Gov. Eric Holcomb used his 2019 State of the State address to advocate for education funding, hate crimes legislation and workforce development, cornerstones of his legislative agenda.

Reaction from lawmakers made it clear the governor will be successful with some, though not all, of his priorities.

Here are five takeaways from his speech Tuesday night at the Statehouse:

1. Holcomb found more money for teacher pay

Most governors like to break at least a little new ground in their State of the State speeches, and Tuesday night, Gov. Eric Holcomb was no exception.

Last year, it was a goal to tackle Indiana’s infant mortality rate. This year, tucked between a glowing report on Indiana’s business climate and talk about taking Indiana to the “Next Level,” the governor introduced a proposal to start addressing teacher pay.

Holcomb is asking lawmakers to appropriate $150 million from the more than $2 billion in state reserves to pay off a pension liability that local schools pay. The one-time investment would save schools $140 million over the next two years, with additional savings realized down the line.

The governor is hoping schools will put some of that savings toward raising teacher pay. The amount will vary from school to school, with larger districts realizing larger savings.

"One way to attract and retain more teachers is to make teacher pay more competitive," he said.

If the entirety of the $140 million savings was spent on teacher pay and spread equally across every teacher in the state, it would work out to a raise of a little more than $1,000 a year. In 2017, Indiana’s average teacher salary was $51,000 while the national average was $59,000.

The annotated text:Analysis of Gov. Eric Holcomb's State of the State address

Holcomb released his budget proposal last week, but this is a new addition. Holcomb’s staff said he wanted to save it for the State of the State.

"The governor said he wanted to study the issue for a couple of years," said Rep. Phil GiaQuinta, House minority leader. "He's a quick study."

Democrats applauded the governor's "creative" approach to the state's teacher pay problem and said they hope the General Assembly can find more money for teachers over the coming weeks and months.

Holcomb is also sticking with his proposal to study the teacher pay issue over the coming years, something that got a lukewarm reception during his agenda rollout in December.

In his speech, Holcomb called for the creation of the Next Level Teacher Pay Commission.

The panel, to be led by Indianapolis businessman Michael Smith, will set a goal for average teacher pay in the state and investigate ways to reach it and make Indiana more competitive when compared to neighboring states. Low teacher pay is seen a culprit in the state’s growing teacher shortage.

2. Progress on last year's goals is mixed

Last year, Holcomb made the risky choice to set specific, measurable goals for himself and his administration — for new job commitments, educational attainment and more. He revisited those this year, and the results are mixed.

While he hit targets for the number of companies participating in his Employer Training Grant Program and exceeded his goal to graduate 1,000 inmates from certificate programs that could lead to good jobs upon their release, there is work to be done on others.

The state missed the mark on new job commitments: 31,112 compared to a goal of 35,000 in 2018.

Holcomb set a goal to get 30,000 Hoosiers without high school diplomas the education they needed for better jobs. His office reports that more than 33,000 Hoosiers re-enrolled in adult education programs in 2018, but it’s unclear how many of them completed the programs.

There’s still time to complete a few others, but the state will need to pick up the pace.

The governor wants to increase the number of apprenticeship programs to 25,000 by the end of 2019. So far, the state has recorded 4,914 new participants in such programs. Of the 250 Jobs for America's Graduates programs the governor wanted to add at Indiana high schools within five years, 29 have been established and 36 are waiting on funding.

The goals in this year’s speech are more broad.

General Assembly leadership is standing behind the governor, though.

"No one expected us to solve this in one fell swoop," said House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis.

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3. Holcomb waits to mention hate crimes

The governor waited until near the end of his speech to push lawmakers to pass hate-crimes legislation.

Is that a sign he didn't want to lead a primetime speech with an effort that will fail? Hard to say.

What is clear is that passing such a law is an uphill battle. It’s not on the Republicans' agenda in either the House or the Senate. So far, including transgender protections has been a hang up.

While the mention may have been the loudest applause line of the night and brought most of the House chamber to its feet, a significant number of Republicans remained seated. House Speaker Brian Bosma, like the governor, would like to get Indiana off the list of five states without a law allowing judges to enhance sentences in cases of hate crimes.

The governor's economic development argument for doing so isn't swaying the rural members of the Republican caucus, though, who aren't on board with his proposal.

“Standing strong against targeted violence motivated to instill fear against an entire group is the right thing to do,” Holcomb said. "So let’s strengthen our state laws by ensuring judges can sentence more severely when a group is targeted, even though there may be only one actual victim."

Holcomb had been leading with hate crimes at other smaller-scale speeches preceding the legislative session.

Still, the mention was noteworthy given that he didn't include hate crimes at all in his last State of the State address.

Democratic leadership gave the governor kudos for his stance on the issue, but questioned whether he could get his own party on board to pass the kind of comprehensive law he said he wants for the state.

"Why is that it that we can't just say, 'Lets protect these people?'" said Sen. Tim Lanane, the minority leader. "Why are you scared to say, 'We're going to include sexual orientation and gender identity?'

"It makes us look bad."

4. Toll road money comes up ... kinda

Holcomb has kept roughly $1 billion in new toll road money out of the state budget, keeping it firmly in his control and not the legislature's.

Lawmakers may have something to say about that as the session progresses. For now, though, Holcomb is planning to use that on a variety of infrastructure projects.

Tuesday, he reiterated his plan to use that money ... without actually mentioning its source ... to accelerate the completion of the final leg of I-69 from Martinsville to Indianapolis, lure more international direct flights to Indianapolis, improve state highways, add high-speed broadband access to rural areas and to add hiking, biking and riding trails throughout the state.

5. All roads lead back to workforce development

If you talk to Holcomb long enough about nearly any topic — hate crimes legislation, teacher pay or even his dog Henry — the conversation will eventually end up at his workforce development goals. The State of the State is no exception.

While he touched on a variety of topics in the 30-minute speech, he came back to workforce issues time and again. A large portion of the speech was dedicated to reminding Hoosiers about the state’s favorable rankings among states for business climate, tax rates and more.

Holcomb frames his push for hate crimes as a workforce issue: Being one of five state without such a law deters employers from bringing jobs to Indiana. Teacher pay, too, is a workforce issue.

"A strong economy depends on a world-class workforce," Holcomb said. "That workforce depends on a great education. A great education depends on great teachers."

His proposed income tax breaks for veterans are a tool to attract skilled workers to the state. Infrastructure projects like roads, rail and rural broadband are related, too.

While his speech hit all the expected notes, it's clear that Holcomb will continue to prioritize bringing in more jobs, attracting skilled workers and developing a “21st-century workforce.”

Call IndyStar education reporter Arika Herron at (317) 444-6077. Follow her on Twitter: @ArikaHerron.

Call IndyStar reporter Chris Sikich at 317-444-6036. Follow him on Twitter: @ChrisSikich.