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State republicans will meet in Dec. to redraw Indiana’s congressional maps.
“Indiana lawmakers won’t meet to consider new congressional maps and tax code tweaks until the first two weeks of December, legislative leaders announced Monday — ending months of speculation.
They’ll reconvene from Dec. 1-12, rather than hold the special legislative session in November that Gov. Mike Braun called for last week.”
“Today’s announcement that lawmakers won’t return until December only underscores what Hoosiers have been saying for weeks: mid-decade redistricting is a distraction no one wants,” Indiana Conservation Voters said. “Governor Braun said this process needed to be wrapped up by late November. Now we know it won’t even get started until December. Our leaders keep kicking the can down the road because they know this idea is woefully unpopular and unnecessary.” (Indiana Capital Chronicle)

MadVoters is offering a webinar on how re-districting will affect all of us on Wed., Nov. 12 at 6:30. Sign up here. The impressive panel includes Sheila Kennedy, Professor Emerita, Law & Public Policy O’Neill School of Public & Environmental Affairs, Kaitie Rector, MADVoters Advocacy and Julia Vaughn, Executive Director Common Cause Indiana

Email or call with an easy action from Indiana Conservation Voters.
Personal outreach from constituents is the most effective pressure.

Find a suggested script on our webpage.

From MadVoters:
1. CALL: Keep contacting your lawmakers. Use our online action form at madvoters.org/no-cheaters to call or email them. Calls are preferred, but emails are good too. 
2. COMMUNICATE: Talk to the folks in your community. Many are only just now hearing about early redistricting. Help get them up to speed with what’s happening, and why it’s important that they take action. Here are some key talking points:
– Most Hoosier voters oppose early redistricting. Over half of Hoosiers say they oppose redrawing the maps early.
– Red states have fewer guardrails to protect democracy than Blue states. 74% of Red states allow for partisan gerrymandering, compared to 44% of Blue states. (American Redistricting Project). 
– Early redistricting disenfranchises voters. 77% of Congressional seats are Republican, but fewer than 60% of Hoosier voters vote Republican. Early redistricting seeks to increase Republican seats, disenfranchising 40% of Hoosiers.
Check out MadVoters’ Election Rigging Toolkit for more info. Talk about it. Write about it. Don’t give up.

A redesigned redistricting map, that attempts to eliminate Indiana’s two Democratic seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, is circulating among some Republican lawmakers after a trip to Washington, D.C. last month.
One map was reportedly shared with several Republicans from the Indiana House of Representatives over the weekend.
That map would split Marion County into three sectors, between the representatives for the sixth district, the seventh district and the eighth district in the U.S. House of Representatives. Currently, the majority of Marion County is in the seventh district, represented by U.S. Rep. André Carson, D-Ind.
The new map would also expand the state’s first district, currently represented by U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan, D-Ind., into counties currently represented in the second district and the fourth district. (Fox59) See the proposed map and the current one at Fox59

Reduced SNAP benefits may be available on or about Nov. 12, according to Indiana Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) 

People are hungry now. From our friends at Indivisible Central Indiana: “As the government shutdown continues, SNAP (a federal food program) benefits ended and may now start again – but only be partially funded. The Administration’s plans are murky. But what is clear, hundreds of thousands of Hoosiers rely on SNAP, many children and the elderly. We can do our part too. The best way for individuals to combat hunger is to make cash donations (if you can) to organizations that can then buy in bulk at wholesale prices and acquire items like eggs and frozen meat that meet the greatest need. “

Any Northwest Indiana resident needing food assistance can find no-cost food pantries, mobile markets and similar resources on the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana website at foodbanknwi.org or by calling 219-980-1777.

Check out our Facebook page for lists of local food pantries.

From Indivisible National: Take action against ICE with a Spotify boycott. It’s easy.
Spotify is running ads recruiting agents for ICE.
Let that sink in. A platform built to connect creators and listeners is helping an authoritarian regime build up its secret police force. They’re choosing complicity over the artists, podcasters, and fans who make Spotify what it is — and when users and musicians called them out, Spotify’s first act was doubling down.
But we’re not going to idly accept that. We’re going to make them listen.
We’re asking anyone who subscribes to Spotify Premium to cancel your subscription until Spotify stops running ICE ads. Click here to watch step-by-step instructions on how to cancel Spotify Premium.
When ABC/Disney capitulated to the Trump regime by silencing Jimmy Kimmel this year, millions of paying customers spoke up by canceling their Disney+ subscriptions and putting off their Disney vacations. It worked.
The same people-power that made ABC/Disney reverse course can work on Spotify. Spotify needs its listeners and subscribers far more than it relies on advertisers. If enough of us cancel our subscriptions, it’ll send a clear message that’s too loud for Spotify to ignore.

Not a Spotify subscriber? There’s still actions you can take, again from Indivisible National:
If you’re not a Spotify Premium subscriber, there’s still a meaningful place for you in this campaign! Chances are high that you know someone — a child, grandchild, friend, or social follower — who uses Spotify Premium, and pushing your favorite artists and podcasters to speak out with us is also really helpful.
Here’s how you can make a difference if you don’t subscribe to Spotify:

1. Use our pre-made social posts to support the Cancel Spotify campaign online. Post to all your favorite social networks to raise awareness of Spotify’s complicity, our campaign, and how to cancel.
2. Urge artists, podcasters, and labels to publicly denounce these ads and pressure Spotify leadership. If you know anyone who creates music or content for Spotify, please reach out to them directly. If you don’t, use social media to publicly call on your favorite artists to join the fight.

Indiana

Voters in three Northwest Indiana school districts have approved extensions of school funding measures that pay for teacher salaries, transportation and academic programming.
Lake Central School Corp., Hanover Community School Corp. and Duneland School Corp. all sought renewal of their operating referendums during special elections held on Tuesday.
The districts were seeking to maintain the additional property tax levies as revenues are anticipated to significantly decline due to Senate Enrolled Act 1, signed into law by Gov. Mike Braun in April, which is set to reduce property taxes across the state by around $1.3 billion over the next three years. Meanwhile, school districts in Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties are set to lose nearly $115 million in tax revenue during that time period.” (NWI Times)
 
“Members of the Indiana Black Legislative Caucus and multiple community advocates gathered Monday inside the Statehouse rotunda to oppose Republican efforts to redraw Indiana’s congressional maps before the next census…The two-hour event, dubbed “Democracy Doesn’t Get Redrawn,” featured Hoosier faith leaders, civil-rights groups and advocates from across the state, including the NAACP, Common Cause Indiana, the African American Coalition of Indianapolis and Indivisible Northwest Indiana…Julia Vaughn, executive director of Common Cause Indiana, urged Hoosiers to keep contacting lawmakers, saying multiple polls have shown opposition to mid-decade mapmaking.” (Indiana Capital Chronicle) 

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

Congress

Passed the Senate, House next
S.J.Res. 81: A joint resolution terminating the national emergency declared to impose duties on articles imported from Brazil.
The Senate voted to terminate the 50 percent tariffs that President Trump has imposed on Brazil, with a handful of Republicans crossing party lines to help push through a measure rejecting the emergency declaration used to justify them.
While the resolution faces long odds in the House, where Republicans have taken extraordinary steps to make it more difficult to bring up such measures, the vote signaled bipartisan frustration with the president’s tariffs on most goods from Brazil, a country with which the United States has a multibillion-dollar trade surplus. (NYT)
Both Indiana senators voted nay. View the vote.
 
S.J.Res. 77: A joint resolution terminating the national emergency declared to impose duties on articles imported from Canada.
Passed Senate without amendment by Yea-Nay Vote. 50 – 46. Both Indiana senators voted nay. View the vote.
 
S.J.Res. 88: A joint resolution terminating the national emergency declared to impose global tariffs.
Passed Senate without amendment by Yea-Nay Vote. 51 – 47. Both Indiana senators voted nay. View the vote.
 
S.J.Res. 80: A joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to “National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska Integrated Activity Plan Record of Decision”.
The rule, established in 2022, restricted oil and gas development in millions of acres of the reserve
Both Indiana senators voted yea. View the vote.
 
Passed the Senate by Unanimous Consent, House next
S. 503: NET Act
 
S. 99: Strengthening Support for American Manufacturing Act
S. 259: Foreign Adversary Communications Transparency Act
H.R. 2316: Wetlands Conservation and Access Improvement Act of 2025
S. 1872: Critical Infrastructure Manufacturing Feasibility Act
Failed in the Senate
S. 3012: Shutdown Fairness Act
GovTrack: A bill to appropriate funds for pay and allowances of excepted Federal employees for periods of work performed during a lapse in appropriations, and for other purposes.
Last Action: Cloture motion on the motion to proceed to the measure not invoked in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 54 – 45. View the vote.
Explanation: This bill is provisionally dead due to a failed vote for cloture on October 23, 2025. Cloture is required to move past a Senate filibuster or the threat of a filibuster and takes a 3/5ths vote. In practice, most bills must pass cloture to move forward in the Senate.
Read more about the Dems stance here. They have introduced a bill to pay all federal employees – both those excepted and furloughed – as well as servicemembers and federal contractors during the shutdown. The legislation would also prevent the Administration’s attempts at mass firings (Reductions in Force or RIFs) while the government is shut down. 

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

In other news

“The loss of SNAP benefits will mean millions of low-income Americans won’t be able to access food, and will cause ripple effects throughout the economy. SNAP benefits help lift 5 million Americans out of poverty each year. They also help support more than 388,000 jobs and generate $20 billion in wages and $4.5 billion in tax revenue.” (Marketplace)

“The government shutdown is triggering a wave of closures of Head Start centers, leaving working parents scrambling for child care and shutting some of the nation’s neediest children out of preschool.” (AP News)

“A path to dismissing President Trump’s hush money criminal conviction was reopened Thursday after an appeals panel revived his bid to move the case to federal court.
Trump wants to move the case out of New York state court so he can try to convince a federal judge that the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling compels tossing the jury’s 34-count guilty verdict.” (The Hill) 

“A one-minute government ad out of Canada’s Ontario province includes part of a 1987 address by President Ronald Reagan about tariffs and trade.
Overall, the ad’s message aligns with most of Reagan’s remarks, which, over five minutes, expressed a dim view of tariffs. Reagan said he believed that in the long term, tariffs would lead to trade wars and hurt Americans.” (Politifact)

Courts (Read more on our website)
“A federal judge in Chicago on Thursday issued a sweeping injunction that puts more permanent restrictions on the use of force by immigration agents during “Operation Midway Blitz,” saying top government officials lied in their testimony about threats that protesters posed and that their unlawful behavior on the streets “shows no signs of stopping.”” (Chicago Tribune)

“The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled President Trump’s State Department can prohibit transgender Americans from listing their gender identity on their passports, for now.” (The Hill) 

“Sean C. Dunn, the man who pitched a sandwich at the chest of a federal agent in a viral act of opposition to President Trump’s law enforcement policies in Washington, was acquitted on Thursday after a jury found him not guilty of misdemeanor assault.” (NYT)

Elections
“The Trump administration said on Friday that the Justice Department will monitor polling sites in California and New Jersey ahead of the Nov. 4 election, amid requests by Republican Party officials in those states.” (NYT)

Immigration

• “Lawsuits, news reports and Department of Homeland Security statements show that numerous U.S. citizens have been detained or arrested by immigration agents, including during the most recent operation in the Chicago area. 
• A ProPublica investigation documented 170 cases of U.S. citizens detained nationwide by federal immigration officers under the Trump administration. (Politifact)

“Immigration agents, like other law enforcement officers, have broad protections when they’re conducting official duties. But they’re not immune from prosecution if they break state or federal law.” (Politifact)