Indivisible NWI Update 07/02/2024

You can make a difference

Join us on Thursday, July 11, at 6pm at the Portage Library, 2665 Irving St in Portage, for a Conversation about Women’s Reproductive Rights. Deb Chubb will lead a presentation & conversation about women’s reproductive rights. Learn the status of women’s rights, what to expect and strategies for actions we can take. Deb is an experienced activist in women’s reproductive rights and empowerment, along with many other issues, including the environment, early childhood education, political & community organizing & social justice. Let’s talk! Join us! Please sign up here and bring a friend!

Join us on Thursday, July 18 at 6pm at the Portage Library for a Community Forum with Dr. Valerie McCray, candidate for U.S. Senate. Dr. Valerie McCray, Indiana’s Democratic candidate for U.S. Senator She will speak and answer your questions. Join us for this important event with the candidate who is running to defeat Republican Rep. Jim Banks to be Indiana’s next senator.
Dr. McCray has been endorsed by Indivisible NWI, along with many other statewide Indivisible groups.
Learn more about Dr. McCray here: https://valeriemccray.org/
Join us–& bring a friend! Please sign up here.

Join us for a Community Forum with Leslie Ness, candidate for Indiana Senate, District 5. The forum will be on Monday, July 22 at the Valparaiso Library, 103 Jefferson Street in Valparaiso at 6pm. You can sign up here. Bring a friend!

Save the dates:

  • Congressman Frank Mrvan will join us for a Community Forum on Thursday, Aug. 14 at 6pm at the Merrillville Library. Details, including registration to come soon.
  • Indivisible Indiana Statewide Convention will be on Saturday, September 14, 10:30-3:30, at the Merrillville Library. Learn, network, and get energized for activism with Indivisible! Hear from great speakers, including one of Indivisible’s founders, along with statewide candidates. We’ll have sessions on effective messaging, Get Out the Vote and more. Registration coming soon.

We are posting and emailing about Project 2025, a mega, terrifying threat to all of us and our country should republicans win I November. Read our first installment here: https://indivisiblenwi.org/2024/06/project-2025-a-real-authoritarian-threat/

Accomplishments during the Biden-Harris Administration are many and significant. The list is long. Read them on our website:  https://indivisiblenwi.org/2024/07/biden-harris-accomplishments/ Talk about them, share them, post them and then do it again. It’s up to us to spread the word.

Enacted, signed into law by the President

 S. 2051: Missing Children’s Assistance Reauthorization Act of 2023

Congress

Passed the House and Senate, President next

S. 870: An Act to amend the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 to authorize appropriations for the United States Fire Administration and firefighter assistance grant programs.
 
S. 138: Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Dispute Act defines Tibet to include areas currently claimed by China and to expand efforts to counter Chinese government propaganda. It required a 2/3rds majority to pass and it got it with 391-26. All 26 no votes were cast by Republicans. 

Passed the House, Senate next

H.R. 7152: Divided Families National Registry Act which would create a registry of U.S. families with members in North Korea in order to facilitate bringing those members out of North Korea passed 375-8.
 
H.R. 8070: Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025 passed, with amendments, by 217-199. All Indiana representatives voted yea except Reps Mrvan and Carson who voted nay. View the vote. These include amendments include:

  • prohibit services for gender transition,
  • reimbursement for abortion services,
  • permanent hiring freezes on diversity related positions in the DoD,
  • eliminating any offices focused on diversity,
  • eliminating the position of Chief Diversity Officer,
  • prohibit funding of companies who function to demonetize domestic entities based on their lawful speech (aka prohibit funding of fact checking organizations),
  • prohibiting DoD from acquiring materials that promote “radical gender ideology” or porn,
  • prohibit funding for the Countering Extremist Activity Working Group (background from Military Times). (GovTrack.us)

  Appropriations (All Indiana representatives voted yea for each bill except Reps Mrvan and Carson who voted nay):

The White House has released statements for all three appropriations bills saying that they would veto them as currently written.

The new fiscal year starts on October 1st, which means all twelve appropriations bills must be law, and if not, a continuing resolution must be passed or the government will shut down.

H.R. 6543: No Hidden Fees on Extra Expenses for Stays Act of 2023 will require that hotels and similar short-term stay businesses tell prospective customers up front what any additional fees will be beyond the room rates. It needed a 2/3rds majority and got it with 384-25. All 25 no votes were from Republicans.
 
H.R. 2964: Wastewater Infrastructure Pollution Prevention and Environmental Safety Act requires that the labeling for certain premoistened, nonwoven wipes (e.g., baby wipes, cleaning wipes, or personal care wipes) to clearly and conspicuously say Do Not Flush. This required a 2/3rds majority and got it with 351-56. All 56 no votes were cast by Republicans.

Senate

“Senate Democrats say Senate Republicans are blocking an expansion of the child tax credit and a package of corporate tax credits, even though business groups are clamoring for its passage, because they want to deny President Biden a legislative victory five months before Election Day.
It’s the second time this year presidential politics have created a rift between Senate Republicans and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable, two of the biggest business trade groups in Washington…The package would restore research and development expensing for businesses, which lapsed in 2022.” (The Hill)

  •  The House of Representatives out until July 8. After that, they’re back for July (except the week of July 15th for the GOP convention) and then it’s the August Recess (starting 8/2) until September 9th.
  • The Senate is not in session this week; they’re on a very similar schedule for July & August. They too return on September 9th.

To find and contact your Members of Congress:  https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials 

In other news

“Gun violence in the United States is an urgent public health crisis that demands the “collective commitment of the nation” to stop it, Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy says in a new advisory released Tuesday.
It’s the first time a publication from the Office of the Surgeon General has focused on firearm violence and its “profound consequences” on survivors, communities, and mental health.” (CNN

Opinions are swirling in the aftermath of the debate last week. Check out Indivisible co-founder Ezra Levin’s statement as we move forward: “When voters focus on the personalities, we struggle. When voters focus on the stakes, we win. And what all the data so far tells us is that many, many voters do not yet understand the stakes…So here’s my real take on the debate: Ask not what Biden can do to win the election; ask what you can do to help defeat Trump.” (Medium)

SCOTUS
“The Supreme Court on Monday raised the bar for prosecuting Donald Trump, ruling that he has immunity for some of his conduct as president in his federal election interference case but maybe not for other actions…Among the conduct that the court determined to be core presidential powers and therefore subject to immunity are Trump’s contacts with Justice Department officials. Trump is also “presumptively immune” from being prosecuted for his contacts with Vice President Mike Pence in the weeks leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by his supporters, Roberts wrote. (NBC News).”
President Biden on Monday harshly criticized the Supreme Court’s decision to largely shield presidents from criminal prosecution while serving in office, calling it a “dangerous precedent.” (The Hill)

“The court rejected a 40-year-old legal doctrine colloquially known as Chevron, effectively reducing the power of executive branch agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency and shifting it to the courts.
The doctrine, named after a 1984 case involving the energy giant, has been the basis for upholding thousands of federal regulations…The decision could set back efforts to reduce air and water pollution, restrict toxic chemicals or even take on new public health threats like COVID—19, environmental and public health advocates said…
The ruling follows a Supreme Court decision Thursday that blocks enforcement of EPA’s “good neighbor” rule, intended to restrict smokestack emissions from power plants and other industrial sources that burden downwind areas with smog-causing pollution.” (APNews)

“The Supreme Court on Monday declined to settle the major constitutional questions raised in a blockbuster dispute over laws approved in Texas and Florida intended to protect conservative viewpoints on social media, meaning the laws will remain blocked for now while lower courts continue to sort out the constitutional questions involved.” (CNN)

The Supreme Court on Friday limited a federal obstruction law that has been used to charge hundreds of Capitol riot defendants as well as former President Donald Trump.” (AP News)

The Supreme Court cleared the way Thursday for Idaho hospitals to provide emergency abortions, for now, in a procedural order that left key questions unanswered and could mean the issue ends up before the conservative-majority court again soon.” (AP News)

The Supreme Court on Thursday stripped the Securities and Exchange Commission of a major tool in fighting securities fraud in a decision that also could have far-reaching effects on other regulatory agencies.” (AP News)

The Supreme Court overturned the bribery conviction of a former Indiana mayor on Wednesday, the latest in a series of decisions narrowing the scope of federal public corruption law.” (AP News)

“The Supreme Court struck down a Trump-era ban on bump stocks, the rapid-fire gun accessories used in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history… ” (AP News)

Trump
“Former President Trump on Monday asked his hush money judge to set aside the recent guilty verdict after the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling…” (The Hill)

“The Trump Organization revealed plans Monday to develop a luxury Trump Tower in Saudi Arabia…The new project in Saudi Arabia comes just days after the Trump Organization and Dar Global unveiled a $500 million Trump International hotel complex in Oman” (CNN)

Indiana

“U.S. District Court Judge Richard Young issued a preliminary injunction Friday blocking a law set to go into effect Monday requiring age verification for porn websites.” (Indiana Capital Chronicle)
 
“A program providing hundreds of thousands of Hoosiers health insurance could be in jeopardy after a Washington D.C. judge on Thursday vacated a federal approval for the Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP).” (Indiana Capital Chronicle)
 
“From reading skills to happy hour, all or parts of nearly 150 laws will take effect July 1 in Indiana. Other key topics include wetlands, higher education oversight and more.” Read on for details of bills going into effect. (Indiana Capital Chronicle)
 
“More than $60 million in state tuition funding went to Indiana’s virtual schools during the 2022-23 academic year, according to a new report.
In all, those dollars covered roughly 8,500 students — a majority of those attending a handful of virtual charter schools operating in the state.” (Indiana Capital Chronicle)

To find and contact your Indiana legislators: http://iga.in.gov/legislative/find-legislators/