In the race for Indiana governor, Republican U.S. Sen. Mike Braun, Democratic candidate and former Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Jennifer McCormick and Libertarian Donald Rainwater all expressed some form of legalizing marijuana in the state but presented different ideas for property tax relief and abortion care access.

Marijuana

McCormick released a cannabis legalization plan, which would first establish an Indiana Cannabis Commission tasked with overseeing the legal cannabis industry, including regulation, licensing and ensuring compliance with safety standards, according to a press release about the plan.

Then, the plan proposes immediately establishing a medical marijuana industry followed by a transition to adult-use cannabis. The plan would also focus on regulating hemp-derived THC products that can be found in gas stations and smoke shops throughout the state, according to the release.

The four states surrounding Indiana — Michigan, Illinois, Kentucky and Ohio — have in recent years legalized marijuana in some form. Hoosiers have been traveling out of state to buy marijuana, which means Indiana loses out on millions in tax revenue — a point which Democratic legislators have emphasized for years when proposing marijuana legislation.

McCormick said establishing the commission would be the most crucial step to ensure a well-regulated industry and support from state legislators. McCormick said she’s heard from Republican state legislators, who hold a supermajority in the legislature, that legalizing marijuana “is inevitable and it’s coming.”

“Having a governor leading that gives them a little bit of coverage,” McCormick said. “I’m just a firm believer that we’re losing out on so many tax dollars and lots of jobs. More importantly, we’ve got a lot of Hoosiers that are saying, medically, they want that option.”

Braun said he would be “quite willing” to look into legalizing medical marijuana in Indiana. Braun said he would listen to law enforcement officials about legalizing any form of marijuana because “they have to put up with the consequences of whatever you do.”

“I think when it comes to medical marijuana there are a lot of groups — veterans and others — that really find beneficial use from it. It’s been cascading across the country. If the legislature takes it up, I’m going to be listening carefully and probably favorably disposed towards medical use of marijuana.”

Rainwater said he would like to see the state decriminalize and legalize all forms of marijuana. If elected, Rainwater said he would expunge the records of anyone with a nonviolent marijuana offense.

“Any reason given for continuing to criminalize the use of medical or recreational cannabis just doesn’t make sense,” Rainwater said.

Rainwater said he would also support reducing “a lot of the restrictive, monopolistic regulations” on industrial hemp because that would benefit hemp farmers to raise and sell their product.

Abortion

Indiana became the first state to enact tighter restrictions after the U.S. Supreme Court ended federal abortion protections by overturning Roe v. Wade in June 2022. Rare exceptions to the near-total ban include when the health or life of the mother is at risk as well as in cases of rape, incest and lethal fetal anomalies in limited circumstances.

Braun said Indiana’s abortion law has “reasonable” exceptions, and it has withstood legal challenges.

“Indiana, I don’t think, is going to do anything with a Republican supermajority that just recently passed a law that would change it in any way,” Braun said. “Indiana is unique in that it’s already addressed it.”

Rainwater is a “pro-life Libertarian” who believes in the libertarian pillar of non-aggression principle, which states that the initiation of aggression is illegitimate, according to his campaign website.

Rainwater said if citizens want to see a change in the state’s abortion law, they have to tell their state legislators that and urge them to draft a new piece of abortion legislation.

“It is not the place of one person to make the decision on that law,” Rainwater said.

McCormick contends that this election is a referendum on abortion rights in the state.

McCormick released a plan to put forth executive actions to address reproductive rights in Indiana.

The plan includes, in part, directing the Indiana Department of Health to interpret existing laws in a way that would maximize legal access to an abortion and reduce barriers that clinics and providers face.

McCormick would also appoint abortion-rights supporters to relevant state boards and commissions, like the Medical Licensing Board, to ensure the state’s policy implementation aligns with trusting women and healthcare providers, according to the plan.

For parts of her plan, like pushing for legislative change to create citizen-led ballot initiatives to allow voters to repeal Indiana’s abortion ban, McCormick said she will work hard with the legislature to get it done.

“It’s going to take some bipartisan relationships and efforts, which we will do. I hope it’s reciprocated. I think people are ready for common sense and balance,” McCormick said.

Education

McCormick advocates for measures that would work toward increasing teacher pay to $60,000 a year and adjust veteran teacher salaries to reflect their non-educator peers.Some districts, McCormick said, are struggling to get to $40,000 as the entry-level pay for a teacher. Meanwhile, the state has 3,300 unfilled teaching positions that won’t get filled because of low pay, she said.

Toward the end of her time as state superintendent, McCormick said she noticed a shift in the way state officials were talking about educators and demonizing the profession. A shift in rhetoric would help attract teachers to Indiana, she said.

“We got to get those starting salaries up and then adjust everybody else’s,” McCormick said. “The only option is to get that salary up and tone down the rhetoric of what’s happening across the state of Indiana.”

Rainwater released an education plan that calls for educational competition by offering more options for homeschooling, charter schools, private schools. He firmly believes in universal school choice, Rainwater said, and that education funding should follow the child, not the institution.

“Everybody needs options and to be able to choose where their children go to school. If we have real competition in education, we’ll also have competitive teacher salaries,” Rainwater said.

Rainwater said teachers aren’t being paid fairly because Indiana has “a public school monopoly.” With nearly half of the state budget going toward public education, Rainwater said the state has to look into how the money is being spent.

“We don’t need more money allocated to public education, we need to make sure that the money that is allocated is getting to the classroom,” Rainwater said.

Braun released an education plan that would, in part, expand school choice programs and boost teacher pay and improve benefits. To increase teacher pay, Braun said he would raise teacher pay by running state agencies and departments more efficiently.

“I’m going to put that as a high priority and try to find ways through savings to make that dividend paid into teacher pay,” Braun said.

His plan also calls to empower parents with access to education information, allow for parental notification if a child requests a name or pronounce change and “protect” girls’ sports from biological male competitors.

“I’m a big believer in choice and competition, and through all of this having parents in the driver’s seat for their own kids’ education,” Braun said.

Property tax

Rainwater proposes reforming property taxes to be 1% of the purchase price and a sunset of the property tax after seven years of payment, he said. Rainwater would also set the property tax cap at 1% for residential, long-term care, and agricultural land, and 2% for commercial property, he said.

“Property taxes should not arbitrarily increase every year,” Rainwater said. “The only true value of your residence, of your property or your farmland, is what you paid for it.”

When putting together her property tax plan, McCormick said a top priority was to not hammer at the local level because when property taxes are lowered, local schools, police and fire departments see a decrease in funding, she said. The plan, in part, would increase the amount of exemptions on state and local income taxes from $1,000 to $2,500 and cap property tax bill increases at 10%, according to a release.

By shifting income tax levels, McCormick said taxpayers will see savings in one financial area that will help them pay their property taxes. At the same time, the cap ensures that property taxes don’t increase exponentially, she said.

Braun has proposed freezing future property tax increases by capping the increase in tax bills at 2% for seniors, low-income residents and families with children under the age of 18 and 3% for all other taxpayers. Indiana’s current property tax cap focuses on the type of property, like residential or commercial, while Braun said his plan focuses on the owner.

“It puts a lid on the bill because the circuit breakers, based upon assessed values, obviously didn’t work in times of inflation. You can drill in to take groups within a property type, and we choose to do that because we found young couples and elderly couples were the most impacted by the runaway inflation,” Braun said.

Northwest Indiana

If elected, McCormick said she’d be a partner with local officials and local entities, like school districts and public safety, to make sure they have support from the state government.

“So many of those folks, in my opinion, have been left out of the picture and their voice has not been heard. It’s a matter of making sure that we’re more about a guide and support versus a control and command,” McCormick said.

Northwest Indiana has seen a lot of development, so the state should partner with local officials to increase development. But, local officials need more state support to address infrastructure, education and healthcare access, McCormick said

“Your local elected officials have a great handle on that, so making sure we’re partnering with them to move things forward,” McCormick said.

Braun said Northwest Indiana is a diverse area, economically and ethnically, with a lot of potential. The Gary/Chicago International Airport and Burns Harbor are unique benefits to the region, he said.

Most people overlook Northwest Indiana, Braun said, even though its population is close to that of Indianapolis.

“A lot of times, like many parts of the periphery of our state, it doesn’t get the attention that it deserves,” Braun said.

Rainwater said what surprises him about Northwest Indiana is the vehicle emissions requirements that other parts of the state don’t have. State officials have a tendency to focus on Indianapolis and its surrounding areas, which leaves areas like Northwest Indiana feeling ignored, he said.

In all parts of the state, Rainwater said he would work to identify an area’s unique issues while simultaneously figuring out how the state could help without interference.

“A lot of the things that people need help with, what they need is for the government to stop interfering and let, whether it be nonprofit organizations, community groups, go in and do what they need to do and what they want to do to solve problems in local areas,” Rainwater said.

akukulka@chicagotribune.com