Episode 90: It's All Infrastructure, Really
Guest: John E. Bartlett - Candidate for Indiana State House, District 33
https://www.bartlettforindiana.org/
Welcome to the HoosLeft Podcast, a show about Indiana politics, history, and culture from an unapologetically leftist perspective. My name is Scott Aaron Rogers, and I’m recording from Bloomington.
We speak frequently on this program about the decline of rural and small town Indiana. Decline in good-paying jobs. Decline in opportunity. Decline in public services. Decline in population. One can lead to another and another in vicious spiral.
State House District 33 has not been spared. This predominantly rural district extends from Eastern Delaware County, just outside Muncie, to the Ohio state line and includes the communities of Portland, Winchester, and Hartford City. John Bartlett has seen it all unfold.
Having grown up and spent his whole life in the area, Bartlett stands in contrast to the conservative caricature of a Democrat. From planting crops on the family farm, to doing his own plumbing, electrical, and mechanical work, this is the kind of guy a lot of soft-handed country club Republicans like to cosplay as.
Bartlett is making his third attempt to unseat MAGA chud JD Prescott in next year’s midterm election, and he’s my guest this week.
In the following conversation, we’ll talk about his family’s incredibly deep roots in East Central Indiana, the hollowing out of our communities by decades of Republican rule, and the three pillars of his campaign. If you stick around ‘til the end, we’ll also get into modular nuclear reactors — check that, we’ll discuss modular nuclear reactors, and speak briefly about property taxes.
Real quick before we get to the interview, please consider supporting HoosLeft with a paid subscription. This is an independent media project; I don’t paywall content; and I don’t rely on advertising. Only individuals like you keep this thing going. Maybe I could make more money if I did things differently, but I refuse to gatekeep valuable information in the middle of a political crisis. So please, if you find value in this work, go to HoosLeft.us and subscribe at the paid level - it’s only $5 a month, or $50 a year, to help me write more, research more, and organize more. Not ready for long-term commitment? You can make a one-time contribution on Cash App or Venmo. Links are in the show notes. Me, and my old body, would like to spend less time on construction, and more time constructing a better future for Indiana, but I need your financial support to do so.
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Now, here is my conversation with John Bartlett.
Things We Talked About:
John L. Bartlett: https://www.indianahousedemocrats.org/members/john-bartlett
John E’s Previous Races: https://ballotpedia.org/John_E._Bartlett_(Indiana_House_District_33_candidate)
District 33: https://ballotpedia.org/Indiana_House_of_Representatives_District_33
Population Loss in Rural Indiana: https://ag.purdue.edu/department/agecon/fambiz/_docs/strategic-business-planning/population_trends_rural_indiana.pdf
Indiana Poverty Rate by County: https://hdpulse.nimhd.nih.gov/data-portal/social/map
Hoosiers’ Low Educational Attainment: https://www.wthr.com/article/news/education/indiana-ranks-43rd-in-most-and-least-educated-states-bachelor-degree-college-university/
Disinvestment in Indiana’s Schools: https://indianacapitalchronicle.com/2025/07/28/a-long-term-look-at-indianas-budget/
Union Schools Controversy: https://indianacapitalchronicle.com/2025/07/04/tiny-indiana-district-with-online-school-worth-millions-ordered-to-close/
Proposed Bill to Disband five School Districts: https://www.wrtv.com/news/education/proposed-bill-would-disband-5-indiana-school-districts-including-indianapolis-public-schools
What is an IEP? https://www.understood.org/en/articles/what-is-an-iep
Bill to Close Union Schools Snuck Into Tax Bill: https://www.wishtv.com/news/indiana-news/union-school-corporation-dissolve/
Union Schools in Legal Limbo: https://www.ipm.org/news/2025-07-21/law-forcing-union-schools-to-shut-down-still-faces-legal-pushback
Proposed Amendment to Consolidate Small County Schools: https://legiscan.com/IN/amendment/SB0001/id/246267
Voucher Spending Nears Half Billion: https://indianacapitalchronicle.com/2025/07/01/indiana-private-school-voucher-spending-tops-497m-as-enrollment-slows/
ICPE Voucher Calculator: https://indianacoalitionforpubliced.org/voucher-cost/
Twelve Rural Hospitals at Risk for Closure: https://www.thestarpress.com/story/news/2025/07/09/medicaid-cuts-could-lead-to-12-rural-indiana-hospitals-closing/84517196007/
Hospitals/Insurers Defraud Indiana Medicaid: https://www.indystar.com/story/news/investigations/2024/09/18/lawsuit-state-medicaid-program-overbilled-by-as-much-as-700-million/75278870007/
Indiana’s High Hospital Prices: https://employersforumindiana.org/indiana-hospital-prices-remain-high/
Trump Kills Biden Broadband Expansion: https://mashable.com/article/trump-broadband-funding-cuts?test_uuid=003aGE6xTMbhuvdzpnH5X4Q&test_variant=b
Indiana First to Okay Tolling on All Interstates: https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/indiana-becomes-first-state-to-approve-tolling-on-all-interstates/3771725/
EV Surcharge at Indiana BMV: https://www.wfyi.org/news/articles/how-did-indiana-come-up-with-the-fee-to-register-electric-vehicles
Braun Pushes Modular Nuclear Reactors: https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/indiana/governor-mike-braun-pushes-nuclear-energy-in-indiana-economic-development/
Simpsons Tomacco Episode: https://simpsons.fandom.com/wiki/Tomacco
Massive Cost Overrun at GA Nuke Plant: https://apnews.com/article/georgia-nuclear-power-plant-vogtle-rates-costs-75c7a413cda3935dd551be9115e88a64
Bill Lets Utilities Charge Consumers for Planning & Development: https://www.wfyi.org/news/articles/senate-passes-bills-subsidizing-small-nuclear-reactor-development
SEA1 Property Tax Law: https://www.wfyi.org/news/articles/gov-mike-braun-signs-historic-property-tax-relief-bill-into-law-critics-call-it-a-lose-lose
Prescott’s Regressive Tax Plan: https://www.indianahouserepublicans.com/news/press-releases/prescott-fiscal-impact-of-replacing-property-tax-with-sales-tax-on-services/
Lake County Property Tax Suit: https://indianacapitalchronicle.com/2025/06/27/property-tax-case-argued-before-the-indiana-supreme-court-has-major-implications/
DLGF Assessment Booklet: https://gov.pulaskionline.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2024/05/2024-DLGF-240429-Fact-Sheet-Annual-Adjustments.pdf
Indiana Home Assessments Skyrocket: https://www.21alivenews.com/2024/05/11/indiana-residents-property-tax-assessments-increase-heres-why/
Once again, that was John Bartlett, deeply-rooted Hoosier and Democrat for State House District 33 in East Central Indiana.
Education. Healthcare. Infrastructure. These form the backbone of our communities and lack of investment is like bone loss, our small towns hunching over and crumbling without support. The “free market” will not fix this, only government has the ability to marshal those resources. So let’s quit electing Republicans who are philosophically opposed to government doing much of anything.
That’s it for now, but I’ll be back this weekend on Project Next Media network’s YouTube, FaceBook Live, and Twitch streams, where I host HoosLeft This Week, Indiana’s most thorough Sunday morning news and politics talk show. Come check that out live if you get a chance. It’s a lot of fun, if you can call following the news in this timeline fun. But I bring together a diverse group of panelists from the democratic socialist left to never-Trump conservatives and we look at the week’s headlines from around Indiana and beyond. We’ll also take time to examine one big thing, a different deep dive every week. I hope to see you there in the comments, but if you can’t make it live, the program will be available as a podcast Sunday afternoon.
Thanks again to John Bartlett for his time and for his candidacy. It’s more important than ever for left-leaning folks to run for EVERY office, if for no other reason than to let our neighbors know they’re not alone. If you’ve ever thought about doing it yourself, now is a good time. I can put you in touch with people who know how. Finally, I’ll ask one last time for you to please consider a paid subscription at HoosLeft.US, where you’ll find everything I’ve ever published. I rely solely on the generosity of kind patrons like you to make this information available for free to everybody. In addition to the website, you can also find me on Facebook, Bluesky, YouTube and TikTok at HoosLeft or on most other social media sites at ScottRog78, where you can hit me up with feedback, tips, ideas, and concerns. Finally, please forward the show to a friend and have them pass it on. Let’s keep building this project - and a truly democratic state - one conversation at a time. Until the next one, this has been the HoosLeft podcast. I’m Scott Aaron Rogers. Love each other, Indiana.
John E. Bartlett Online:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BartlettForIN
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bartlettforin/
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/indivisiblecentind.bsky.social
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@bartlettforin
HoosLeft Online:
https://www.facebook.com/hoosleft
https://bsky.app/profile/hoosleft.us
https://www.youtube.com/@hoosleft
https://www.tiktok.com/@hoosleft
https://www.instagram.com/scottrog78/
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