Skip to main content

News / Articles

Newsletter - January 16, 2025

LWVIN | Published on 1/16/2025
LEAGUE DAY AT THE STATE HOUSE
Wednesday, February 12, 2025

Go HERE to register!

PLAN AHEAD: This is your opportunity to speak to your legislators about LWVIN priorities and attend Committee hearings. Make appointments with your legislators now!

Go HERE to sign up for a Pre-League Day Training ZOOM Session on Thursday, February 6 at 7 pm ET. We will announce LWVIN legislative priorities, give final details about the day, and answer your questions about League Day. Total cost including food is $20.
Registration starts at 9 am ET at the State Library. Since meeting with legislators is the priority (whether morning or afternoon), the registration desk will be open for the entire event.

Lunch: 11:30 am -- a variety of boxed lunches w/side dishes and a cookie OR salads with cookies. If you have special dietary needs, please let us know.

Program: 11:45 am - 12:30 pm
Whitney Downard, Indiana Capital Chronicle, Medicaid in Indiana

Table talks: 12:45 pm - 1:30 pm
Joel Hand, Education Issues (invited)
Toby Days, Hoosier Environmental Council, Water Issues (invited)
Julia Vaughn, Director, Common Cause Indiana, Election Issues

Paulette Vandegriff, LWVIN VP
TRANSFORMATION / CHAPTERSPOT UPDATES

As you probably have heard, after years of work, the National League is transitioning to a new membership system. This will run on a platform called ChapterSpot but will feel like a league website since it will be branded as LWV.

All league members throughout the country will receive an email from national the week of February 3, announcing the change and providing instructions for the new site. After that, all joins and renewals will take place on the national website but links will be provided on all our local league websites; you will still be able go to your local league website for joins/renewals.

If you do not need to renew soon, no immediate action will be required. However, if your renewal date is near, we encourage you to renew before the implementation date on your local league website to avoid any potential confusion during the transition.

National has been working to prepare and feels the transition will go smoothly but, as with all transitions, minor bumps may occur.

For more information, LWV South Bend Area has kindly shared their Information to Members letter. HERE is a link to that document.

CLUB EXPRESS IS HOSTING A TRANSFORMATION UPDATE ZOOM

On January 22, 4 pm eastern /3 pm central, ClubExpress will host representatives of ChapterSpot and LWVUS in a discussion of aspects of the Transformation unique to leagues on ClubExpress. This is an opportunity to hear directly from those implementing the change. For those interested in attending, go HERE on the LWVIN website to find the Zoom link.

Thomas K Gardiner
State Treasurer
Tom Gardiner is maintaining a bill tracker program (BillTrack50) for all our advocate groups that you can access HERE or from the home page of lwvin.org. We send him our bill numbers and he posts them by Advocate category, then by Support or Oppose. We (and you) will be able to follow bills as they move (or don’t move) through the various steps in the Legislature.

EDUCATION

We oppose all the bills listed below. They have all been assigned to the Senate or House Education committees unless indicated otherwise.To receive regular status updates, email Nan Polk: nanpolk@hotmail.com.

SB143: Parental rights to direct the upbringing of their child. Heard in Judiciary Committee 1/8. Scheduled for amendment and vote 1/15.

SB235: DEI prohibitions: State agencies and educational institutions.

SB257: Civic education. Prohibits teaching certain concepts.

SB287: Partisan school boards. Candidates must be nominated by party. Elections.

HB 1002: Expansive omni-bill. Scheduled for hearing 1/15.

HB 1041: Prohibits transgender women from playing on university women’s sports teams.

HB 1136: School corporation reorganization. Closes public schools and transition operation to Charter.

HB 1173: Ban on university practices.

HB 1195: Pornographic material.

HB 1229: Local government finance. Abolishes property taxes for schools. Ways and Means.

HB 1230: School board elections. Party affiliation required.Elections.

HB 1231: Display of the Ten Commandments.

HB 1326: Student and teaching scholarships. Opens vouchers to all.

HB 1348: Nonaccredited nonpublic school’s diploma is legally equal to and must be recognized without prejudice as the same as a public school accredited diploma.

HB 1394: Schools have the authority to deny enrollment to unlawful immigrant

ELECTION BILLS

Sign up for notifications at voterservicelwvin@gmail.com

SB137 Voter registration. Oppose. Requires BMV to notify Indiana Election Division (IED) if a person uses temporary credentials when conducting BMV transactions and applying to vote.

SB 201andHB 1029 Closed Primaries. Oppose. Requires a party declaration to vote in Primary Elections.

SB 228 PAC contributions to a school board candidate cannot exceed $5000. Support.

SB 284 Early Voting. Oppose. Reduces the number of days for early voting to 7 days before the general election. Currently 28 days.

SB 287 School Board Matters. Oppose. Requires candidates for school board to be nominated in the same manner as candidates for all other elected offices are nominated.

HB 1230 School Board Elections. Oppose. Requires school board candidate to affiliate with a party or indicate independent on the ballot.

SB 200 Straight ticket voting. Support. Eliminates straight ticket voting.

SB 302 Absentee Ballots. Support. Allows absentee ballots to be processed before 6 pm on election day.

SJR Redistricting Standards. Support.

SJR 21 Term Limits for Members of Congress. Heard on 1/13 and passed. Oppose. Proposes an Article V Constitutional Convention to introduce Congressional term limits.

SJR 24 and HJR Initiatives and referendums. Support. In Senate and House Judiciary

Allows for citizen-led ballot initiatives and referenda.
ENVIRONMENT

Environmental issues to watch in this year's IGA include water use management, energy and data center demands, and PFAS controls. We don't have many specifics yet, but good bills to watch related to water include these:

-SB 4 (Sen. Eric Koch, Chair of Senate Natural Resources Committee, so action likely) establishes a permitting process for moving water from one part of the state to another.
-SB 256 (Sen. Spencer Deery) creates a two year task force to study water regulation and establishes a moratorium on Wabash River pipeline projects.
-SB 28 (Sen. Sue Glick) manages agricultural use of water.

We keep our LWVIN Natural Resources Committee informed about the need for action on bills and on opportunities for getting more involved. Right now, check out the following

1. Indiana Renewable Energy Day 2025Jan. 21 at the Statehouse; or if you can’t get to Indy, that same day you can tune into...
2. PFAS / "Forever Chemicals"– Uses & Risks for Indiana - Hoosier Environmental Council webinar.
3. Water Stewardship DayJan. 28 at the Statehouse
We look forward to communicating with you all session long and thereafter!

LWVIN NR Co-Chairs Kristina Lindborg, Cheryl Chapman, Liz Solberg
Email us to be added to our regular updates:kristina.lindborg@gmail.com
WOMEN’S HEALTH

We are following about 40 bills on abortion, tax-free hygiene products, contraception, lactation rooms, maternal health, paid leave, postpartum care, LGBTQ+, medical education/practice, Medicaid, and other issues.

Most won’t even get a hearing, but they won’t be officially dead until February 17. Two of the bills we support DID GET committee hearings this week –HB 1148 (Confidentiality of birth and stillbirth) and HB 1299 (Funding for breast cancer research) – before the Health and Social Services Committee.

We also oppose SB 2 (Medicaid Matters). This bill removes healthcare from at least 250,000 Hoosiers who currently have coverage. It removes health care from beneficiaries after 36 months usage in a lifetime. It adds complexity and cost to the Medicaid system through work requirements and costs to healthcare overall through cutting provider reimbursement for care.

On BillTrack50 we have 3 categories – Women’s Health/Repro Rights; LGBTQ+; and MedEduc/Practice.
There are Women's/People's Marches in Greater Lafayette and Indianapolis on Saturday, January 18!

Pam Locker, Bri Glidden, Joanne Evers, Amy Mickschl, and Betsy Kachmar
Email us to be added to our regular updates: lwvin.womenshealthadvocates@gmail.com
Newspapers around the country, including Baltimore, Maryland’sThe Afro-Americanon June 15, 1946, shared news of Irene Morgan’s Supreme Court victory.

FORGOTTEN FOREMOTHERS
Profiles of lesser-known heroines in the fight for women's rights

IRENE MORGAN
In the summer of 1944, Irene Morgan took a seat on the bus leaving Gloucester, Virginia, bound for her home in Baltimore, Maryland. Another Black woman with a baby soon sat beside her. “In those days,” reported the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, “the white section of the bus went as far back as there were white passengers.” There were no designated “colored” sections, but an African American rider could not sit across from or next to a white rider. Irene had chosen a seat within the last four rows at the back.

For 25 miles of travel north, Irene and her seatmate rode without trouble. Then, the bus passed into Middlesex County and a white couple got on. With the laws of Virginia behind him, the bus driver told Irene and her seatmate to give up their seats. When the mother moved to comply, Irene stopped her. "Where do you think you're going with that baby in your arms?" she asked her.

Irene’s “cup of endurance” had run over.

You can read this entire article HERE.

Kathryn S Gardiner

Return to Previous Page