President to visit Indianapolis Friday

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Ivy Tech is preparing for a visit from President Barack Obama.

A White House spokesperson says the president will come to Indianapolis to give a speech on Friday. He will talk about what the White House calls middle class economics.

During the President’s State of the Union address he introduced a plan that would let people attend two years of community college for free. That plan was also included in the president’s budget proposal he sent to Congress on Monday.

The plan would cost about $60 billion over the next ten years.

The proposal is also sparking questions from some about who will pay for that tuition.

President Obama has visited Idaho and Kansas recently discussing his policies that he says will help the middle class.

He spoke about his budget proposal Monday. “The budget that Congress now has in its hands is built on those values.  It helps working families’ paychecks go farther by treating things like paid sick leave and child care as the economic priorities that they are.  It gives Americans of every age a chance to upgrade their skills so they can earn higher wages.  And it includes my plan to make two years of community college free for responsible students,” said President Obama.

Ivy Tech’s president has visited the White House to speak about education issues.

The last time President Obama visited Indianapolis was May 2011, when he stopped by the Allison Transmission Plant on the west side.

He praised the company then for hybrid technology, toting fuel efficiency and his plans for the economy then.

As far as this week’s visit, there are still a lot of logistics we do not know yet: like what specific time the president will speak here, where Air Force One will land, and which route his motorcade will take to arrive.