Updated: 3:48 PM EDT May 13, 2021
DANVILLE, Ind. Last week I spent about an hour in the law office of State Rep. Greg Steuerwald, a Republican who wanted to talk about something unbelievable. It was HEA 1006, a sprawling police reform bill that passed and was signed by Gov. Eric Holcomb without a single dissenting vote.
The next day, I met with U.S. Rep. Victoria Spartz at a Carmel coffee shop, asking this freshman Republican what her first impressions of Congress were. I didn t have very high expectations from Congress as most American people don’t, Spartz said. The reason I am saying that was I thought it was going to be like a high school. I was recently talking to a colleague and I said, It s more like middle school.
Shortages and solutions
Retter appreciated the senator taking time to listen and show that law enforcement agencies not only have local and state support, but federal support, as well. It made Retter feel like Young cares about law enforcement and will investigate solutions to their problems. I feel like he definitely does listen, Retter said. He brought up something like the ammo shortage that he saw as a potential problem we would have.
Young suggested a federal program that allows military surpluses to be distributed to civilian organizations might help law enforcement survive the ammunition imbalance and maintain training standards.
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As eligibility for the COVID-19 vaccine opens up for all Hoosiers, those who identify as white and Asian are taking the lead in getting vaccinated while some minority groups are falling behind.
According to the state’s vaccine dashboard, 6% of available vaccines have been claimed by those who identify as Black in Indiana. Data from the Kaiser Family Foundation shows just 22% of those who are Black have been vaccinated in the state.
While COVID-19 has affected all of the nation regardless of race, Black people are being hospitalized almost three times more than white people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
First published April 23, 2021 in TheStatehouseFile.com
Current and former state legislators and a former Indiana Supreme Court justice are raising concerns that a bill to extend rather than adjourn the 2021 session blurs the separation of powers and could have “dangerous” implications for the future.
The Indiana General Assembly passed House Bill 1372 late in the session with little discussion or opposition, extending the legislative session until Nov. 15. The coronavirus pandemic postponed 2020 census results and the change was necessary in order to vote on election redistricting in the fall, proponents say.
Now some worry the unusual move could set a precedent for a full-time legislature, and others wonder about lawmakers fundraising while technically still in session, which is typically not allowed.
Indiana’s massive
multibillion-dollar state budgettook center stage on the last day of the 2021 legislative session.
Rep. Tim Brown, a Republican from Crawfordsville, is the State Budget Committee chair and House Ways and Means Committee chair. He said Thursday, “We do a lot. We are balanced. We are strong. We are ready of the next budget. If there’s an economic bubble because of what the economy does nationwide, we are prepared, we are ready.”
The budget includes
State Rep Ed DeLaney, a Democrat from Indianapolis, said “There’s real support for public education, and there’s two parts that I point to in particular: the substantial pressure to have a minimum pay of $40,000 for our teachers. That will increase recruitment, which is critical. We’ve got to get young people to want to be teachers and get them in there.”