From Indivisible National–an easy way to contact your senators about the worst of the worst of the cabinet nominees–and the most vulnerable. They all face hearings/votes this week. Just click the link: https://www.nixthenoms.com/ to connect with your senators via email or phone.
| Calls to action: Indiana (Provided by MadVoters’ excellent Bill Watch.) And a sample script for you: “My name is [name]. I’m contacting you today to urge you as the chairman of the [Committee Name] to bring [bill number] to your committee / keep [bill number] out of your committee. This matters to me because [reason]. Thank you.” In the Senate Support: Senate Bill 142 Eviction issues An eviction expungement shall be automatically ordered by the court—rather that the tenant having to request it—as long as the tenant meets certain requirements. (Indiana has one of the highest conviction rates in the country and eviction records make it very difficult to acquire housing in the future. Being read for a 2nd time on the Senate floor. Contact your senator. SB 312 Exceptions to paraphernalia statutes. Would mean that test strips designed to test the strength, effectiveness, or purity of a controlled substance are not illegal to possess. Test strips allow people to test for the presence of fentanyl or other potentially dangerous additives, which could help reduce overdoses. Passed out of committee to the Senate floor. Contact your senator. Scheduled for a hearing this week: SB 403 Charter school requirements Holds charter schools accountable to the access to financial data requirements required of local schools, and requires that at least one member of the charter school board be appointed by the fiscal body of the county in which the charter school is located. Charter schools lack oversight, accountability, and local control, and this bill would help correct that. This bill is scheduled for testimony only in its committee. Contact the committee and chairman: Education and Career Development (Senate) Education and Career Development (Senate) Email Chairman Raatz Oppose: SB 235 Limitations on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Prohibits the funding of DEI programs, officers, and initiatives at state agencies, state universities, and health professional licensing boards. This would eliminate training, programming, activities, policies, and procedures that explore allyship, antiracism, intersectionality, social justice, privilege, bias, and more. Contact your state Senator Senate Bill 289 Nondiscrimination in employment and education Requires Indiana’s school corporations, charter schools, state agencies, and political subdivisions to publicly post all training and curricular materials related to topics such as diversity, equity, inclusion, race, ethnicity, sex, and bias on their websites, with specific details about the materials’ origins and accessibility. This will have a chilling effect that changes how topics around race, gender, and bias are taught or addressed. Schools will face restrictions in how they handle diversity and inclusion initiatives, limiting some of their educational practices. Contact your senator. Scheduled for hearings this week: SB 442 Instruction concerning human sexuality. If a school provides any instruction to students concerning human sexuality, the school board must include details about the instruction in a conspicuous place on the school’s website, and obtain written request for consent for instruction concerning human sexuality. Prohibits a school from using learning materials that concern human sexuality unless approved by the school board. “Human sexuality instruction” has not yet been defined by Indiana Code, so this bill will create a chilling effect on any mention of or reference to LGBTQ+ people or topics. Scheduled for a hearing, testimony only, not a vote, so contact the chairman. He can still kill the bill. Education and Career Development (Senate) Email Chairman Raatz SB 405 Labor organization membership Prevents a government entity (like a city, state, or local government) from requiring a business or asset they own to require workers to join a labor union as a condition for doing business. Pensions and Labor (Senate) Email Chairwoman Rogers In the House: Support: HB 1167 Exceptions to paraphernalia statutes. Provides that test strips designed to test the strength, effectiveness, or purity of a controlled substance are not illegal to possess. Test strips allow people to test for the presence of fentanyl or other potentially dangerous additives, which could help reduce overdoses. Third reading today, the last before the vote. Contact your representative. Oppose House Bill 1117 State property offenses Provides that a person convicted of rioting, criminal mischief, burglary, residential entry, or criminal trespass committed on state property is ineligible to receive state public assistance, including tuition assistance, for a period of three years. This bill seems like it targets protestors and could be potentially biased and unfairly applied. Referred to the Committee on House Courts and Criminal Code. It will be heard tomorrow, Jan. 29. |
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