Hoosiers for Jill

Background:

During her many years in public life, Jill Long Thompson has built an impressive record as a fighter for working families and as an advocate for responsive, responsible government. Inspired to politics as a youth, Long Thompson served three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from Indiana's 4th Congressional District from 1989 to 1995. Long Thompson spent more than five years as U.S. Under Secretary of Agriculture from 1995 to 2001.

In Congress, Long Thompson compiled a pragmatic voting record by opposing all new tax increases while protecting investments in education, Medicare, and Social Security. Long Thompson also served as Vice Chair of the Democratic Leadership Council, a Democratic policy organization.

Long Thompson's first election to Congress in 1989 made national headlines because Indiana's 4th Congressional District was considered a "safe" Republican seat once held by then Vice President Dan Quayle. Long Thompson, then known as Jill Long, easily won re-election in 1990 and 1992 despite being a top Republican target for defeat.

As Under Secretary of Agriculture for rural development, Long Thompson managed 7,000 employees and a $10 billion budget, which funded rural housing, cooperative, water/waste, and business programs. Among her accomplishments as Under Secretary were reforming the single-family loan program, helping create thousands of jobs in economically challenged communities, and improving the efficiency of the Department.

Jill Long Thompson, 54, grew up on the family farm outside of Larwill in Whitley County. She lives with her husband Don Thompson, a commercial airline pilot, in Marshall County on a farm near Argos. Most recently, Long Thompson served as CEO and Senior Fellow at the National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy.

Jill Long Thompson was the first in her family to graduate from college. She earned an M.B.A. (1978) and Ph.D (1984) in Business from Indiana University, and a B.S. in Business from Valparaiso University (1974).

After leaving Congress in early 1995 and before becoming Under Secretary of Agriculture, Long Thompson served as a Fellow at the Institute of Politics in the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Prior to her election to Congress, Long Thompson was an Assistant Professor of Business Administration at Valparaiso University, an Adjunct Professor at Indiana University/Purdue University-Fort Wayne, and a lecturer at Indiana University in Bloomington.

She also served as the Mark E. Johnston Chair of Entrepreneurship at Manchester College and as Adjunct Professor in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University South Bend.

Goals:

I am running for Governor to put Indiana and its economy back on track.

Across Indiana, good paying jobs are leaving our state and families are struggling to pay their mortgages, pay their taxes and keep up with the rising costs of health care, food and fuel. Once-thriving communities are slowly dying as people and businesses move away.

I believe that Hoosiers deserve better, and I think that with my experience in both the public and private sectors, I am best qualified to lead our state in a new direction. In Congress, I stood up against bad trade deals that, unfortunately, have resulted in thousands of Hoosier jobs being moved overseas. During my time as Under Secretary of Rural Development in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, I helped save and create new jobs right here in Indiana.

My “Grow Indiana” will provide the policy changes we need to help get Indiana’s economy going again, including a comprehensive overhaul of our tax structure, creating health care pools to bring down the cost of health care, improving our high school dropout rate and training our workers and students in the jobs of the future.

Issues:

I am running for Governor to rebuild Indiana’s economy and restore its promise.

To do that, I believe we must take a fundamentally different approach to economic development in this state. We must make sweeping changes to our tax, health care and education policies and we must do a better job of including all citizens and communities in Indiana’s future.

I want develop a “tier” system in Indiana to help guide future development efforts. Modeled after successful programs in several other states, this approach would encourage businesses to build or expand in the state’s most economically distressed areas.

I also want to tie any state and local tax incentives given to business to the quality of job it offers. In other words, only companies that pay a living wage, offer health and pension benefits and are good environmental stewards would be eligible for state assistance. This would help to grow the type of jobs that will create long term economic prosperity for all of our families.

Finally I want to develop a better educated workforce. Indiana is blessed with a network for outstanding colleges and universities – yet one in three of our high school students fail to graduate. This is unacceptable and harms the long term sustainability of our state. As a former educator, I know that we need to reform our education system, emphasize 21st vocational training opportunities and give our teachers the funding and flexibility they need to do their jobs. If we take those steps, we can reverse this dismal trend.

Grassroots Support:

It has and will continue to play a major role in my campaign. My opponent, incumbent Governor Mitch Daniels has a significant financial advantage – funded in large part by the corporations that have benefited from his policies.

However, while he chooses to use television commercials to reshape his record, our campaign is focused on reaching out Hoosiers all across the state. The citizens of Indiana are not happy with his leadership – and they want change. Through an aggressive voter contact effort we will spread our message and bring the change Hoosiers so desperately crave. This campaign will be won on the ground.

DFA Values:

I am fiscally responsible because as a member of Congress I never voted to increase a tax or raise a fee. I grew up in a working class family and know the burden taxes can place on a family. As a candidate for Governor, I have not proposed any new spending – just a re-prioritization of the existing budget. With the current state of our economy, I know that Indiana families can’t afford new taxes – and I won’t support any efforts to increase them.

I am socially progressive because I support engaging all citizens in our state. I strongly believe that Indiana cannot be successful unless all citizens and all communities have the opportunity to achieve their full potential. I also support enacting progressive policies to address Indiana’s health care, education and economic challenges.