NATIONAL
HOW DID YOUR MOCs VOTE LAST WEEK?
H.R. 1230: Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act [PASSED House]
VISCLOSKY: YEA
WALORSKI: NAY
BAIRD: NAY
H.J.Res 76: To repeal the Dept. of Education’s “Borrower Defense Institutional Accountability” rule [PASSED House]
(The regulation modifies an Obama era rule that allowed student borrowers to seek forgiveness of student loans if a higher education institution misled them or engaged in other misconduct in violation of the law.)
VISCLOSKY: YEA
WALORSKI: NAY
BAIRD: NAY
H.R. 5430: United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Implementation Act [PASSED House & Senate]
VISCLOSKY: NAY
WALORSKI: YEA
BAIRD: YEA
BRAUN: YEA
YOUNG: YEA
H.R. 2398 – Veteran HOUSE Act of 2020 [PASSED House]
To expand eligibility for the HUD–VASH program, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit annual reports to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and House of Representatives regarding homeless veterans.
VISCLOSKY: YEA
WALORSKI: YEA
BAIRD: YEA
Click Here for last week’s committee hearings schedule
UPCOMING ISSUES
Congress is out next week, returning January 27th
STATE OF INDIANA
Things are still cooking in the short session at the Statehouse. Here’s the rundown, by issue.
AGRICULTURE
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has received and will begin reviewing Indiana’s state guidelines for the legal and regulated production of hemp. (Inside Indiana Business)
BUDGET
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb has named a new Department of Revenue commissioner. (IBJ)
The amount businesses have to contribute into the state’s unemployment trust fund could stay the same for another five years under legislation being considered by the Indiana General Assembly. (IBJ)
ENVIRONMENT
A proposal to expand the list of entities required to be notified following an industrial spill into Lake Michigan is unlikely to advance at the Statehouse. (Times of Northwest Indiana)
A state lawmaker wants to prevent Indiana utilities from retiring coal-fired power plants early in favor of newer, cleaner technology unless they can prove it’s required by a federal mandate or otherwise in the public interest. (IBJ)
HEALTH & POLICY
Here’s what a ban on holding cellphones while driving could look like in Indiana. (Indy Star)
Pregnant women would gain workplace protections under a bill being pushed by Governor Holcomb. (WIBC)
The Indiana House made changes Thursday to legislation that raises the smoking and vaping age to 21 years old, which includes an effort to address recent deaths from vaping. (WFIU)
Indiana’s annexation laws would get an overhaul under a bill passed by a Senate Committee today. (Journal Gazette)
Getting blindsided by a bill from a doctor you thought was in-network can cost you hundreds of dollars. Legislators are working on a bill to prevent that. (WIBC)
The Indiana Senate overwhelmingly agreed this week to bar juvenile delinquents who use a gun in an act that would be classified as a serious violent felony if committed by an adult from possessing a gun until reaching age 26 or 28. (South Bend Tribune)
ELECTIONS
Eight Democrats sought to distinguish themselves as the candidate for U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky’s House seat Saturday. (Post Tribune)
AND if you don’t have time for the line-by-line, here are are a couple of important recaps:
Indy Politics recaps this week’s major state and federal political news with Dr. Andy Downs of the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics at Purdue University Ft. Wayne and Dr. Laura Wilson of the University of Indianapolis. (Indy Politics)
Members of the Indiana Black Legislative Caucus (IBLC) outlined the group’s 2020 legislative agenda, which includes contracting goals for women- and minority-owned enterprises in education, testing school drinking water for lead and reducing the price of insulin. (Indianapolis Recorder)
