New state senator ready to go to work
Rodney Pol Jr.: ‘I had a really great, warm welcome’
Rodney Pol Jr. said being sworn in as a state senator was a “full circle” moment as he took the oath of office with his uncle, who he worked under as an intern in the statehouse, watching.
“From being an intern to becoming a senator, it’s an amazing experience. That’s the really cool part of it,” Pol said. “I had a really great, warm welcome from the general assembly.”
Pol was sworn in Nov. 16 to officially become the state senator for Dist. 4. He replaces former Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Portage, who resigned Sept. 30, through the end of her term, which ends Jan. 1, 2023.
Supreme Court Justice Loretta Rush swore Pol in, and his parents, brother, wife, two daughters, grandmother, two uncles, an aunt and mother-in-law all attended the ceremony.
“Justice Rush had actually, right before being sworn in, she actually commented on it. She’s like, ‘Is this everybody?’ I said, ‘It’s not everybody, but I think that’s everybody that made it today,’ ” Pol said with a laugh.
Pol was sworn in at the start of the Organization Day session, which is held every year as a day for new legislators to get familiar with the statehouse and for both parties to start announcing their legislative agendas for the upcoming session.
Before being sworn in, Pol said he met with staff and the Democratic caucus. After the session, Pol said there was a reception, where he was able to meet and talk with his colleagues.
“It was a whirlwind of an experience, meeting a lot of people that you’ve always read about,” Pol said. “You get to sit down and kind of realize we’re underway now.
Now we get to work, and these are the people that I get to work with.”
Following organization day, Pol said he felt energized to get to work. While he serves as senator, Pol will maintain his job as the corporation counsel for the City of Gary.
In the upcoming 2022 session, the Democratic caucus is pushing for cannabis reform, Pol said, a longtime goal of Tallian’s. When looking at the “sentiment in the Hoosier state” about cannabis and what surrounding states are doing, Pol said Indiana is “out-of-date” when it comes to cannabis reform.
States that have legalized marijuana have seen benefits like adding a revenue stream and easing the burden on the criminal justice system, Pol said.
“If we’re looking at just the raw data and numbers, you’ve got a supermajority of Hoosiers that support medical marijuana in addition to recreational use,” Pol said.
Pol said he will also propose a coal ash bill, which is something Tallian had proposed in the 2021 session, which will address the storage of coal ash to ensure it does not pollute water systems. Currently, the storage of coal ash is “incredibly problematic” because it can pollute nearby water systems that lead to Lake Michigan or flood plains, he said.
Additionally, Pol said he will propose a bill that addresses the scheduled benefits update for workers. Since 2016, the last scheduled benefits update has ended, and since then thousands of claims have come in, Pol said.
“We’re looking at the rate of inflation that has risen, cost of living has risen, but individuals that are hard at work and suffer workplace injuries, that are being underpaid, are having a harder and harder time being able to support their families. That’s something that we absolutely have to address in the legislative session,” Pol said.
Another bill, Pol said, would be to create an interim study committee to look at noneducational professionals in school districts — like bus drivers, cafeteria workers and technicians — to look at their wages, benefits and workplace conditions.
Pol said he’ll also propose a bill that “cleans up” portions of the state’s criminal code, such as juvenile expungements.
“It really is bringing the juvenile expungement process in line with the adult expungement process and ensuring that we don’t have individuals that are in the system longer than they need to be,” Pol said.
Pol said another bill he’ll propose is a license designation for individuals with sensory and communication impediments. Pol said he looked at states like Michigan, where there is a voluntary system for individuals with sensory and communication impediments to file their condition so that public safety officials, like police officers and firefighters, have that advance notice when responding to a call.
“The resource of having that information ahead of time can be potentially invaluable,” Pol said. “It’s completely voluntary, so there’s not a stigma attached to it.”
When session starts in
January, Pol said he’s looking forward to being assigned to committees and pushing his proposals forward. He said he also looks forward to advocating for the constituents in his district and for all Hoosiers.
During Organization Day, Pol said Sen. Greg Taylor, D-Indianapolis, and Sen. David Niezgodski, D-South Bend, gave him great advice: Be yourself and stand for what you believe in.
“It’s the most simple advice that you could get, but in a time where you’re going through a transition like this ... you could get lost pretty easily trying to figure out everything. At the end of the day, you have to remember to be yourself,” Pol said.