By SONIA “SUNNY” LEERKAMP, guest columnist
The second legislative update sponsored by the Leagues of Women Voters for Brown County and Bloomington/Monroe County, along with the Brown County Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce, was held the morning of Feb. 12th via Zoom.
We were privileged to have Sen. Shelli Yoder and Rep. Matt Pierce on hand to present a progress report on current legislation and answer questions. Sen. Eric Koch sent his regrets and Rep. Chris May did not respond to the Leagues’ invitation.
Since the initial introduction of bills in the House and Senate, bills may have been assigned to a committee in their respective houses or dropped from consideration without an assignment or hearing. You can review a comprehensive list of legislation that has been proposed and determine its current status by going to www.in.iga.gov at any time.
Some bills may have already received a first or second reading and/or may have been amended. I will try to bring you up to date on some of the bills I reviewed and perhaps mention a couple that may not have been mentioned in my first column.
First of all, with reference to the proposal by Sen. Fady Qaddoura that a resolution be passed supporting the creation of a citizens redistricting commission, it appears those efforts are failing. Initially Qaddoura proposed Senate Joint Resolution 14 be considered by the Elections Committee chaired by Sen. Jon Ford. When the resolution failed to be entertained by Ford, an amendment to House Bill 1285 was proposed suggesting a study committee be established to review the feasibility of a citizens redistricting commission.
However, Ford again blocked this move by deeming the amendment was not germane. HB 1285 did extend deadlines for local redistricting for county, city and school board elections to the end of 2022 due to the late receipt of the Census results.
For anyone interested in researching local redistricting in Indiana, we have a novel website that can be accessed at indianalocalredistricting.com. This website was created by DePauw University Professor Kelsey Kaufman and her students in 2011. Kaufman continues to update the information.
The legislature has also been considering some important voter legislation. House Bill 1116 has important provisions, some of which have already been modified. As originally written the bill would have required any voter applying to vote by mail to swear under penalties for perjury that they could not be available to vote in person. Thankfully, this provision has been removed.
The bill also provides that Indiana’s electronic voting machines be provided with a voter-verified paper audit trail by July 1, 2024 instead of 2029 pursuant to the original state law. The sooner this provision, the better for all! A funding provision was added to this mandate to assist the clerks in fulfilling this mandate.
Unfortunately, the bill as amended repeals language that requires the clerk to provide notice containing certain information to each voter who casts a provisional ballot. Unless this language is restored, many provisional ballots will go uncounted. Please reach out to the Elections Committee and ask that this language go back into the statute. The members of that committee include: Sens. Jon Ford, John Crane, Stacy Donato, Eric Koch, Greg Walker, J.D. Ford and Fady Qaddoura. Rep. Timothy Wesco is the author of the bill.
Education has been a hot and much debated topic of this legislature. Thankfully, the bill proposing school board candidates become partisan has failed this session.
Senate Bill 17 is a bill that proposes to remove legal protections for K-12 schools and public libraries from a law that prohibits distributing material harmful to children. Proponents said the law targets only obscene material, defined in Indiana as that which is “patently offensive” for minors and lacks literary, artistic, political or scientific value. But opponents fear it could be interpreted to ban books on topics like sex education and LGBTQ topics. School libraries already have a procedure for challenging material. This law would allow that process to be skipped and exposes librarians to a Level 6 felony.
Other laws that should be thoughtfully read and questioned include Senate Bill 331 allowing all students to apply for special education grants without any accountability or oversight for the funds. House Bill 1072 proposes that schools seeking a referendum to seek public funding, putting in the time and money those campaigns entail, must share those funds with any charter school in their catchment area. The charter school has no obligation to explain its use of those funds, as is required of the public school.
Also, Senate Bill 356 and House Bill 125 would allow for schools to hire “adjunct” teachers without the requirement of a teaching permit, a bachelor’s degree or any pedagogical training. These “adjuncts” may also be paid more than a properly licensed teacher in some circumstances!
And then there is House Bill 1134. The Senate version of this bill, Senate Bill 167, was dropped from consideration when the sponsor said Nazism should be taught in a neutral fashion. It would ban the teaching of some concepts, including “that any sex, race, ethnicity, religion, color, national origin or political affiliation is inherently superior or inferior to another. It would also prohibit certain social emotional skills guidance for students.
The bottom line is that we need to be deciding whether we want teaching to be a career with certain knowledge and skills, and recognizing that teachers provide a partnership with parents in raising educated critical thinkers with empathy for others, or not. Please contact your legislators and express your questions and concerns. You can also find additional information about proposed legislation impacting education at www.indianacoalitionforpubliced.org/legislative-bills.
Since in my previous analysis I made you aware of the League’s position on anticipated anti-abortion measures, I want to let you know there have been a couple of bills proposed that are positive for women’s health. House Bill 1140 increases Medicaid coverage from 60 days to 12 months postpartum for pregnant mothers and expands some other benefits to new moms. Also, House Bill 1294 appears to be on a track for approval. It would ban the shackling of pregnant inmates who are in labor. In addition, House Bill 1079 closes some gaps in the Indiana statutes defining rape and lack of consent so as to allow a conviction when the rape is committed under fraudulent circumstances.
For anyone reading this to the end, I thank you! It takes work to preserve our democracy and to make sure each and everyone of us counts. By making an effort to stay informed, you are contributing to the strength of a system we want to be proud of and make sure that it reflects consensus.
The next legislative update will be held on March 26 from 9:30 to 11 a.m. Senators and Representatives for Brown and Monroe counties will all be invited to attend and answer your questions.
You can register for this Zoom event at www.lwv-bmc.org/legisupdate. The legislative session will have ended by then so there should be a lively discussion of what passed, what did not and what we might like to see in future sessions.
I hope you will not only attend, but please encourage your legislators to be on the Zoom call to speak to their representation during this short session.
Sonia (Sunny) Leerkamp is co-vice president of League of Women Voters Brown County. She can be reached at [email protected].
