SUMMARY:
In HoosLeft’s final interview before Election Day, Scott sits down with Kacey Blundell, the Democratic nominee for Indiana State Senate District 38 (all of Vigo and Clay counties and part of Sullivan County, including Terre Haute). Blundell has spent her career in civil service — the Vigo County Prosecutor’s Office, the Department of Child Services, and now community corrections — helping people re-enter society after incarceration, and she’s candid that her own childhood (government housing, food stamps, a single-wide trailer) shaped that work. The conversation ranges from just how far out of reach the cost of living has gotten for ordinary Hoosiers, to Indiana’s new law criminalizing homelessness, the state’s budget surplus sitting idle while services get cut, and a SNAP-eligibility absurdity where a teenager getting a part-time job can cost the whole family its food assistance. Blundell argues the data is clear that investing in public education, daycare, and healthcare pays for itself many times over, and that Indiana’s twenty-year Republican supermajority has instead chosen ideology and austerity — all while insisting it’s good stewardship. She interestingly closes by rejecting the idea of a Democratic supermajority too, arguing real accountability requires competitive elections, not one-party rule in either direction.
Progressive Indiana Network: https://progressiveindiana.net
HoosLeft: https://hoosleft.us
Kacey Blundell: https://www.facebook.com/blundell4indiana/
WHAT’S INSIDE:
00:00:20 Introduction: Final Interview Before Election Day
Scott opens his last pre-Election Day episode reflecting on why power should be a means to improve lives, not an end in itself, after 20-plus years of Republican supermajority rule in Indiana.
00:03:48 Welcoming Kacey Blundell
Kacey introduces herself: Democratic candidate for State Senate District 38, with a career spanning the Vigo County Prosecutor’s Office, the Department of Child Services, and now community corrections, helping people re-entering society get IDs, bank accounts, and jobs after incarceration.
00:06:25 Why Indiana Makes It Hard to Start Over
Kacey argues Indiana offers little real social mobility — you’re “either stuck or you’ve always had it” — citing cuts to HIP (the Healthy Indiana Plan) and SNAP benefits and crumbling public school buildings in Vigo County after two decades of statehouse defunding.
00:08:35 The $82,000 Salary Needed to Live Comfortably
Kacey cites a statistic that a single Hoosier needs about $82,000 a year to live comfortably in 2026 (note — it’s even higher than she said); Scott follows up with Indiana’s actual median household income (~$72,000), single-person median (~$37,000-plus), and median full-time salary (~$56,000) — all well short.
00:11:58 Criminal Records, Names, and Disabilities as Barriers
Kacey adds that the $82,000 figure assumes no criminal record, no stigmatized last name, and no disability limiting work hours — barriers that push people further behind before they even start.
00:13:52 Marijuana Prohibition and Lost Revenue
Kacey notes Indiana still criminally charges marijuana possession even though every bordering state and the majority nationwide have legalized it in some form (note — 41 medical, 24 recreational), costing Indiana billions in forgone tax revenue (note — about $180M annually) while still spending money to prosecute it.
00:17:04 Childhood Trauma, Food Stamps, and a Single-Wide Trailer
Scott connects childhood trauma to the cycle of incarceration; Kacey shares her own upbringing — a single mother, government housing, literal paper food stamps, and a single-wide trailer — as the root of her career helping people out of the same struggle.
00:20:45 Ideology Over Economics: The Case for Investment
Scott argues disinvesting in programs like early childhood education isn’t just cruel but bad economics, given the well-documented multi-dollar return on every dollar invested; Kacey counters that Indiana’s roughly $6 billion budget surplus proves the state isn’t actually a good steward of taxpayer money.
00:23:04 The Surplus and the Delayed Cuts
Scott notes many federal cuts from the 2025 reconciliation bill don’t take effect until after the 2026 election, and discusses how new Medicaid/SNAP work requirements could force parents to leave children in unsafe situations just to qualify for assistance.
00:26:46 Child Labor Laws and a New Gilded Age
Kacey points out Indiana recently loosened child labor laws, even as a minor child’s part-time earnings can be counted against a household’s SNAP eligibility — meaning a teenager getting a job can cost the family its food assistance.
00:28:03 Fully Funding Public Education and Early Intervention
Kacey calls for restoring child care vouchers, expanding daycare and pre-K, and fully funding public education, citing states with the best education outcomes as also having lower per-capita crime rates and healthcare costs.
00:32:47 Illegal to Be Homeless in Indiana
Kacey highlights Indiana’s new law criminalizing public camping, arguing it saddles people who have nothing with court costs and fines and strains already-underfunded county jails and services.
00:35:08 Daycare as Public Investment
Scott raises using public investment or a jobs guarantee to address the daycare worker shortage; Kacey shares that her son’s daycare bill ran about $1,500 every three weeks — more in one year than her entire four-year college degree cost.
00:39:19 Child Care Policy and Christian Nationalist Politics
Scott argues the lack of childcare investment reflects an ideological preference, among some far-right Republicans, for women to stay home rather than work.
00:40:18 Minimum Wage, Birth Rates, and “Pro-Birth” Not Pro-Life
Kacey connects Indiana’s $7.25 minimum wage to the record-low national birth rate and Indiana’s infant and maternal mortality rate (note — not the worst, but in the bottom third of states), arguing the state’s abortion restrictions make it “pro-birth,” not pro-life.
00:42:21 The $7.25 Minimum Wage and the Trickle-Up Economy
Scott notes Indiana’s minimum wage has sat at $7.25 since 2009 and would be $20–35/hour today if it had kept pace with inflation and productivity, arguing investment at the bottom of the economy — a “trickle-up” approach — benefits everyone.
00:44:16 Who Actually Works Minimum-Wage Jobs
Kacey points out minimum-wage jobs are no longer mostly teenagers (note — in the 1930’s, the minimum wage was NOT introduced to give teenagers spending money, but precisely to stop the exploitation of adult workers) while corporations raise prices and executive pay without raising worker wages.
00:47:25 Would Republicans Compromise Without a Supermajority?
Kacey recounts a recent candidate forum with Mary Allen (running for Congress), State Rep. Tonya Pfaff, and Brandi Vandivier (running against incumbent Tim Yocum), and says she doesn’t want a supermajority for either party — just competitive elections that force real compromise.
00:50:05 The 50-Year Conservative Long Game
Scott traces today’s policy outcomes back 50 years to the Powell Memo and the Reagan Revolution’s slow dismantling of the New Deal, and hopes rebuilding it won’t take as long.
00:52:28 Every Vote Counts: Decided by Three Votes
Kacey cites a nearby Indiana Senate race decided by just three votes as proof that individual votes matter, and calls for sustained civic pressure on elected officials beyond just showing up to vote.
00:55:24 Closing Pitch and Where to Find Kacey Blundell
With her campaign spending finished, Kacey asks supporters to share her message and name recognition on social media rather than donate, as the final push before Election Day.
00:56:52 Show Outro
