updates & Legislative report 07/09/2025

You can make a difference

Join us every Saturday,  12-1 for our weekly protest. We’ve partnered with veterans groups to fight democracy and all our rights every week. We’ll be in Highland on the SE corner of Ridge and 41 at the Veterans Flags Memorial.
Limited parking, along with handicapped spots, is available behind the memorial. If the lot is full, park at Wicker Park and rally on the NW corner of Ridge and 41. Bring your signs and your passion! And please bring nonperishable food items. We donate to a different pantry each week.
Please let us know you’re coming and sign up here.

Join us for a special rally on Thursday, July 17,5:30-6:30, for a nationwide protest as we continue John Lewis’s Good Trouble. Bring your signs and your passion—and nonperishable food items as we continue to give back to our communities. We’ll be in Highland by the Veterans Flags Memorial on the SE corner of Ridge and 41. Limited parking, along with handicapped spots, is available behind the memorial. If the lot is full, park at Wicker Park and rally on the NW corner of Ridge and 41.
Please let us know you’re coming: https://www.mobilize.us/john-lewis-actions/event/806340/

Join us for our July meetings & events:
Thursday, July 10, at 6pm at the Merrillville Library, join us for updates & discussion.
This month we are giving back to the community by donating new items to Fairhaven Rape Crisis Center. If you can, please bring:

  • M-XL unisex sweatpants and T-shirts
  • women’s underwear, sports bras and socks
  • men’s L underwear and socks; flip-flops and slippers
  • feminine hygiene products pads and tampons
  • travel sized deodorant and toothpaste
  • antibacterial wipes
  • tissue and paper towels
    Please register here—and bring a friend!

On Thursday, July 31 at 6pm at the Portage Library, learn all about how government works. Madvoters will present an interactive workshop presented. It is designed to educate us all about civics and empower us to take action! Learn the ins and outs of how government works to better enable us all to advocate for ourselves and our communities.
Space is limited; you must register to attend. Sign up here.

Make some calls

  • There’s still time to save public media. A bill to eliminate funding passed the House but so far not the Senate. This measure is part of a Recessions Package that Trump sent to Congress. It requires only a majority vote in the Senate, so even without Democratic support it can pass.
  •  5 Calls makes it easy to call your Members of Congress about numerous issues and bills. They provide phone numbers and scripts along with information about each issue or bill: https://5calls.org/

We’ve all been working for months now and it sometimes feels pointless. But:

“The Trump administration has backed away from a maneuver in which it sought to classify thousands of living immigrants as dead in a critical Social Security database, part of a strategy to pressure them to self-deport.” (NYT)

“The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has abandoned plans to cut more than 80,000 employees, scaling back that number to just under 30,000 after a massive outcry from veterans, advocate groups and lawmakers and an exodus of individuals from the agency.” (The Hill)

“The Trump administration has lifted a freeze on federal funds for HIV prevention and surveillance programs, officials said, following an outcry from HIV prevention organizations, health experts and Democrats in Congress.” (LA Times)

Enacted, signed into law by the President

Senate republicans passed their reconciliation budget bill by one vote with the VP casting the tie-breaking vote. It’s nearly 1000 pages of cruelty.  It passed with near unanimous republican support in the House and was signed into law on July 4. It has been called the largest transfer of wealth in our history from low-middle income Americans to the wealthy. It provides the largest increase in defense and border police funding and the largest reduction in health care dollars in history.
It raises the debt ceiling by $5 trillion.
The Congressional Budget Office projects that

  • The bill would increase federal deficits by nearly $3.3 trillion.
  • The bill will reduce federal Medicaid spending by around $1 trillion while reducing taxes for the top 1 percent of taxpayers by more than $1 trillion over the next decade. Of that total, nearly half—$500 billion—will accrue to the top 0.1 percent of earners, a group of roughly 200,000 households with annual incomes exceeding $2 million.
  • The bottom 10% of households would lose $1,600 a year (about 3.9% of income) between 2026 and 2034, on average.
  • The top 10% would gain $12,000, or 2.3% of income, on average; the top 0.1% would gain $100,000 annually.

More details are on our website:  https://indivisiblenwi.org/2025/07/budget-reconciliation-bill/
Talk about this bill everyday. Post, post, post and share our posts!
Many of the most harmful healthcare cuts don’t go into effect until after the midterms. Others that people like, like no taxes on tips, are temporary but do go into effect immediately. Read about the timeline here.
The energy provisions in this bill will accelerate the climate crisis while increasing pollution.
It creates the first ever federal universal voucher system for private schools.
This bill represents the largest transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich in our history.

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

In other news

“Attorney General Pam Bondi told tech companies that they could lawfully violate a statute barring American companies from supporting TikTok based on a sweeping claim that President Trump has the constitutional power to set aside laws, newly disclosed documents show…
The letters, which became public on Thursday via Freedom of Information Act lawsuits, portrayed Mr. Trump as having nullified the legal effects of a statute that Congress passed by large bipartisan majorities in 2024 and that the Supreme Court unanimously upheld.” (NYT)

The Trump administration has declined to release nearly $7 billion in federal funding that helps pay for after-school and summer programs, support for students learning English, teacher training and other services.
The money was expected to be released by Tuesday. But in an email on Monday, the Education Department notified state education agencies that the money would not be available. Many of these funds have been appropriated by bipartisan laws that have been in place for decades. (NYT)
Meanwhile, Office of Management and Budget director Russell Vought is threatening to use a maneuver called pocket recission to claw back these congressionally-approved funds permanently.
Call your Members of Congress. It’s easy with 5calls: https://5calls.org/issue/education-department-impoundment/

After days of rain in Texas, rescuers are still searching for people after floods killed over 100 people, many of them children with many people still missing.

  • Residents said they had little warning as the floods hit. The county most affected — Kerr County, northwest of San Antonio — did not have a flood warning system, officials said. Crucial positions at the local offices of the National Weather Service were empty, and some experts questioned whether staffing shortages had contributed to the disaster…“Vacancy rates at the National Weather Service offices in the region have climbed this year, The Times reported. Some experts are questioning whether staffing shortages made it harder for the forecasting agency to coordinate with local emergency managers.”
  • Heavy downpours like the one that caused the Guadalupe River to flood have become more frequent and intense as the burning of fossil fuels has heated the planet.” (NYT), (NYT Dealbook)

“In a break with decades of tradition, the Internal Revenue Service says it will allow houses of worship to endorse candidates for political office without losing their tax-exempt status.” (NPR)

“A flight carrying eight men who had been held for weeks on a U.S. military base in Djibouti landed in South Sudan just before midnight Friday, officials said, bringing an end to a six-week legal battle that was resolved by an emergency intervention by the Supreme Court…Before coming to the United States, the men came from Vietnam, Mexico, Laos, Cuba and Myanmar. Just one is from South Sudan, a violence-plagued country. All had been convicted of serious crimes in the United States, though many had either finished or were about to finish serving their sentences…While the eight men in South Sudan are now almost certainly beyond the reach of U.S. courts, the case could potentially affect the due-process rights of thousands of other migrants should the administration seek to send them to third countries.” (NYT)

“The U.S. has reported 1,288 measles cases this year — the highest number in 33 years, according to the latest figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The last time the U.S. saw more measles cases was in 1992, eight years before the disease was declared eliminated in the country.” (NPR)

Courts
In a case seen as a challenge to American free-speech principles, Paramount has agreed to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit by President Donald Trump over the editing of CBS’ “ 60 Minutes” interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris in October.
Paramount, which owns CBS, said the money will go to Trump’s future presidential library, not to the Republican president himself. It said the settlement did not involve an apology. (AP News)

SCOTUS
The Supreme Court cleared a path for mass firings of federal workers. Justices lifted a lower court’s ruling that had blocked the Trump administration’s plan to lay off potentially tens of thousands of government workers. While technically temporary, the Supreme Court’s move effectively allows the administration to reorganize the federal bureaucracy without input from Congress. (NYT Dealbook)

“A divided Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to restart swift removals of migrants to countries other than their homelands, lifting for now a court order requiring they get a chance to challenge the deportations.” (AP News)

Indiana

“Six of Indiana’s public colleges and universities are cutting or consolidating more than 400 academic degree programs ahead of a new state law that takes effect this week, the Indiana Commission for Higher Education (CHE) announced Monday.
Officials said the “voluntary” changes target degree programs with low student participation. The cuts are intended to help students focus on more in-demand fields and to comply early with the new state budget, which now sets minimum enrollment and completion thresholds for all degree programs offered at public institutions.” (Indiana Capital Chronicle)
 
“Participation in Indiana’s Choice Scholarship Program grew by about 8.5% in the 2024-25 school year — marking a slowdown after record-setting enrollment growth in prior years. 
Even so, state spending reached nearly half a billion dollars on the private school voucher program, according to a new report released by the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE). That’s up from $439 million spent on the program during the 2023-24 school year.” (Indiana Capital Chronicle) 
 
“An Indiana law requiring adult websites to verify user ages can stay in place after the nation’s highest court affirmed a similar restriction in Texas.” (Indiana Capital Chronicle) 
 
Several news stories have surfaced about James Schenke who has moved to Indiana’s District 1 to challenge Congressman Frank Mrvan’s seat in the House:

  • “The Republican candidate for Indiana House District 26  {Schenke]was arrested on Sunday for allegedly violating a protective order…Schenke is the subject of two protective orders that were issued earlier this year.” (From 11-24, WFYI)
  • And from 9-24: “GOP candidate Jim Schenke’s motorhome was not insured Saturday afternoon when he backed into a West Lafayette lamp post, knocking it down, according to West Lafayette police… He hit a lamp post, knocking it over and shattering the lamp’s glass globe. Rather than stay at the accident site and report it, police reports indicate Schenke left the scene, for which officers cited him with a Class B misdemeanor.” He did call police later about vandalism to a campaign sign. Police asked him about the lamp post accident and he provided insurance information. But police discovered that his insurance was activated 45 minutes after the accident. (Journal & Courier)
  • From 8-24: “…Jim Schenke was arrested in 2016 and later charged with violating a no-contact order,” but the court records along with two others have been sealed. One of those cases was related to the use of Indiana’s red-flag law to confiscate Schenke’s firearms. “The protection orders include four orders involving family members, filed by Schenke or vice versa.” (Journal & Courier)

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