United Way of Central Indiana's 2017 Public Policy Agenda
At United Way of Central Indiana, we know that in order to fight for the education, financial stability, health and basic needs of every person in our community, we must do more than generate awareness and grow support for our programs. We must advocate for better policies that help our fellow Hoosiers on their path to self-sufficiency. That’s why, within this brochure, you will see a diverse set of public policy positions that are intended to help us reach our ambitious community goals.
In the past year, our community has seen some significant advancements. The voters of Marion County overwhelmingly passed a referendum that will allow our City-County Council to take bold steps to increase the quality and availability for public mass transportation. We will remain involved in that issue in the coming years until every citizen has access to a solid public transportation system, connecting them to jobs, healthcare and life-enriching opportunities.We have also seen the continued success of the city and state’s pre-k pilot programs, thanks to initial investments from individuals, corporations, and the public and private sector. However, we still have a long way to go. Right now, there are 27,000 low-income children in our state without access to high-quality pre-k programs. Studies prove that quality pre-k brings positive economic outcomes for our state, and academic and social benefits for our children. That’s why United Way of Central Indiana is proud to lead a broad coalition of educators, corporate partners, civic organizations and the philanthropic community in this advocacy effort to increase funding for pre-k. The time to act is now – our unserved children are four years-old only once.We also believe it's time for the state of Indiana to take action to protect our fellow citizens from crimes motivated out of fear or hatred of those who do not look like them or hold the same values. For a community to survive, diverse views must always be tolerated. That’s why we believe Indiana should join the vast majority of other states in passing bias crimes legislation to send a clear message that we will be a tolerant society where every citizen is valued.But let’s be clear. United Way cannot accomplish these goals without your support. We need all members of our community to come together to support our public policy agenda. We hope you will stay engaged and motivated, and we stand ready to support you as you help us change our community for the better.