Gov. Mike Braun Joins In-Studio

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
Joining us now in studio, he is the governor of the great state of Indiana, Governor Mike Braun. How are you, my friend?

**Mike Braun** (0:07)
Couldn't be better. Nice and hot out, isn't it?

**SPEAKER_1** (0:10)
It is, it's better than having the snow plows out. It's better than minus 10 It's better than scraping my car off. That's a hill that I will die on, Governor.

**Mike Braun** (0:19)
Gotcha, I prefer cold weather to this kind of weather because you can actually bundle up to counter it. It's hard to keep sweating in this heat, right?

**SPEAKER_1** (0:30)
That's fancy talk for you want me to keep my shirt on and not take my shirt off. I got it.

**Mike Braun** (0:34)
I got it.

**SPEAKER_1** (0:35)
Please. Got a number of things I want to talk about, including Indiana's plans for the 4th of July.
I'm looking at some numbers here and whether it's the gas, whether it's the cost of the 4th of July cookout and those types of things. The prices seem to be lowering, which is good news for a lot of Hoosiers.

**Mike Braun** (0:57)
It is, because affordability, if you're not astute to that, you're missing the point, because, of course, we've talked so often about property taxes, and I did hear a discussion earlier today about a bill that's out there, and, of course, that was a first salvo on affordability.
Gas you look at weekly, and utility rates, we know that's been a wrestling match, but across the board, health care costs, probably the thing that can send you to bankruptcy court more than anything have all been issues for me, and then getting an enterprising legislature to go along with it, it is real. So yes, it's nice to have a little reprieve. And when we've had the lowest gas prices in the country for now, over three months, that's something that we can all feel good about.

**SPEAKER_1** (1:48)
So with that being said, have you thought about whether or not the gas tax could continue to be suspended, or is there a world where we've seen that we can function without it? Maybe cuts can be made other places where we can get rid of the gas tax.

**Mike Braun** (2:06)
So when it comes to what I can do, I'll look at it again in early July, and I've got one more opportunity to do it.
The dynamic in the Mideast, to me, makes a difference. That's kind of wobbling. It's hard to tell, even though crudes come down. Some places in Indiana, gas is under three bucks a gallon.
But 62 cents of that would be the gas tax holiday on excise and use. So in terms of what we can do, because gas tax exclusively goes towards roads and bridges. When that bill was passed back in 17, that was a big selling point that don't siphon it off, use it elsewhere, and we've been diligent at it. And then Biden's inflation, 22, 3, and 4, hit concrete and steel harder than almost anything else. That's what roads and bridges are made out of. So the dollar doesn't go as far due to that, but always looking at ways to run things more efficiently and lighten the load on taxpayers.

**SPEAKER_3** (3:10)
You know, one of the things I really love about Indiana is the way that we throw a party. And I live up in Hamilton County, and Carmel Fest is going to be fantastic. People already have their chairs out. You know, what are some of the big things you look forward to? As the governor, I'm sure you got to go to a couple of places. What are some of the places you hit for sure for July 4th?

**Mike Braun** (3:25)
So you're requested to be in 92 different places.
And I'm going to probably do stuff in and around southern Indiana.
Every county we've given from the state a thousand bucks to kind of gin up your own interest in it. And that goes pretty far in your smaller counties. Places like Hamilton County, you're always having good parties because you're blessed with resources regardless. So I think the 250, the fact that what kind of disappoints me most is not every state is embracing it. You've got some that are really hesitant to say that they're proud of the country and that they're going to celebrate it at all. To me, that's a much bigger story that's going on, and I think that's reflected in some of the nuts getting elected in certain places around the country. But when it comes to this special day, we've always had it as a family and community day, and I'll be doing that down in my neck of the woods.