On Indianapolis This Week, Indiana Governor Mike Pence sat down with Indianapolis This Week Host Rafael Sanchez as he prepares for 2016.
Gov. Pence discussed a variety of issues including his decision to suspend Syrian refugee settlement. Pence announced the suspension of the program following the attacks in Paris.
Following his announcement, a family of Syrian refugees was forced to relocate to Connecticut. Less than a month later, Catholic Charities welcomed a Syrian refugee family to Indiana, despite objections from Gov. Pence.
"As governor of the state of Indiana, I have no higher priority than the safety and security of the people of the state. After the horrific terrorist attacks in Paris that involved someone that had come into Europe as a Syrian refugee, and after the testimony of the FBI director said a month earlier that there were significant gaps in our ability to vet people coming out of Syria, I believe it was right to suspend the state’s participation in the Syrian refugee program until the administration and Congress took action," he said.
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Gov. Pence also discussed the debate over civil rights protections for the LGBT community, which is expected to dominate debate in 2016.
The senate president is backing a proposal to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
One bill would make it a crime to enter a public restroom designated for the opposite sex, which would address the concerns of religious conservatives.
"Hoosiers are a deeply tolerant and compassionate people who reject harassment and discrimination against anyone. We’re also a people that cherish our faith. We cherish the freedoms that are enshrined in the constitution of the State of Indiana, our federal constitution. The challenge that we face, quite apart from economic issues, is whether it may be possible to reconcile those two great principles in the laws of this state. I’ve come to no conclusion about that, yet," he said.
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Gov. Pence also addressed the ISTEP test. The test has had scoring delays and has received criticisms about the length and difficulty between versions of the test.
“I believe in accountability, I believe that performance measured is performance enhanced. We’ve got to give parents and teachers the information about how our kids are doing, but we gotta be able to rely on those tests," he said.
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And what does he think is the state's biggest achievement of 2015?
“The people of Indiana have achieved much in this year, but chief among them for me has to do with jobs and healthcare. The area of jobs, we set a new record for private sector employment, we now have more Hoosiers going to work than ever before in our state’s history," he said.
Watch the full interview in the video player above.
