The race for House District 15 features Democrat challenger Anthony Oberman of Schererville versus Rep. Hal Slager, R-Schererville, a six-term incumbent.
District 15 encompasses the Tri-Town area of Dyer, St. John and Schererville.
As a member of the House Ways & Means Committee, Slager, 67, said he remains strongly focused on Hoosier healthcare issues, particularly in how Medicaid funds are collected and distributed. He said he was proud to have authored a House bill to equalize the Medicaid reimbursement for pediatric patient care across state lines.
“Even though we’re clamping down on eligibility requirements, Medicaid is becoming a bigger percentage of the budget every year, so we’ve got to accommodate that,” Slager said. “We’ll know more within the month when we get the Medicaid forecast.”
Slager also sees funding challenges ahead in replacing approximately $1 billion in lost revenue due to suspension of the state’s gasoline tax this year. That reduction in funds means there may be $1 billion less for road and street projects, although the state has a enough in reserves to reimburse communities for lost revenues, he said.
Slager says he tries to work well with other elected officials on behalf of all Hoosiers.
“I try to stay out of the politics of it all as best as I can, and I think that’s probably why I get I get along pretty well with most of the elected officials regardless of party, because we’re just focused on trying to get a job done,” Slager said.
Oberman, 43, is a “medically retired” former Calumet City, Illinois police officer, who is making his first run for public office. He hopes to give more of a voice downstate regarding issues affecting working class families in District 15 and across the state.
Oberman sees the sweeping property tax reforms of Senate Enrolled Act 1 negatively affecting local communities, school and public safety funding in particular. He believes change is needed in the House if average Hoosiers are to prosper and have a chance at a better life.
“I think people are just tired of having to carry the load of the haves while we’re like getting scraps,” Oberman said, adding that he feels his campaign is building momentum toward an upset over Slager.
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“I’m getting pretty good feedback from the doors I’m knocking on, so I think we have a very good shot at it,” Oberman said.
Oberman was one of many Northwest Indiana residents who presented testimony about the impact of Aug. 11 on the region and the issues he and others encountered with NIPSCO at a Tuesday interim House study committee hearing in Indianapolis.
He clarified that he wasn’t there to blame NIPSCO for the outage itself, but he said the length of the outage had a massive impact on families and businesses ability to resume their lives.
“NIPSCO said they had made significant investments to its system, so there’s a fair question to ask — how did invest perform when system faced its greatest test?” Oberman said at the hearing. “We must ask what failed, why it failed and what must change so that Indiana is better prepared next time.”
Jim Masters is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.