The following are troubling bills that will soon be heard on the Senate floor for a vote for or against. Indivisible NWI urges you to contact your senator about each of these bills to demand he or she vote no.
- These bills are either Senate bills that have passed through committee and are now being considered on the Senate floor or a House bill that passed the House and was referred to the Senate:
- The education bills below have garnered massive protests from educators, librarians, democratic legislators, and the public.
- The American Civil Liberties Union (for HB 1134) and the Indiana State Teachers Association (for HB 1134, 1072 and SB 356) have made contacting your senator easy. The ISTA has easy steps to tweet and call also. Calling is an effective way to make your voice heard. After submitting your information, ISTA’s automated system will call you at the number you provide and give you brief talking points, before connecting you to your senator’s assistant.
- For the other bills listed here, contact your senator. We still have time to make our voices heard, but we need to do it now. Click here to contact your senator. To email, choose ‘send email’ from the menu on the left on the legislator’s page.
House Bill 1134 Education matters
- This bill would ban schools from teaching “divisive concepts” of race and racism and from making students feel guilt or discomfort because of their race or ethnicity.
- Schools could be sued and teachers stripped of their license for violations. (Chalkbeat Indiana)
- If the bill passes, our children will not learn about essential American history; many teachers will quit the profession, leading to a severe teacher shortage in Indiana. (Chalkbeat Indiana)
- Dr. Ivan Hicks with the Indianapolis NAACP called this bill heinous and racist—a bill that seeks to divide. (The Indiana Citizen)
- Easy way to take action with ACLU Indiana: https://action.aclu.org/send-message/in-stop-classroom-censorship and with the Indiana State Teachers Association: https://www.ista-in.org/our-advocacy/ista-advocacy-center.
Senate Bill 17 Material harmful to minors
- All public and school libraries across the state already have a challenge procedure in place when a parent or community member objects to any particular material.
- This bill would allow parents to skip that process and exposes librarians to a level 6 felony on the charge of providing materials deemed inappropriate by some parents or members of the community. Of course these very materials may be valued by others.
- Libraries and school curriculum must meet the needs of a broad and diverse student body.
- This is a chilling bill that will essentially censor great literature, not allowing its presence in schools or libraries under threat of prosecution.
- It’s a completely unnecessary bill because a process is already in place to address objections to materials provided for children. This is a reasonable process that does not involve prosecuting professionals who are doing the best job they can to provide our kids with a well-rounded education that requires exposure to diverse cultures, histories and people. Books are immensurable helps to meeting that goal.
- Please contact your senator
House Bill 1072 School referendum levies
- Under this bill school corporations must distribute a portion of revenue from referendums to charter schools in the same area.
- This bill would have the largest impact on Gary and Indianapolis, cities that contain the largest populations of charter school students in the state.
- Take action with the Indiana State Teachers Association: https://www.ista-in.org/our-advocacy/ista-advocacy-center.
Senate Bill 356 Teacher matters
- The bill provides that the governing body of a school corporation may issue an adjunct teacher permit to an individual who meets certain requirements.
- If the governing body of a school corporation issues an adjunct teacher permit, the school corporation may enter into a contract for employment as a part-time teacher of the school corporation.
- An employment contract with an adjunct teacher is not subject to a collective bargaining agreement. This bill appears to be a workaround for school corporations to waterdown teacher requirements and hire non certified teachers. They are not required to have any pedagogical training and in fact any training required in this bill is murky. (The Star)
- This bill also allows school corporations to pay some teachers more than the agreed upon salary, more than other teachers for the same work—a blatent attempt to bust unions. (ISTA).
- Take action with the Indiana State Teachers Association: https://www.ista-in.org/our-advocacy/ista-advocacy-center.
House Bill 1077—Permitless Carry
- This bill would allow individuals, including those who would not have passed a background check, to carry hidden, loaded handguns in public.
- It passed the House and is now being considered in the Senate.
- The Indiana State Police opposed this bill. In the past two years over 10,000 applications were rejected.
- States that have passed permitless carry legislation are experiencing a substantial increase in gun violence.
- An overwhelming number of Americans favor requiring a permit to carry a gun.
- From (Everytown) and Moms Demand Action Indiana
- Please contact your senator
Senate Bill 143 Self defense
- Specifies that “reasonable force” includes the pointing of a loaded or unloaded firearm for purposes of self-defense and arrest statutes.
- This is a stand your ground law.
- This is a dangerous policy; pointing a firearm does not deescalate a confrontation.
- “ Stand your ground expansion will likely disproportionately impact communities of color. When white shooters kill Black victims, the resulting homicides are considered justifiable 5 times more often than when the shooter is Black and the victim is white.” (Sheila Kennedy)
- Research: https://www.everytown.org/solutions/repeal-stand-your-ground/
- Please contact your senator
House Bill 1001 Administrative authority; COVID 19 immunizations
- This bill would prohibit employers from requiring employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine unless employers also offer religious, medical or general exemptions.
- Businesses would have to offer weekly COVID-19 testing as an alternative at the expense of the employer.
- Employees would also be able to prove natural immunity every six months instead of getting vaccinated.
- Employees who are fired as a result of noncompliance would be eligible for unemployment.
- This bill is opposed by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce.
- Please contact your senator
As the dust settles and we see what bills have passed in each chamber, we will update you about additional bills of concern that require your action.
As the dust settles and we see what bills have passed in each chamber, we will update you about additional bills of concern that require your action.
Remember, also, to join us on Monday, Jan. 31 for our first big event of the year via Zoom.
Follow the link at 6 PM central on Monday, January 31, to join the meeting.
- We will be unveiling the results of our Indivisible NWI survey.
- We will be talking about what issues are the most important to you as well as the ways that you told us that you want to be involved.
- Come and learn how you can help us to do more.
- We will also give you the latest updates.
- We will talk to you about how you can run for precinct committee person as the filing date comes near.
- That and so much more, join us.
Saving Democracy begins at the grassroots level–that’s all of us!
