From: Clarence White
Columbus
It is my pleasure to commend to the voters of our community Dale Nowlin for State Representative. I would like to mention a couple of reasons why. In my personal conversation with Dale, two things have emerged, which are, to me, vitally important.
First, like myself, Dale is an educator. This means he understands the needs and hopes of students. Dale knows that we are under resourcing our schools, and that more needs to be done to provide classroom resources, student support resources and better pay to attract better teachers. Now, the way to get to these goals can be discussed and subjected to a healthy debate, but Dale knows what the end goals should be. And with the current disastrous leadership in our federal Department of Education, more needs to be done at the state and local levels.
Second, Dale shares my own view that Indiana’s tax collection system is fundamentally unjust. Flat taxes and sales taxes are kind to those who have considerable means, and brutal to the poor. Instead of a flat 3.23 percent state income tax, maybe we need two brackets. Perhaps something like 3 percent for incomes under $150,000 and 6 percent for incomes above that. Raising these taxes would allow a reduction in the sales tax from 7 percent to maybe 4 percent. (Now, these numbers are mine, not Dale’s, but I happen to know he shares my general viewpoint.) Part of the reason Indiana’s educational structures and infrastructure are in disarray is because of the perversity of a system which favors the rich, and depends too much on the poor for its revenue.
In essence, you get what you pay for. Good stewardship of our financial resources means making sure our resources are spent in such a way as to achieve the maximum quality outcomes. Dale understands this. His presence in Indianapolis would be a step toward a more just Indiana.
