Indiana Senator Joe Donnelly met with local orthopedic and community leaders Wednesday afternoon in Warsaw to discuss workforce training. Donnelly, who defeated Richard Mourdock in the Indiana senate race in November, was elected to replace Richard Lugar. Donnelly met Wednesday with Sheryl Conley, OrthoWorx chief executive officer, and Brad Bishop, OrthoWorx executive director, at OrthoWorx in Warsaw. Also in attendance were Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer; Renae Salyer, Warsaw-Kosciusko County Chamber of Commerce; and Cathy Limina, OrthoWorx finance director. The purpose was to discuss the OrthoWorx initiatives that are underway to support the community. The stop was part of Donnelly’s “I Work For You” four-day tour. Since Monday, Donnelly has visited 14 Indiana communities and will visit four more communities including South Bend, Valparaiso, Hammond and West Lafayette today. This is Donnelley’s first state-wide tour since being sworn in Jan. 3. Donnelly said he hopes workforce training legislation will have more success in the Senate than it has had in the U.S. House of Representatives. Donnelly was updated Wednesday on the projects OrthoWorx has underway to support the community. Projects include OrthoWorx partnering with Ivy Tech on worker training, and Grace College on its regulatory and clinical affairs program. OrthoWorx also has a study underway for a possible Orthopedic Capital Clinic. The clinic would be a collaborative research and educational clinic for orthopedic care. It would combine a specialized orthopedic treatment clinic, along with institutes for clinical research and medical education. Donnelly said he supports OrthoWorx efforts to develop the clinic. “I think it will create more jobs in our area and provide excellent health care,” Donnelly said. “We see in Warsaw with the Ivy Tech operations so much of the workforce training is done so people are ready from day one to take their place on the work floors in Indiana.” Donnelly said the clinic will add to the breadth of knowledge and talent in Indiana. He said he is working to get the American Works Act passed. The act has died twice in the House, including in 2011 when Donnelly co-sponsored it while a House member. The act would create credentials for workers showing they meet industry-recognized skills for almost all entry-level jobs in manufacturing nationwide. It would use funds from Trade Adjustment Assistance and the Workforce Investment Act, along with a federal vocational-technical education act to create training programs. “Our job is to try to make sure that here in Indiana we have the best trained, most talented workforce in the country,” Donnelly said. He also spoke about the medical device tax. The Medical Device Excise Tax was included in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the health care reform act passed in 2010 and referred to by many as ObamaCare). The tax is levied on the U.S. sales of medical devices at a rate of 2.3 percent. Because it’s an excise tax, companies that are subject to the tax will pay the 2.3 percent whether they are profitable or not. Donnelly, when he was a representative, signed on to a bill to repeal the device tax part of ObamaCare. As Senator-elect, he signed on to a letter to the Senate leader urging a delay in implementation. The tax is now in effect as of the beginning of this year and companies are subject to the tax. Donnelly said he is opposed to the medical device tax. “I am against it. We are working together in a bipartisan way to first get the device tax delayed for one year and in the process also get it repealed,” Donnelly said. He spoke about job creation and said Washington is trying to create more certainty so people know the policies. “We need to have Indiana viewed as the state with the best education in the world and the most skilled workers, and when we do those things we will continue to see advanced manufacturing grow,” Donnelly said. He also was asked his opinions on gun control in light of the school shooting in Connecticut. “I am a strong supporter of the Second Amendment, but at the same time I want to make sure that our children when they go to school come home, and when you go to work you are safe in your workplace,” Donnelly said. He said the government is looking at an overall picture of how to make sure those things can occur. He also said evaluating mental health and school safety is involved in relation to gun control. “We need to look at if we are doing the best job we can on background checks,” Donnelly said.
