Governor Pence accused of failure to act on jobs

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Governor Mike Pence is wrapping up his third week in office but he's already under fire for not doing enough.

House Democratic Leader Scott Pelath says he's trying to give Governor Pence some friendly advice but it's pretty pointed.  He says Pence is letting his honeymoon period slip away.

Pence took office declaring that jobs are his top priority.  Scott Pelath says actions by the governor don't match his words. 

"There are a quarter million Hoosiers out of work, looking for work, and in danger of dropping out of the middle class," he said, "and a quarter of the (legislative) session is over and we have not seen a single measure to put people back to work now."

The governor has proposed a budget that includes a 10 percent income tax cut and he calls it a jobs budget. 

"Lowering our personal income tax rate would be good for jobs," said Pence on Wednesday. "It would be good for growth, good for economic opportunity."

But when it comes to other bills Pence is mostly noncommittal.  It's a big change from former governor Mitch Daniels who regularly staked out positions on all sorts of legislation.

"And there's the sense in this building," says Pelath, "that he needs to provide more clarity about his expectations of where he wants Indiana to go."

Mike Pence was out of town and a spokeswoman there would be no response to Representative Pelath's comments.