Washington, D.C.—Wednesday, U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly released his annual report for 2015. The report details Donnelly’s bipartisan legislative work, his travels around the state, and his efforts to help Hoosiers in his third year as U.S. Senator for Indiana. The report highlights the Senator’s accomplishments, including a number of bipartisan bills and amendments that were signed into law, and recognition as one of the most bipartisan Senators. In addition to the report, Donnelly released an Interactive Year in Review illustrating his work on behalf of constituents.
Donnelly said, “Over the past year, I have worked with Republicans and Democrats to grow the economy and expand opportunities for Hoosiers, improve mental health care for servicemembers, and address the crime and drug epidemics impacting families and communities. This report highlights my efforts to represent our state and to serve every Hoosier. I am committed to continuing this work and providing outstanding customer service and assistance.”
2015 highlights include:
- Visited all 92 counties, and hosted or participated in 327 events in 107 cities and towns over 165 days in Indiana.
- Responded on average in less than two weeks to constituents’ calls, emails, letters and faxes.
- Worked with Hoosiers seeking assistance with a federal agency on 2,000 cases of which 1,964 have been closed, resulting in more than $2.2 million in federal benefits being returned to constituents.
- Partnered on legislative efforts with 21 different Republican Senators. These efforts included:
- Improved Military Mental Health: Introduced and got signed into law provisions from his “Servicemember and Veteran Mental Health Care Package” that will improve access to mental health care for servicemembers and their families;
- Reauthorized the Export-Import Bank: Helped author a bill to reauthorize the Export- Import Bank — which is important to small businesses and for expanding exports — and helped secure its inclusion in legislation signed into law; and
- Suspended the Medical Device Tax: Pushed to reduce the impact of the medical device tax and helped pass a two-year suspension of the tax, which was signed into law. Joe has been a longtime supporter of bipartisan efforts to repeal the medical device tax and reintroduced bipartisan legislation that would eliminate the device tax.
- Played a leadership role in significant accomplishments across Indiana, including:
- Army Land Transfer to River Ridge: Helped resolve a longstanding dispute with the Army that resulted in River Ridge Commerce Center acquiring high-value property that is expected to create more jobs and opportunity;
- Gary Airport Runway Expansion: Brought together key stakeholders to resolve issues that had stalled and threatened to derail the Gary/Chicago International Airport runway expansion, and helped ensure the project’s completion;
- St. Joseph County VA Health Care Center: Worked to expand health care for veterans and participated in the ground breaking of the St. Joseph County VA Health Care Center. He has worked since 2007 to make this center a reality and helped secure congressional authorization and funding for the new facility;
- Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation Program Grant for Indianapolis: Worked to help make our communities safer by supporting the City of Indianapolis’ successful application for a federal grant that that will provide federal resources to support crime reduction and prevention efforts in the city’s Northwest district; and
- Major Federal Grant for Port of Indiana-Jeffersonville: Supported and helped secure the Port of Indiana-Jeffersonville’s $10 million federal grant that will spur economic development and create more opportunities in southeast Indiana.
Download the annual report executive summary here and full report here.
