Sen. Dan Coats to visit Bloomington today

Sen. Dan Coats, R-Ind., will meet with Bloomington business leaders today and discuss the current economic state and provide ways to encourage job creation.

The 1:30 p.m. meeting at Chapman’s Restaurant is presented by the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce.

Matt Lahr, press secretary for Coats, said the senator will meet with business leaders to talk about what he thinks needs to be done to improve the economy and encourage job creation.

Liz Irwin, public policy coordinator for the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce, said about 30 to 50 chamber members will be in attendance.

“It’s going to be a general brief overview, an update from Washington, and he’s going to be taking questions from attendees,” Irwin said.

“The Chamber loves to be able to provide opportunities for members to have access to elected officials,” Irwin said. “It’s always important, from our member’s perspective, to share their concerns and interests at a local, state and national level.”

In an email, Lahr said Coats has worked on a comprehensive tax reform plan that will make the tax system simpler, fairer and more competitive while spurring economic growth.

“Coats has said we need to go through each program and every agency to determine where we can do more with less,” Lahr said in an email.

Coats said he believes it is essential to restructure mandatory spending programs in order to preserve much-needed benefits for current and future generations, according to the email.

“Not only will the uncontrollable growth of mandatory spending squeeze out funding for all other programs or priorities in our country, but with 10,000 baby boomers retiring each day, we simply will not be able to cover our commitments to seniors if we remain on this current course,” Lahr said in the email. “And if we don’t act, the result will be either cutting benefits by half or imposing massive tax increases on the next generation.”

Lahr said Coats will be hearing primarily from the local community.

“It’s very important for Senator Coats to be accessible and to hear from his constituents, so he can take their views back to Washington and best represent them in Congress,” Lahr said.