Voter Rights / Elections
Oppose-SB12-Rank Choice Voting Prohibition
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/oppose-sb12-rankchoicevotingprohibition
Background: Preemptively prohibits the use of ranked choice voting in Indiana elections. This means that voters will not be able to rank candidates by preference, and elections will continue using traditional voting methods. This bill doesn’t resolve low voter turnout or improve voter access.
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Oppose- SB267 - Lobby Registration
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/oppose-sb267-lobbyregistration
Background: Someone who encourages another person to engage in an influence campaign and pays that person at least $500 in a year would be required to file with the Indiana Lobby Registration Commission within 24 hours of handing over the cash, beginning July 1. First Amendment advocates warned that the legislation could infringe upon constitutionally protected paid advocacy. Outrage over allegedly compensated paid advocacy is growing nationwide, although fact-checkers like Politifact have repeatedly found such accusations aren't supported by evidence.
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Oppose HB1359 - Scanning ballots
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/oppose-hb1359-scanning-ballots
Allows certain counties to scan voted optical scan ballot cards during the early voting period and on election day without using secrecy envelopes.
Currently, there are no voting systems in Indiana that use optical scan ballot scanners, which allow for ballot retraction, as this bill proposes.
However, if passed, this bill will introduce uncertainty into the chain of custody for ballot handling and could be exploited by bad actors, or by others acting in collusion, or by a mistake caused by an election official lacking an understanding of the complex ballot procedures.
Natural Resources
Support HB 1043 Data Center Water Regulation
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/support-hb1043-datacenterwaterregulation
Communities across the state are struggling with the impacts of AI data centers on their water supply. This bill requires AI data center developers to submit a water consumption permit application to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
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Support SB 74 Plug-in Solar
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/support-sb74-plug-insolar
This bill will bring access to solar energy to more Hoosier households, thus helping to address Indiana’s energy supply and affordability needs.
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Support SB 196 Community Energy
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/support-sb196communityenergy
As Hoosiers across the state face challenging issues with energy affordability and supply, this bill will lower costs for participants while helping to address our growing need for more energy sources.
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Support HB 1110 Limiting PFAS in Wastewater
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/supporthb1110-limitingpfas-inwastewater
This bipartisan bill would protect Hoosiers from PFAS chemicals by requiring the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to set a maximum level of PFAS contamination allowed in wastewater. It would also limit the amount of PFAS-contaminated wastewater a "discharger" can release. In addition, it offers measures to help Hoosiers hold accountable polluters who violate those standards.
SB 54 New Zoning Requirements for Solar Projectsseeks changes to local zoning requirements that would result in making it more difficult to site large solar projects. It does this by prohibiting “overlay districts,” which currently allow local communities to address needs specific to certain areas without having to rezone large swaths of land or change the fundamental use of properties.
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Oppose SB 277 Weakening Indiana’s Department of Environmental Management
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/oppose-sb277-weakeningdeptenvironmentalmgmt
This fast-moving bill has already passed out of the Senate Environmental Affairs Committee and on to the Appropriations Committee, so we need all hands on deck to oppose it! Despite some good bureaucratic clean up measures, the potential harm of the bill far outweighs any benefits. It proposes many changes that would dramatically limit the ability of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to protect human and environmental health. For example, there are more than 40 instances in which the bill seeks to change currently mandatory environmental protection actions to discretionary actions.
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Support HB 1297 Balancing Economic Development and Water Supply
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/support-hb1297balancing-economic-dev-water-supply
HB 1297 Balancing Economic Development and Water Supply addresses concerns over water supply due to state and local government economic development efforts. It would prohibit the Indiana Finance Authority, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation and local governments from approving bids, job creation incentives or financing for a proposed economic development project that includes establishment of a facility that will use at least 500,000 gallons of water per day of standard operations.
Other
Oppose HB 1343 -- Military Police Force of the Indiana National Guard
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/opposehb1343-militarypoliceforce-indiananationalguard
HB 1343, SECTION 40, includes a dangerous overreach of state power that strips our local law enforcement and local government of their authority. It creates a "Police State" by authorizing a state-controlled military police force to enter our communities without local consent.
The bill has passed from the House (67-29) to the Senate and is currently in the Committee on Homeland Security and Transportation.
SECTION 40 of HB 1343 has seven critical flaws:
1. Erosion of Local Control (Home Rule)
HB 1343 allows the Governor to override the authority of elected Sheriffs and Mayors. In Indiana, the Sheriff is a constitutional officer elected by the people of the county. Allowing the Governor to send a state-controlled "military police" force into a county without the Sheriff's invitation or consent violates the principle of "Home Rule." This bill creates a mechanism for the state to strip power from local entities and hand it to state-level officials.
2. Lack of Accountability and Oversight
Unlike local police departments, this National Guard force would operate without accountability to the local community.
No Merit Boards: They are not subject to the local merit boards that handle discipline and hiring for local police.
No Civilian Oversight: There is no mechanism for citizens to file complaints against these troops.
No Transparency: Military records are notoriously difficult to access compared to local police records.
3. "Militarization" of Civilian Life
There is a fundamental difference between a police officer and a soldier. Police are trained in community policing, de-escalation, and local constitutional law. Soldiers are trained for combat and "area denial."
The optics of having camouflage-clad soldiers with long guns patrolling our streets creates an atmosphere of "martial law." This intimidates law-abiding citizens and suppresses free speech--including potentially at the polls.
4. Operational Confusion and Safety
As Representative Mitch Gore (a Captain in the Marion County Sheriff’s Office) pointed out that having two different chains of command on the same street is dangerous. If a crime is in progress and both local police and the Governor's National Guard force respond, who is in charge?
This "dual authority" creates a high risk of "friendly fire" incidents, conflicting orders, and legal nightmares regarding use-of-force rules. An uncoordinated military element endangers the lives of our local officers.
5. Politicization of Law Enforcement
This bill is a political weapon. There is widespread concern that the Governor would use this force to conduct mass deportations or immigration "sweeps" in northern counties where local sheriffs have refused to use local tax dollars for federal immigration enforcement. This is a tool for the state's leadership to force their agenda on cities they deem uncooperative.
There is also concern that this force could be used to suppress the vote, at the very least through intimidation.
6. Fiscal Irresponsibility
Creating a permanent, specialized military force that must be trained, equipped, and paid for by state taxpayers is a waste of money. These funds would be better spent supporting existing local police departments that are currently struggling with staffing shortages.
7. Violation of the Indiana Constitution (Article 1, Section 33)
Article 1, Section 33 of the Indiana Constitution states: "The military shall be kept in strict subordination to the civil power."
Critics and legal scholars argue that HB 1343 violates this clause because:
Lack of Civil Oversight: The proposed force would answer directly to the Governor (a military commander-in-chief) rather than to local civil authorities like an elected Sheriff, a City Council, or a civilian police merit board.
Supremacy over Local Law: If the Governor's military force can override a local "civil" official, it is no longer "subordinate" to civil power—it becomes superior to it.
If this bill passes, quite possibly Hoosiers will lose their lives due to the dangerous environment HB 1343 would create.