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With only two weeks remaining in Indiana's shortened legislative session, Scott and Amanda review critical bills at various choke points where Republican supermajority priorities clash with Hoosier needs. The session focuses on Republican culture war attacks (criminalizing homelessness, erasing trans and non-binary people, banning abortion pills with citizen bounty hunters, defunding libraries, and preemptively blocking ranked choice voting) alongside dangerous expansions of state power (mandatory ICE cooperation, granting National Guard police powers, and IPS school board takeover by mayoral appointees stocked with charter profiteers). While a few bipartisan measures offer hope (protecting patients from medical debt collection, DCS oversight improvements, childcare tax credits, and utility affordability reforms), the dominant theme is GOP legislators wasting taxpayer time and money on ideological crusades rather than addressing actual problems. The most insidious bill disguises Medicaid and SNAP restrictions as "waste, fraud, and abuse" prevention while actually costing the state more money and kicking vulnerable Hoosiers—students, seniors, low-income parents, and immigrants—off critical programs through bureaucratic harassment. Amanda emphasizes this is the last week for crossover committee hearings, making it the final opportunity to kill bad bills or rescue good ones before they proceed to floor votes.
WHAT WE DISCUSSED
0:06:34 - HB 1001 (HOUSING SUPPLY & REGULATIONS)
- Republican supermajority’s top priority bill this session
- Addresses housing supply and regulations
- Currently in Senate committee awaiting hearing
0:08:22 - HB 1335 (NONPROFIT HOSPITAL ACCOUNTABILITY)
- Increases nonprofit hospital accountability and patient awareness of financial assistance programs
- Awaiting Senate committee hearing
- Contact your senators to support
0:09:44 - HB 1343 (NATIONAL GUARD POLICE POWERS)
- Grants police powers to National Guard (Mike Braun’s secret police)
- Reassigned from Homeland Security to Appropriations committee
- Potential choke point to kill this bill
0:10:59 - HB 1423 (IPS SCHOOL BOARD TAKEOVER)
- Subsumes elected IPS board under new Indianapolis Public Education Corporation appointed by mayor
- New corporation stocked with charter school supporters
- Anti-democratic, taxation without representation
0:12:44 - SB 8 (PUBLIC LIBRARY FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE)
- Threatens financial independence of public libraries
- Part of Republican culture war on libraries
- Authored by Gary Byrne and Chris Garten
0:16:18 - SB 85 (MEDICAL DEBT COLLECTION PROTECTIONS)
- Protects patients from aggressive medical debt collection practices
- Bipartisan support (Fadi Khodora and Ed Charbonneau co-authors)
- Awaiting House committee hearing
0:17:09 - SB 182 (LEGAL ERASURE OF TRANS/NON-BINARY PEOPLE)
- Legal erasure of trans and non-binary Hoosiers
- BMV already stopped issuing non-binary driver’s licenses
- Attacks on less than 1% of population
0:19:45 - SB 236 (ABORTION PILL CRIMINALIZATION & BOUNTIES)
- Criminalizes abortion pills with Texas-style citizen bounty hunter system ($100,000 reward)
- Can’t cover Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library but can fund this?
- Indiana already top 3 for maternal mortality
0:23:07 - SB 277 (ENVIRONMENTAL DEREGULATION)
- Environmental deregulation bill
- Indiana already has terrible air and water quality
- Concern about data centers and environmental impact
0:24:17 - SB 285 (CRIMINALIZING HOMELESSNESS)
- Criminalizes homelessness with $500 fines, forces people into overwhelmed criminal justice system
- Creates criminal records that make future housing even harder
- Impacts veterans disproportionately
0:26:21 - SB 76 (IMMIGRATION/ICE COOPERATION) - WEEK IN REVIEW
- Mandates Indiana law enforcement, schools, universities, local governments cooperate with ICE ($10,000 fine per violation)
- House passed 61-28 on Thursday, heading back to Senate for concurrence
- Last chance to stop this bill
0:31:03 - HB 1423 (IPS TAKEOVER) - WEEK IN REVIEW UPDATE
- Passed Education committee on Thursday, reassigned to Appropriations
- Reduces decision-making power of elected IPS board
- Transfers to all-appointed board influenced by pro-charter interests
0:31:50 - HB 1343 (NATIONAL GUARD) - WEEK IN REVIEW UPDATE
- Passed Homeland Security committee on Thursday, reassigned to Appropriations
- Governor could send force anywhere without consulting local leaders
- ICE already increasing presence in Carmel area
0:33:57 - HB 1176 (CHARTER SCHOOL CONVERSIONS)
- Creates additional pathways to convert public schools into charter schools
- Passed Senate Appropriations Committee
- Eligible for full Senate vote
0:34:35 - HB 1002 (UTILITY AFFORDABILITY) - WEEK IN REVIEW
- Performance based ratemaking, low-income assistance, moratorium for shutoffs during hot weather
- Controversial levelized billing provision
- Shaping up to be a good bill, passed committee and eligible for Senate vote
0:37:08 - SB 2 & SJR 1 (BAIL CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT) - UPCOMING
- Constitutional amendment allowing judges to deny bail to “substantial risk” suspects
- Heading for House amendments and potential House vote next week
- Voters will have final say in November if it passes
0:40:06 - SB 12 (RANKED CHOICE VOTING BAN) - UPCOMING
- Preemptively bans ranked choice voting (ironically, Republicans used it at their own convention)
- Works successfully in Alaska and New York City, has moderating influence
- Up for House amendments and potential House vote next week
0:43:00 - SB 91 (SYRINGE EXCHANGE PROGRAM) - UPCOMING
- Extends syringe exchange program (originally 10 years, amended down to only 2 years)
- Helped reduce HIV and hepatitis spread since Mike Pence/Scott County crisis
- Very effective, low-cost public health measure
0:46:18 - SB 1 (MEDICAID/SNAP RESTRICTIONS) - UPCOMING
- Imposes harsh administrative burdens on Medicaid and SNAP recipients
- Will actually COST state more money while covering fewer people (students, parents, seniors, immigrants)
- Committee hearing Monday afternoon with NO public testimony - contact committee via email
0:50:33 - HB 1002 (UTILITIES) - MONDAY SCHEDULE
- Previously discussed utility bill
- Scheduled for full Senate vote on Monday
0:51:00 - HB 1176 (CHARTER SCHOOLS) - MONDAY SCHEDULE
- Previously discussed charter school conversion bill
- Scheduled for full Senate vote on Monday
0:51:32 - HB 1036 & HB 1307 (DCS OVERSIGHT BILLS) - MONDAY SCHEDULE
- Two bipartisan Department of Child Services oversight bills
- Make positive changes to DCS operations
- Scheduled for full Senate vote on Monday
0:53:23 - HB 1177 (CHILDCARE TAX CREDITS) - TUESDAY SCHEDULE
- Incentivizes businesses to provide childcare through tax credits
- Indiana struggling with childcare access and affordability
- Senate committee hearing on Tuesday
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