat for that period of time.

And I have not had my employees playing anymore.

They are into their own wellness.

They are doing things that I think we could do here at the national level.

So that was a first Republican that joined in on the conversation on climate, got six others to do it.

So I'm interested in being a RepuRepublican that embraces the issues of the day and comes up with a sustainable, affordable solutions, not being a party of know or I'm not interested.

That is what I attend space intend to do.

>> JIM SHELLA: Thanks very much, Senator.

The first question will come from Noel Snyder picture belongs to an organization called Indiana women for change.

Go ahead, Noel.

>> Hi.

My first question today is, how can Hoosiers work together to lower the gender pay gap of 24% that brings us 34th in the country?

How can we work together to lower that?

>> SENATOR MIKE BRAUN: Good question.

That is a gap that is way too large part one of my two daughters works in my business and I think that should be a goal of any CEO of a larger business, even if you own a smaller business on Main Street.

That should be an issue.

Can we solve that through government.

I think a few try to do it, I would think that the state government might be a more effective place to put policy into action that would try to encourage, nearing that gap.

It has been talked about a lot at the federal level.

That is way too high.

There's no reason it should be there, period.

Anyone's pay should be based upon his or her merit, not your sex.

So that is something that what policy we come up with, I would rather it be done the state level and get done more quickly probably more effectively.

And that is way too large a gap.

>> JIM SHELLA: Our next question comes from Larry Kane.

Larry is a retired environmental attorney.

Go ahead.

>> Senator Braun, the economy and climate change are closely related more than ever.

It carries hefty price tags.

Do you support expansion of that renewable energy sector such as modernized electric transmission grid and accretion of carbon tax?

>> SENATOR MIKE BRAUN: So when it comes to first of all, I told you earlier, I start to the climate caucus here where at least we are the conservative side are in the conversation.

When it comes to investment tax credits, or anything that we spent through the federal government, it would be a lot user equation if we were doing it from a position of strength and not where we are borrowing trillion dollars a year on the normal stuff that we do.

But that is -- no excuse for not being involved in the conversation.

But it is going to make it hard when we try to fix things like healthcare or climate, lower the cost of education if we are trying to weigh in the federal level and you're doing it from a position of weakness.

So I have made it very clear that I want to be engaged in the issues.

I want to do it where we have honest pay Fars that we don't borrow money from future generations.

That is the way to do it.

And have it done sustainably.

>> JIM SHELLA: Our next question comes from Ellen's our letter.

Ellen a professor at Indiana University Northwest.

Go ahead, Ellen.

>> Good evening, Senator Bridges, a significant concerned that the current economic information that is resulting from technology advances such as A.I.

robots will negatively impact that labor market.

How does the U.S. government worked with business and other sectors to ensure that the adoption of the new forms of technology it supports economic growth and supports the vibrant democracy?

>> SENATOR MIKE BRAUN: It is a good question and I think A.I.

and a lot of technology is going to becoming increasingly more in the equation.

Currently, our issue is we don't have enough qualified workers to fill the jobs that we got.

And a lot of that I think has been actually caused by some misguided government policy.

We are lucky in the state like Indian it that pre-COVID we were the pure leader in low unemployment across the Midwest.

But I have been an outspoken critic there that we need to make sure in our high school educations that we do more things to get people skills coming out of high school for the high demand, high wage jobs that currently exist, don't guide only into a four-year degree where half the people to pursue it don't make the finish line and a third that, a degree have a degree where there's no market for it.

So I think that is something to be concerned about in the long run.

I'm more concerned about filling the jobs that we are having trouble filling currently.

>> JIM SHELLA: The next question comes from Elizabeth Pinion.

She is also a professor.

She is at Indiana University South Bend.

Elizabeth is also a member of the Indiana debate commission.

Your question, please?

>> I will follow-up on Larry Kane's question to ask you about the fact that Indiana, manufactures of petroleum and coal products.

How important to the state and economy there are such products and should Indiana and other states seek to move away from these products as part o their environmental stewardship and economic growth efforts in the future?

>> SENATOR MIKE BRAUN: So any business and my observation, as you tell it, is have already made a pretty strong statement that they are moving from coal to natural gas.

We have got a very vibrant solar and wind power investment here in the state.

It is very clear in my mind the cleanest, least expensive fuel needs to carry the day in the long run.

And I could even be things like advanced nuclear technology there are owned Purdue University has done some things to make that more doable.

So I think in the future, or climate is being felt in places like farming and agriculture, actually, a bill through that I authored the growing climate solutions act that does not address its fossil fuels but it at least gets into the equations of what do we do in a bipartisan way?

You are heavily invested in fossil fuels, even speaking to people like the chair of Exxon Mobil, they know in the long run that they have got to make that change.

Do we pull the rug out from underneath industries when China is still putting up a coal-fired plant weekly?

That is where we got to be careful.

'S a little trickier in terms of how we get there in the long run, pump up the cleanest, least expensive fuel will carry the day.

>> JIM SHELLA: Our next question comes from a student at Indiana University South Bend.

His name is Christian Martinez.

Go ahead, Christian.

>> House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate majority Leader Chuck Schumer half past legislation.

Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell opposes.

Where do you stand on the issue of raising the debt limit and do you see any potential consequences if the debt ceiling is not raise?

>> SENATOR MIKE BRAUN: A great question because that is the currency of where we are at right now.

And two things.

This has been a joint venture between Republicans and Democrats where it has been kind of an unholy alliance defense is probably the most important thing we do here at the federal government.

Shoring up and tightlines ought to be one of them.

They are the big drivers of our trillion dollar deficits currently.

In infrastructure.

Ironically.

Which is a bill that has passed through the Senate, did have bipartisan support.

We are wrestling with the so-called soft infrastructure.

So when it comes to these peculiarities, you see nowhere else, where we don't budget, both parties are to blame, this is a little different in this case.

This debt ceiling request is on top of 6.5 trillion in spending that has been teed up were, no Republicans voted for any event and part of the debt ceiling being either suspended or increased, it is more excruciating, it has to deal with spending.

Because we will be borrowing too much of the money to be doing it any way.

It will cause us to increase that limit even higher.

So it has been a joint venture getting here.

We will get through it.

I don't think there will be any type of de default.

There never has been.

That is a lot of what you hear to threaten politicians, and it is sad that we get to the's point in the first place.

>> JIM SHELLA: Just to be clearcut you will vote against increasing the debt ceiling?

>> SENATOR MIKE BRAUN: And I think every Republican will because the Democrats can do it within their own tools because they control both chambers and the presidency.

>> JIM SHELLA: , the next question comes from John Hook work at the president of the Centrl Indiana building and construction trades Council.

Go ahead.

>> Good evening, Senator.

The pandemic has everyone evaluating their career.

What would you suggest that our K-12 system do to do a better job inspiring students in their career other than college and more specifically apprenticeship and other risk-based opportunities?

>> SENATOR MIKE BRAUN: That is a great question.

Unions have probably led the way on apprenticeships.

I have visited several record they do that and they do it well.

Businesses finally are doing a lot of debt on their own.

Toyota has got an excellent program going.

But here's where we need to do it better.

When I was in high school, I took industrial arts.

Probably the one course I remember the most about.

We had metal and wood shop you could learn into well.

These are all skills that in many times pay more than a four-year degree will pay.

When I was in the state legislature, I brought this up on the education committee.

And they did not like the sound of it because they thought that man that you had to take kids away from looking at a four-year pathway.

We need to have better high school forces -- (Coughing) -- so that when you get out of high school, you got better options and when you are not guided into only a four-year degree pathway.

>> JIM SHELLA: Thank you, Senator.

I will give you a break there to get a drink of water pick a note there's a lot of talking going on behind the scenes in Washington today, I'm sure and we are not helping out with the situation.

But next question comes from Vicki small.

She is an AARP or volunteer -- AARP volunteer parks Americans pay three times more than other countries for the same brand prescription drugs.

What can be done to lower prescription drug prices for Hoosiers?

>> SENATOR MIKE BRAUN: That is sad and there are a lot of bills out there but I believe the way you lower prices in general, hospitals, farmers, practitioners, insurance is through transparency and competition.

In the meantime, the healthcare industry kind of operates like an unregulated utility.

And where most Hoosiers, most Americans run into it, would be in the cost of their prescription.

So I told the industry all the time, either get with it where you give us prices that are more affordable through competition and transparency or you are going to have government weigh in and do Michelin pricing.

So that remains to be seen to where we are going to end up.

>> JIM SHELLA: Our next question comes from Linda do know.

She is also with AARP.

She is the state president and she is calling in from Fort Wayne.

Go ahead, Linda.

>> Good evening, Senator.

Americans long-term care system is made up of over 48 million family caregivers, on average spent over $7,200 in out-of-pocket costs on caregiving needs annually.

What solutions would like to see implemented to better support caregivers, the backbones of Americans carrying the economy?

>> SENATOR MIKE BRAUN: So that was all pick to test through COVID.

I think it has sunk a lot of places that we need to shore it up.

Sadly, I hear caregivers, practitioners, are caught in this world of wanting to do it -- the swirl of wanting to do it.

A lot of that has to do with the fact that every aspect of healthcare has gotten increasingly more concentrated among fewer companies prepare for so it is going to not be an easy solution.

There's going to be more government involvement and relation along the way.

And caregivers are at the forefront.

A lot of that can be done obviously more efficiently and reasonably in the home in many cases.

When you go into visit the healthcare system, it has got to be made easier.

Telehealth will be part of their public and we will just have to see where it goes.

Sadly, it has really shown the light on a lot of that weaknesses that were in the system pre-COVID and we are going to work our way through it.

It is a good question.

>> JIM SHELLA: Our next question comes from 10 pounds.

He is a when county commissioner.

Go ahead, Mr. Proust.

>> Good evening, Senator.

Infrastructure investment leads to the jobs and economic development.

When Indiana approved their new infrastructure plan in 2017, it was funded through -- and the fuel tax and registration fee.

Included an automatic gas tax increase.

What is the reluctance in Congress to create a similar long-term funding plan?

We have 223 bridges in the county that I represent and funding is always under consideration.

>> SENATOR MIKE BRAUN: Good question because I was in the legislature when we did that.

I was proud to be a co-author of that bill.

We lead that through the roads and transportation committee.

We have got the federal gas tax that we have an increase since 1993.

And we have got it there.

We just don't have the will and back both.

And what we have been doing is borrowing money out of the general funds.

So we need to do what we did back in Indiana, pay for it in an unsweetened make sure we spend it on roads and bridges.

>> JIM SHELLA: The next question comes from Allison Stewart.

She is a student at vintage University.

Go ahead.

Are we having trouble getting Allison?

Let's move onto the next question.

The next one will come from Mikey Karachi, a student at Indiana University Northwest.

Is Mikey there?

>> Good evening, Senator.

-- limited to the minimum wage market.

$14,000 of income each year.

How is Congress working to address this inadequate wage in the federal level and how will you work in Hoosiers' best interest to address this issue?

Tremblant so that minimum wage when you do extend it into what that would be annually there's no way you could make a living on temperature and we took minimum wage will be for entry-level jobs.

It also has to be probably differentiated onto your cost-of-living.

I don't know how anybody can live in New York on $15 an hour.

You could probably do that in a place like Indiana.

And wherever your minimum wage end up to me, it still needs to be more function of the states doing it.

And if states have a memo which which is too low, you're going to find people will decide on the long run that may be do something else.

But it needs to be considered along with your cost-of-living and I think that a national minimum wage would be too high would her certain states that have a lower cost of -- hurt certain states that have a lower cost of living.

I think it is going to be going to be in Buda point turn the because look at the demand for labor and it is way up and hardly any job that I see advertised out there is paying less than 15 bucks currently.

>> JIM SHELLA: Our next question comes from Kathy grows.

Or she mirror of Monticello, Indiana.

Go ahead, Mayor.

Are we having -- apparently she is not in front of her computer, so we are going to move on.

To Kevin Brendan Kirby, Kevin is the president of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce.

>> Good evening, Senator.

>> SENATOR MIKE BRAUN: Hi, Kevin.

>> The employer survey, three fourths of employers set the supply of employees does not meet their needs.

Obviously that is very concerning for future economic development.

To close this gap got one answer could be through immigration reform.

How would you revamp the various immigration processes to greater allow for illegal hiring of both lower skilled workers and highly educated individuals from other countries?

>> SENATOR MIKE BRAUN: Number one, I think Kevin that is going to depend on having a secure border because if we don't have that, we politically will not get to hard work that needs to be done to address exactly what you are talking about.

That was working pre-COVID.

And in pre-biden on the border, it was not a grassroots solution.

That has a lot to do with how economies do better in the Northern Triangle in South America, in Mexico.

But in general, until we get the southern border fix, I don't think we will get to that.

Let's say we do.

And I think you need to look at immigration, we average about a million a year for the most welcoming country in the world.

He needs to be done on who we need on merit.

On specific job shortages to where you have special work visas that get you into the country to address it.

Make that easier.

Less red tape.

Our office does a lot of casework on visas currently that have had trouble because of the COVID restrictions.

Get all of that out of the way because I think you are 100% right.

We don't have enough people here to fulfill the jobs.

You get into agriculture and even a few pay in the mid-20s, you can't get help on places like dairy farm.

>> Reporter: .

At I think before we get there, realistically, it has got to be based upon having a border security that makes sure that it is working and then I think you will see solutions cascade to fix the immigration issue.

>> JIM SHELLA: If I could just follow up, Senator, how do you create effective border security?

Do you have a proposal?

>> SENATOR MIKE BRAUN: When we were down there, 18 to 19 of us back in March, it was very clear the border patrol, this is getting it from them.

They said that the wall and high-traffic areas made sense.

It is a shame you need a wall.

But when people come across illegally like they have done for decades, and don't pay attention to it, I don't think you're going to get the border security that will be satisfactory across the political spectrum.

And then the other policy which was working was we were working with our most important southern border partner, Mexico.

The state in Mexico policy.

So that sadly, caught up in the hot politics.

It was written.

That does not mean it is the long-term solution.

But we need to do whatever we can through technology, physical impediments, in getting our training partners to work with us to make sure that they are not flaunting the border and that it is truly secure.

>> JIM SHELLA: Sending Haitian immigrants back to Haiti, it was that the right thing to do?

>> Well, you know, whenever you got an issue there with all the problems they got, that should be done even -- in an orderly fashion, that refugee category of how people come into this country.

They are coming in in the way they did.

Probably encouraged by coyotes and smugglers.

Along the way, most of them have to pay a fee to get here.

That is not right either.

So those are the complications were going to run into when you have kicked the can down the road and you don't have an inherently secure border to begin with.

>> JIM SHELLA: All right, our next question comes from Eunice Trotter.

She is a journalist and author from Indianapolis.

Go ahead.

>> Senator, people are hurting financially right now.

So to afford an apartment in Indiana at a hundred 62 a month, a renter it should earn 1657 an hour to get the average winter's which interstate is 14.58 an hour.

In your opinion, a circuit what is a livable income for a family of four in Indiana?

What do you recommend be done to boost Indiana office ranking?

Especially in the nonunion service industry?

>> SENATOR MIKE BRAUN: That is a good point.

You excited the set statistics.

That is something with all of the good things we have in terms of Indiana having a good jibe -- job climate.

Got to put as.

We got to aspire to do better on that wages and that is is going to be a function of having businesses and paying higher wages move into the stay due to the business climate.

But I have been a loud voice from the time I was awarded opportunity -- entrepreneur of the year purple.

The lowest unemployment County and one of the highest entry wage counties with a low cost of living.

I said that is important.

Wages and having employees to fill your slots, you are not going to grow your business without it.

So that is something where we got to work on it through any education tools that we have got from the high school level through postsecondary.

And it is something that we need to do better at.

>> JIM SHELLA: Our next question comes from Stephanie Terry.

She is from Evansville.

Go ahead, Stephanie.

>> Thank you.

Income inequality and African-Americans that the net worth of a white family is ten times greater than a black family.

What solutions do you support to address wealth disparities?

>> SENATOR MIKE BRAUN: Again, income inequality, Republicans are in on the discussion.

I think it is going to be a void that we have to explain why we are not there.

Pre-COVID, wages for the toughest places, African Americans especially were up.

Some of those tools were working.

That was getting industry to compete for wages which is the way the free market system should work.

>> Reporter: .

Ideally, it is not substituted through government to try to do it.

That is never going to be sustainable at work and long run and that is going to be based upon a robust economy where we have got more demand for labor then what we have people to fill it and you raise the rages doing it.

There's been -- wages doing it There's been discussion.

I think the government through COVID has treated an issue where it is tough to get people back to where most of -- all this discussion about wage rates and jobs, there's never been a healthier environment right now with offers for high pay and hopefully, you know, people will come back to work and take advantage of it and if we are still hurting in those areas statistically, we as a stay, we as a country need to figure out why.

But it has to be based on a robust economy could not government doing it because that is not going to work in the long run.

>> JIM SHELLA: All right, we have reached the halfway point in our town hall meeting and I want to take this opportunity to remind everyone that this is a production of WFYI and Indiana Town Halls, a nonprofit organization that seeks to promote civil discussion with members of Congress about important issues facing America.

Please go to our website at IndianaTownHalls.org and take the survey regarding tonight's event.

Our next question comes from Allie Nickerson.

She is a student at the University of Indianapolis.

>> Senator, you have expressed commitment to increasing economic opportunity for all Hoosiers but you so -- refused to support the American rescue plan.

How do you propose we increase opportunity without providing workers the support they need to recover?

>> SENATOR MIKE BRAUN: That is a good question.

However, all of that was done through government and not where you want this to work it will be there in the long run.

It has to be done, and energized, I think through the stay and local governments and to address some of the valid questions that have been brought up today, not putting more government spending where we are borrowing the money out here to do it.

That is just not a business plan that is going to work in the long run.

And from states that are not providing the proper educational framework and not doing things in a way that puts them in a place to have their citizens have good paying jobs, keeping cost of living low.

There's always going to be that desire, that tendency to look to the government to do it.

And I'm just -- I just don't believe that is a good long-term solution.

I think the rescue a lot of the stuff in there is policy that should be probably discussed.

We should not have borrowed $1.9 trillion to do it.

That would be a source of funding that will be there in the long run.

That space that is sustainable.

>> JIM SHELLA: Our next question comes from Isrow holder.

A student at the IU school of law.

Go ahead.

>> In Indiana, only 7.5% of people age 18 to 24 have a good paying job.

Many students are very concerned about paying off student loan debt, securing good job, and having an economically prosperous future.

My question for you, is what steps is Congress taking to put improve their economic stay of young people in Indiana and in the country?

>> SENATOR MIKE BRAUN: Good question.

And I think that you probably need to see how that can be done sustainably by what was happening pre-COVID.

I have been on the street trying to run a business for 37 years prior to becoming a senator.

And we pay the highest starting wage in the lowest unemployment County generally in the stay.

And what you are seeing is not true every.

It is going to be that we may be in some places across our state.

And it is a big question of whether you want to try to artificially force that through government in some fashion.

I just don't think that is going to work.

On the other hand, you have places like Indiana, you need to do better at it, and there have been some statistics brought out where we do need to improve that we ought to craft the solutions at the stay and local area, not the federal government because I think it would work better.

And I would take some exception with the fact that too many people look to the federal government to backfill.

It has never done a good long-term job from the days of the great Society in a sustainable way.

And certain states including Indiana, I think, even though there's areas that need to be improved, offer opportunities and it is a question for us to work out, not the feds coming in and doing it for us.

>> JIM SHELLA: Our next question comes from from a farmer -- comes from a farmer.

He is associated with the Indiana corn growers Association go ahead, Mike.

>> Okay.

Senator, thank you very much for joining us this evening.

I would like to talk with you about the carbon markets and what they might mean for the Hoosier farmers paper.

It could be a huge benefit to the Hoosier E to be to develop -- economy to develop a revenue stream.

But many of us who were early adopters of climate smart practices are likely to lose out on this market.

Do you see a way for farmers who have been engaging in these practices for years to mainly participate in the market and do you think our lack of participation if we are not able to access the market will undermined our national climate bills and pick Indiana agriculture at a disadvantage?

>> SENATOR MIKE BRAUN: Good question because I thought so much about that being the case and I introduced the growing GrowingClimate Solutions Act.

And believe it or not, a climate bill that was a result of the climate caucus I start to got six other Republicans to get on board and no one was willing to do it until I said yes in the middle of my first year in the Senate.

We actually passed 92 to a a bill that would do exactly what you're talking about.

And I think that it has a good chance of getting through there.

That is almost a modern miracle in this day and age for how long it takes legislation to get through.

Your stewardship on the farm and being rewarded for it is an excellent place to start.

I think that farmers are probably on the front edge of dealing with how this is really working in the poem small businesses and farming is not such a small business anymore.

It has gotten to be very complicated and a lot riskier than what it used to be.

Hopefully this will get through in the house.

And agriculture it will lead the way in transportation and electric generation, and industrial emitters to start doing the same thing.

I was proud to be the author of that bill.

Hopefully it will make it across the finish line.

Hopefully it will be signed by the president into law.

>> JIM SHELLA: Yes stent -- (Indiscernible by captioner) is with project Azul.

>> There are some resources and reforms with a varying degree of effectiveness.

How do you assess these and how will you prioritize and assure that minority owned businesses have equitable expect it to these resources to survive beyond the pandemic?

>> SENATOR MIKE BRAUN: Good question and I would love to hear -- and of the part of being a senator is you have constituent services and in any of the applications for the disposition of those funds should be getting across the spectrum regardless of, you know, what ethnicity you have, for any business, especially in minority owned business, which we know sometimes has may be a tougher time of getting started making it across the finish line.

Nine out of ten businesses don't make it past five years into their seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth year of being in business.

So I would hope that there are not any issues there in terms of accessing those funds when they were available and if there's anything done down the road whether it is through some type of special emergency relief or other things that happened in the government.

We need to be made aware of it and hopefully that is not happening and is not an issue.

If it is, we will reengage with my office.

I would like to hear more.

>> SENATOR MIKE BRAUN: Greg has our next question.

He is the president of the Evansville regional economic partnership.

Go ahead, Greg.

>> Thank you.

Thank you, senator.

What we find not unlike many regions in Indiana, there's been an increase.

That various financial economic measures that the current administration have put in place such as extended employment benefits that we find ourselves in the public sector competing with the private sector for talent.

How do we get those people on the silence to come back into the workplace?

>> SENATOR MIKE BRAUN: That is a good question because polyp does public policy sometimes, we wind to town and did things quickly like with the PPP part of the stuff.

$4 trillion worth of stuff.

Back in 2020.

And then when you look at extended unemployment benefits and some other things that were out there, I wonder if the public policy was on the market.

Because sooner or later, the productive economy meaning the real economy is -- has got to be back where people are spending their time.

And you cannot us.

A paycheck from the government to be able to support you rather than in extraordinary situations.

And took programs that we already, a place to do it or not in all cases hitting the market.

So I am hoping that for those benefits, not being there, with businesses raising wages all the time, that we get people back into the workforce.

That is one of the tricky challenging things is when you have a change in the way things are normally done, you incentivize it in a way that might continue people to stay on the sidelines and not compacted at work, it is playing out in front of us right now.

I hear it everywhere.

And other Senators are hearing it across the country.

Hopefully, when we get COVID fully at.

And it looks like the variant numbers are coming way down, people will have a reason to get back because they don't feel like they are risking coming back to work and there are not misguided government policies that may be incentivizing you not to come back.

>> JIM SHELLA: Our next question is from Alisha.

She is president of the lunar series.

>> Good evening.

But the pandemic has disproportionately impacted women in the workforce.

Women have dropped out of the labor force at a rate four times higher than men, mostly due to child care giving needs.

Looking Congress to make sure women recapture the gains we saw before the pandemic began?

>> SENATOR MIKE BRAUN: I think you make a good point.

I think we need to go back and see what was working there.

And that was not involving a large government presence.

That had a lot to do with an economy.

I think had the sweet spot of taxation.

You had Main Street entrepreneurs, small businesses all the way up to the big companies working, raising wages and I would hope that it does not mean that we want more government to come into play to do some of the things you have been talking about, child care is a real issue.

You got thrown completely out of culture with COVID.

Many people felt uncomfortable going back to work.

There was no daycare center to go to.

That is where we might need to look at some of the things we are doing currently that is airing too much on the side of not letting us get back to where we were today because -- before because that was a model of where things were working.

Wages were going up.

Business was good.

COVID came in and interrupted.

We got to make sure that we don't have policies that linger that keep us in a place that it is not working.

>> SENATOR MIKE BRAUN: Tamera Harris has our next question.

Go ahead, Tamera.

>> Ha Jin.

Evening.

Across Indiana, parents are struggling.

Before the pandemic, many were made for the childcare to close.

And we are just try to find out what would you do to help us to ensure that the child.

Is both affordable for families and to ensure that childcare providers are making a living wage that is suitable for able to survive.

>> SENATOR MIKE BRAUN: Good question.

It was simmered -- similar to the one before.

Here's what I would say.

Increasingly, when it comes to job training, I see businesses starting their own apprenticeships to address that issue.

I think that is going to be fair play for a lot of businesses to do and I think it would be done in probably a more easily implementable way in a way that maybe there are not dependent on the government program at the federal, expert level.

And you are going to address it where government needs to be involved, I would encourage you to get with your state legislators and see what they got in mind.

You got to remember, anything that comes from here has got a shiny, -- shaky, long-term presence because of how poorly we run the place.

I know people look to the federal government because they got real issues and frustration.

I just would strongly advise from the time I have spent here, don't rule out what you can do on your own communities.

Businesses need to be Chones because a lot of this has to do with their own workers to where they get involved, spent some money on daycare and childcare.

Reinvesting higher wages for your employees.

So they can afford to find childcare that might be difficult to define currently.

I would not looked up at the federal government to solve it.

I think it is a false hope and it would not end up being sustainable.

Good question.

>> JIM SHELLA: Samantha Kern has our next question.

Go ahead, Samantha.

>> Good evening, senator.

Indiana has some of the worst rates of maternal and event mentality and preterm birth rates in the country.

One of the reasons why is because Indiana fails to provide protections and reasonable accommodations to pregnant workers.

As a result, the Hoosiers mom's likeness of have been forced between choosing to put food on the table and the health of their pregnancies but in my c case, a lack of accommodations resulted in the loss of a child.

Would you joined the majority and support the pregnant is fairness act, April supported by both business groups and families and which would provide legal clarity and ensure the safety of Hoosier workers.

>> SENATOR MIKE BRAUN: And I'm assuming that is a bill at the federal level and not the stay level, correct?

>> Yes, sir.

>> SENATOR MIKE BRAUN: Okay.

So we will certainly take a look at the bill because that is a statistic along with a few others that we have heard today that should be the catalyst for the collective effort of businesses and state government to make sure that we are addressing it, that this is a bill at the federal level.

We will certainly take a look at it.

Is that most of the rest of the delegation is supporting it.

I will take that into consideration and we will take a look at that next week.

So I'm glad you brought it to my attention.

I will see where it is.

>> JIM SHELLA: Randy Shelton has our next question.

He is affiliated with Hoosier action.

Go ahead.

It looks like we have lost -- yeah, let's go on to the next one.

Mary McCloskey, also with Hoosier action.

Go ahead, Mary.

>> Hi.

I start to a Facebook group, the beginning of the pandemic which has helped Hoosiers navigate the implement system.

I had to research state laws and procedures as a single mother with two kids.

Welfare and other programs, my family said.

Many people don't know these programs exist.

When people do find them, they are incredibly confusing and hard to navigate.

Would you support having local Hoosiers navigate the -- or social media pages to increase access to these programs?

>> SENATOR MIKE BRAUN: Like a commonsense solution in terms of providing more information to better out there and existing programs.

You are touting them as working and yes, so whatever can be done to get the word out, the message out that they are there.

It sounds like it help you.

And I'm sure there are others in need as well.

So that would be something that I will try to some attention to, even though it sounds like it will be mostly done the stay level.

And see what could be done to get better information out there for people that are in need of it.

>> JIM SHELLA: There's been a lot of talk this week about the potential federal relation of social media platforms including Facebook.

Would you be in favor of federal regulation on social media?

>> SENATOR MIKE BRAUN: Tell you what, Facebook and the tech industry in general, I come from Main Street where you got a lot of options, a lot of competition, a lot of transparency.

It is the biggest business in the world currently.

It is information and text.

And I'm not happy whenever you have one entity that comprises over 50% of a market.

In this case, it is closer to 70 and 80% in many cases.

So I think tech is going to have a broad spectrum of federal legislators looking at antitrust issues there they are simply too big for markets.

There's not competition that keeps them in check.

And that when you got issues of misinformation, censorship, and other items, that is most likely going to come along with that concentration of power.

So I don't know how that is going to get resolved.

I do know that it is going to get confronted from several angles.

One from the antitrust discussion that you simply need more than one company dominating a business that does not work anywhere else and you can't do that.

And then your behavior and your function is going to probably looked at as well.

They are also immune from any liability to the 230 because.

I think that might change as well.

>> JIM SHELLA: So are you willing to consider federal regulation?

>> SENATOR MIKE BRAUN: Sure, I am because when you are not dealing in the context of full competition, transparency, no barriers to entry and many competitors, you are not really in the realm of free enterprise.

Most are.

They are the example of where it is not.

>> JIM SHELLA: Our next question.

>> Good evening, Senator Braun.

One of the most important components of farming is getting our products to market as quickly and cheaply as possible.

And Congress has been working on a bipartisan infrastructure legislating about the bill that gives a few dollars to ports and event waterways in these areas and funds a lot of things that are not traditional infrastructure at all.

We have done the bare minimum of maintenance on the waterways and infrastructures.

And why are we not investing in the maintenance and development of our inland waterways and ports that export millions of tons of grain each year, and generate billions of dollars in economic value.

>> SENATOR MIKE BRAUN: Good question.

It begs the question when you're talking about infrastructure but only 10% of it would be roads and bridges.

And inland waterways and waterways in general actually pay for more of their usage than almost any other form of logistics.

I'm familiar with the funding mechanism.

That is one of the tug-of-war's we have here.

And if even the heart infrastructure bill was more aligned with what we all understand which would be roads and business, -- bridges, inland waterways, airway, airlines, and railroads.

Let's bring in rural broadband.

Maybe water and sewer treatment plants.

And sadly, in that 1.2 trillion, we are not spending enough on places that have gone begging for years.

Perplexed and inland waterways, there's are locks and dams.

There's more more from that goes there than most people can imagine.

It doesn't have much of the consumer transit to of course PaperPort so sometimes gets overlooked.

But I'm going to be for any type of heart infrastructure especially with honest pa force and that part has never been shy about I think been close to 50% user fee currently to pay into it.

That is a good match.

We need to do better at it.

That is one of the reasons I was not thrilled about the constitutions of that 1.2 trillion bill for the very recent mention.

>> JIM SHELLA: Care of Il has our next question.

She is with the Indiana real health Association.

Go ahead.

>> Good evening, Senator.

Thank you for being with us this evening.

You are likely aware of the rural Hospital closure crisis that has been significant concern for about a decade now.

What solutions or suggestions can you make to Congress to support this sustainability and viability of rural hospitals across the country?

>> SENATOR MIKE BRAUN: That is a good question because it has been an area of difficulty.

I'm probably the most outspoken senator on either side of the aisle on trying to fix healthcare from the bottom up.

On the one hand, you cite what you have just said and we got hospital costs probably not rural hospital cost necessarily.

country here in Indiana.

So I don't know that we get to a long-term solution on healthcare unless it is going to be a one peer system.

Most don't want to go there.

We don't do that great a job with the part of the government does already with healthcare.

But it is going to involve things like full transparency, full competition, don't create barriers to entry for places that want to hospital in through a certificate of need.

All that kind of stuff.

And in the meantime, I think you probably have to again looked at the stay government to make sure that in the process of getting to a solution that works for the Indiana, for the Hoosiers, that we don't lose too many rural hospitals along the way prepare for and again it looks like hospitals are becoming more and more concentrated among fewer and fewer companies.

I don't like that either.

So you got a lot of moving parts.

To get to a sustainable healthcare system and we have evolved in a way over many, many years where it is not working and where we end up with solution remains to be seen.

It is still the number one issue in DC.

>> JIM SHELLA: All right, I think this will be our last question.

It comes from Diana Bill.

She is a brown county commissioner.

Go ahead, Commissioner.

No?

We are going to move on to Denise from the NAACP Purple Heart go ahead, Denise.

-- NAACP.

Go ahead, Denise.

>> There are three failures in Texas and Louisiana Tech now more than ever.

Decentralized energy, clean energy is more important than ever.

A report today by local solar for all reports that distributed solar and storage is critical to climate and equity solutions such as 1.2 million solar jobs by 2030.

These are good paying jobs for urban and rural alike.

How important is solar to you and that metering is about to expire in Indiana.

What is your support for such an 25D of the direct pay option for low-income families, and your position on solar tax credits for non-for profits?

Thank you.

>> SENATOR MIKE BRAUN: Good question and solar it needs to be one of four or five things in that mix especially for Hoosier energy and specifically.

It is clear, I think we are transitioning away from cold.

That affects mostly where I am from.

The southwestern part of the statement that even needs to be still a viable alternative if you can really sequester carbon in an affordable way.

So I'm for all areas being enabled when you do use tax credits.

You do create an uneven playing field to some extent purpose sooner or later, you need to be waned from them.

And I think that as we go down the road, as I said earlier, when a question was brought up on what is going to be the sustainable source of fuel, it is going to be the least expensive and cleanest.

It could be something like advanced nuclear technology that won't even be out there on a scale up a basis for 15 to 20 years.

It could be hydrogen fuel cells.

If battery's become more effective, more efficient, so there is going to become increasingly important.

Wind and solar will probably only go so far in Indiana because it is not base look interpreters to the grid.

You imagine net metering.

Anybody that invest in solar panels into your own home, they should be for any excess energy they put back into the grid.

And I think the bill that we had in place might have been from when I was in there and I think that needs to remain in place and I think you got to be concert does cognizant that there are other issues like the grid capacity itself.

Visited a wind farm and they cannot put up their most recent wind turbine because there was not transmission capability there in northwestern Indiana.

So we got a lot of issues there.

But I think that idea of having clean fuel has that space produced at the least expensive level will win the day and I'm going to be for going to be for that.

>> SENATOR MIKE BRAUN: 20 seconds for any closing thoughts you would like to share?

>> JIM SHELLA: It is a great conversation.

I did not -- >> SENATOR MIKE BRAUN: It is a great conversation.

I cannot tell you to spend any Hoosier can visit me under Friday's trip up.

I would be happy with it when here to continue the conversation with a phone call or a Zoom call.

I'm here to represent you and I wanted to be accessible and I thought it was a great conversation this evening.

>> JIM SHELLA: .

Thank you.

We appreciate your time, Senator Braun.

This has been a production of WFYI and Indiana Town Halls.

For more on our organization and sponsors and to fill out a survey about the town hall, go to IndianaTownHalls.org.

We plan to present more programs of this sort in the future.

I'm Jim Shella.

Good night.