TheStatehousefile.com 

INDIANAPOLIS—“Whose body? Our body. Whose choice? Our choice.”

Chanting could be heard down East Washington Street as hundreds of people gathered in the pouring rain at Lugar Plaza Saturday morning, protesting for women’s reproductive rights. 

Nine other Rallies for Reproductive Rights occurred across Indiana and more than 600 nationwide. Hosts of the Indianapolis event included the American Civil Liberties Union, Women’s March Indiana, Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates Indiana, NOW Indiana, Indianapolis Indivisible, Indiana Nasty Women, Black Women in Charge and All-Options. 

Their inspiration was the recent Texas abortion bill that bans abortion at six weeks, before most women are aware they are pregnant. Sen. Liz Brown, R-Fort Wayne, plans to draft a similar bill for Indiana in the 2022 legislative session. 

Sarah Austin said she chose to come to the rally because she wants to see change at the Indiana Statehouse. 

“We’re here for women’s reproductive rights,” Austin said. “We want the people at the Statehouse to know we’re pro-choice.”

Rep. Sue Errington, D-Muncie, left Muncie early with a caravan of protesters bound for the rally. 

In July, Mississippi asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, a case passed 50 years ago that allows safe and legal abortions. Since then, according to Errington, Indiana has passed 65 abortion restriction laws, which is more than every state except Louisianna. 

“Not everyone was alive before Roe v. Wade, but I was, and we do not want to go back,” Errington said in an interview. “I refuse to go back.”

In the 2021 legislative session, Errington authored a bill on sex education that died in committee. 

“If you know about safe sex and contraceptives, then you don’t have to worry about abortion,” said Errington in an interview. 

Katie Blair, director of advocacy and public policy for the ACLU, said Indiana already has the most extreme abortion laws in the country and only plans to get stricter. 

“Reproductive health care, including abortion, should be safe and available to those who need it,” Blair said at the rally. “We will fight in the Statehouse, we will fight in the courts, we will march in the streets, we will use all of our power to fight for reproductive rights wherever and whenever they are in jeopardy.”

City-County Councilor Ali Brown shared her own pregnancy story with protesters Saturday, describing how she saw two little lines on a stick that confirmed she was pregnant despite having an IUD.

Brown reached out to several doctors trying to get answers as to how it was possible and if it would be a safe pregnancy, but doctors told her they couldn’t see her for three weeks. Because of Planned Parenthood, she was able to get her IUD removed without hurting the baby that was also in her womb. 

“Pregnancy is rough. We just don’t like to talk about it. Everyone says it’s a miracle and it’s beautiful and wonderful, but no one talks about the immense pain, the sickness and how rough it can be to grow something inside of you,” Brown said. “There is a shame and a stigma about talking about how difficult it is to carry a child and to give birth, and we need to break that.” 

When Brown went to give birth, her placenta ruptured, and Brown had to have an unmedicated cesarean birth. The last thing she heard was, “He’s blue and not breathing.” Four hours later, she woke up to find out she had also stopped breathing and her heart stopped beating. She and her baby boy were able to make it out alive, she said, but that isn’t always the case.

The U.S. has one of the highest mother mortality rates for a developed country, with Indiana being the third highest in the country. 

Dana Black with Indiana’s Own fired up protesters with an impactful speech. 

“I’m sick and tired of, after almost 50 years, we are back here in the rain marching to protect women’s reproductive rights,” Black said. “We have not done everything we need to do to make sure that the legislation that’s coming out of our Statehouse represents all of us.” 

Indianapolis resident Heleigh Inscore held a sign that said “pro-women, pro-child, pro-choice, pro-secco.”

“We want to protect the right for safe and legal abortions,” Inscore said. 

All the speakers urged protesters to share their stories and go to the polls. 

“Each woman has different circumstances when it comes to reproductive health care,” said Karen Celestino-Horseman, a rally organizer. “That’s why it should not be legislated by a bunch of old men in the Statehouse who know nothing about it.”

Alexa Shrake is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

The post Rally in Indy Saturday one of hundreds across nation spurred by Texas anti-abortion law appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

TheStatehouseFile.com 

INDIANAPOLIS— In Greek mythology, there is a princess named Cassandra. 

Cassandra is blessed with the gift of being able to tell the future. Her gift is practically useless, however, because she has been cursed so that no one will listen to her truth or heed her predictions. She is powerless during catastrophes. 

Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Portage, said on Friday morning during the third Senate reading for redistricting maps that although she does not claim to be a Cassandra, she can relate to that great frustration. 

Before House Bill 1581 ultimately passed, 11 out of the 11 Democratic state senators spoke while only one of the 39 Republican state senators spoke, and that was the sponsor of the bill, Sen. Eric Koch, R-Bedford. This was Indiana’s last chance for redistricting reform for the next 10 years. 

Democrats emphasized the point they have been trying to make for the last couple of weeks during the redistricting process: The supermajority Republican maps are drawn for the people in power, not the people they represent. 

Many when they stood up and spoke also uttered a similar line: We all know how the vote will end, but here are my thoughts …

Tallian said that this is dangerous, especially for the 40% of non-Republican Hoosiers whose voices are being disenfranchised.  

“These maps so artfully guarantee it,” she said. 

Sen. Fady Qaddoura, D-Indianapolis, said citizens should be placed at the heart of everything lawmakers do.

“The fact that we have power, that we have titles, does not mean we should be in control,” he said. 

Sen. Greg Taylor, D-Indianapolis, said he saw legislators across the aisle get angry when more of his colleagues stepped up to the microphone to speak. 

“It’s like, how dare they get up to the microphone and question what we’re doing to affect their lives?” he said. 

Taylor compared this legislative competition to a basketball game. 

“Do you just do everything you can to make sure the team you’re going to play doesn’t have a chance to score and you can beat them 100 to zero? Or can you let them hit a layup?” he said. 

Shelli Yoder, D-Bloomington, acknowledged her constituents’ concerns that were voiced at a public hearing held by the Democrats. They asked her what they could do when it felt like they were powerless during the redistricting process. 

“When you feel powerless,” she said, her voice cracking with passion, “press on.” 

Koch thanked the Democrats for speaking. 

“I appreciate the vigor of the debate this morning because this is a matter that deserves vigorous debate,” he said. “It is one of the most important things that we do.” 

At the House session Friday afternoon to concur with amendments in the Senate-passed bill, State Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington, pleaded with legislators to consider their vote. 

“I know that I’m asking you to do something that goes completely against human nature,” he said. “I’m asking you to voluntarily give up your power.”

John Jacob, R-Indy, was the only Republican to oppose the maps. 

“I want to go on record because I think this is shameful,” he said. 

State Rep. Cherish Pryor, D-Indianapolis, said that her hometown in Fort Wayne was split to suppress the votes of minorities. 

“This is not a democracy,” she said. 

Despite these plans for a last-minute miracle, the bill passed in the Senate and the House and now will arrive on the governor’s desk for approval to become law. 

Haley Pritchett is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

The post Inequality is mapped out for the next 10 years, Democrats say: New redistricting maps set to become law appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

INDIANAPOLIS—Democrats should feel grateful that Donald Trump exists.

Their opposition to the former president seems to be about the only thing holding the party of Jefferson, Jackson, FDR and JFK together. If Trump didn’t exist, Democrats would spend all their time fighting with each other.

The ongoing struggle to pass President Joe Biden’s infrastructure and reconciliation measures shows just how deeply divided the Democratic Party is.

Progressives want both measures adopted as a package. Moderates would prefer to separate consideration of the bills and pass the infrastructure one—which polls in the high 70s and has a smaller price tag—first, then worry about reconciliation later.

Both sides have dug into their negotiating positions like World War I armies settling into trenches for a prolonged siege. Both sides are convinced they are in control because the other side can’t move forward alone.

They’re both right about that—which means they’re both missing the most important point.

The fact that neither side can get anything done alone means that, if they want to deal with any of the items on their agendas, they need to find a way to start working together.

If they don’t, they probably need to get used to saying the following: “Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.”

I have been covering politics and public policy for more than 40 years now. In that time, I never have ceased to be astounded by how short-sighted even the smartest politicians can be.

In this instance, the progressives in the U.S. House of Representatives are crowing because they forced Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, to delay a key vote on the measures. They see the fact that they pushed Pelosi to retreat as a victory.

But what did they win?

There’s still no deal on reconciliation and the infrastructure measures that Americans both want and need are being held hostage. In addition, the progressives have managed to weaken both Pelosi and Biden, both of whom are likely to be far friendlier to liberal hopes and aspirations than McCarthy and—shudder—a re-elected Donald Trump ever would be.

Then there is the brain-dead logic of U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, and U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Arizona. Both Manchin and Sinema seem to think there is great value in keeping the other members of their party guessing about what they want and what they’ll do. They each seem to like the enhanced leverage being a perceived swing vote gains them.

But one generally exerts leverage to gain or move something.

Manchin and Sinema seem to think the leverage they have is an end in itself, not a means to achieving some greater good for the people of their states or, heaven forbid, the entire nation.

Worse, they can’t seem to see how ephemeral their elevated status could be.

If the Democrats don’t get things done and the Republicans gain control of the Senate again, Mitch McConnell will have about as much use for Manchin and Sinema as a fish does for a pickup truck.

But those are all crass political considerations.

The larger one is the most important.

In a self-governing society such as ours, government is supposed to be a means of resolving differences among varied constituencies with often vastly divergent interests and priorities. The people we send to lead us are supposed to be problem-solvers, not problem-exacerbators.

This is what makes the whole spectacle of the Democrats’ demolition derby so dispiriting.

We Americans already have seen one political party—the Republican Party—abdicate any sort of responsibility to the nation at large.

The latest evidence of that abdication came when McConnell announced that Senate Republicans would vote to allow the country to default on its debts—debts he and the GOP helped rack up by ramming through a foolhardy tax cut for the wealthiest of the wealthy—rather than raise the debt ceiling.

Democrats correctly argued that this made Republicans “the party of default.”

But the Democrats have demonstrated they still are what Will Rogers said they were, a firing squad that forms a circle and shoots back toward the center.

If Republicans are the party of default, Democrats are the party of dysfunction.

What a choice.

John Krull is director of Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism and publisher of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

The post Commentary: Democrats’ demolition derby appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

I briefly considered writing about sports this week. Indiana University’s football team was expected to have a great season following last year’s breakout run. That hasn’t happened yet. The Colts are 0-3 and in the middle of a road-game heavy stretch that doesn’t serve a comeback well. The U.S. Ryder Cup team destroyed the Europeans this year, but that news is so last weekend that most of us are already over it.

Sadly, it appears the hottest games going on right now are in Congress. Most don’t realize this, but their games are seasonal too, and in that regard, they are in the middle of their playoffs right now. Their games also have a schedule, so let’s go over the calendar for the convenience of home viewing and ticket scalping.

Game 1 was the passage of a continuing resolution, or “CR” in DC speak. This is legislation that must be passed to continue congressionally required funding of the federal government. We have largely been operating under a series of CRs since the ’90s–which was not the plan when a budgeting reform legislative package was passed in 1974. But because of our legislative branch’s inability to pass a real, comprehensive budget, the end of the fiscal year is the mechanism that forces action in this game. That year ends on Sept. 30, so that is when Game 1 appeared on the scheduled, as is customary.

The funding coming from a CR can extend budget authority for a week, a month or a year. That extension is what determines the scheduling of the next game. The CR passed on Thursday funds the government through Dec. 3, so that is when Game 2 of that series will be played.

Ever heard of the national debt? It feels like a true, bottomless pit. Those debt obligations are met by government credit extensions that periodically must be raised so that we can pay our bills. Heaven forbid we pay those bills by generating the revenue to do it.

But these games are in the playoffs now too, and the game schedule is as inflexible as the CR games. The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019 suspended the federal government’s debt limit through July 31, 2021. So, on August 1, the Treasury Department began using what is called “extraordinary measures” to keep the preexisting ceiling from being crossed. Congress was informed by letter on Sept. 28 that these extraordinary measures will also be exhausted on Oct. 18 without another suspension of the debt ceiling or the raising of it. The House has passed this authorization in two different forms, but the Senate has failed to act so far. Sen. Mitch McConnell is committed to keeping Senate Republicans from assisting in this typically bipartisan exercise, even though we are paying bills from the past, not bills that could come in the future. He’s counting on Americans not knowing the difference, typically a safe bet.

Circle Oct. 18 on the calendar and stock up on the popcorn for this game. It should have been a snoozer but leave it to McConnell to turn consensus into a battle.

These games are blended in with the bonus games created by two Democrat members of the U.S. Senate who have an outsized role this season. When the runoffs for two Senate seats in Georgia were held in January, the body became evenly split along the partisan line. At that moment, season ticket holders knew that Sen. Joe Manchin from West Virginia became promoted from the Senate team’s second-string punter to its first-string quarterback. I could share the litany of positions he has taken over the years in an attempt to explain who he is, but it is just easier to describe him as unreliable. And his apprentice is a new member of the body, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema from Arizona. Both of these Democrats are fighting against the Democratic agenda this season for similarly vague, jello-like reasons. However, their home lives are very different.

Neither will run again until 2024. The 74-year-old Manchin is likely the only Democrat who can keep the Senate seat he has in West Virginia. But since Sinema was elected in 2018, Arizona has elected a second Democrat to the senate and voted to elect President Biden. She has a long way to go to replace Manchin as the starter, and in my estimation, she doesn’t have a home state that will help her make that happen. If she keeps copying Manchin, this first term of hers will be her last. Count on that.

Baseball’s playoffs start Tuesday. Like its games, their playoffs last too long. Sort of like Washington’s.

Michael Leppert is an author, educator and a communication consultant in Indianapolis. He writes about government, politics and culture at MichaelLeppert.com.

The post Commentary: There’s nothing like the playoffs, even in Congress appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS—Senate Democrats pushed back at House Bill 1581 with nine amendments in a marathon three-hour session Thursday, but all failed. 

Concerns about further marginalizing minority groups drove many of the amendments. Some would have redrawn district lines to create more competition while others would have reunited communities or required more independent outside involvement for the next redistricting in 2030.  

Sen. Greg Taylor, D-Indianapolis, claimed much of the floor time with multiple amendments, steering the attention of senators toward possible districts breaking up minority groups in Fort Wayne. 

“You kept the south side and the people of Fort Wayne from having a voice in this legislative body for things that they think are better for them, their family, their loved ones,” Taylor said. “This is one of the most egregious things I’ve seen us do as a body. For the next 10 years, the people of Fort Wayne will not have a voice.” 

Sen. Eric Koch, R-Bedford, disputed any possible polarized voting. According to an article in the University of Chicago Law Review, “Voting is polarized when the political preferences of majority-race and minority-race voters diverge substantially and the racial majority votes with enough cohesion to usually defeat the minority’s candidates of choice.” Koch said all voices were being represented with the proposed maps. 

“I am confident that 1581 complies with all aspects of the Voting Rights Act,” Koch said. 

Sen. Fady Qaddoura, D-Indianapolis, said none of the maps are perfect but they could come close with the proposed amendments. 

“It should be the power of the citizen,” Qaddoura said. “Citizens are the ones who elected us.”

Sen. Shelli Yoder, D-Bloomington, proposed an amendment that would reunite Evansville, which is split up in the proposed drawings. 

“In committee, authors of the bill said they had to split Evansville to accommodate for population shifts out of more southern rural areas,” Yoder said. “Providing an opportunity for the city of Evansville to be a community of interest and to have that district drawn in such a way that gives the citizens of Evansville an opportunity to have strength in numbers instead of a diluted presence in the Senate.” 

Sen. Tim Lanane, D-Anderson, spoke against the proposed maps, saying they are not fairly representing voters due to not taking into consideration how certain areas vote. 

“This is a great example of gerrymandering,” Lanane said. “We don’t split a community.” 

The bill advances to a third reading in the Senate at 9 a.m. Friday, then will move back to the House for concurrence, then to Gov. Eric Holcomb.   

Alexa Shrake is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

The post Marathon Senate session sees passionate pushback from Democrats appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

TheStatehouseFile.com

Women make up 50.8% of the population and 48% of the American workforce, but only 27% are engineers.

To combat this, the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) is holding an event called Invent It. Build It. (IIBI) Oct. 23 at the Indiana Convention Center for girls in grades 9-12. Billed as “the world’s largest conference for women engineers,” according to SWE’s website, it offers girls the chance to:

• Participate in hands-on engineering activities.
• Learn how engineers can make a difference. 
• Talk to female engineers and learn about their careers.
• Meet with engineering companies. 
• Talk to different colleges and universities.

According to SWE, four out of five who previously attended the event said the conference’s activities strengthened their confidence with engineering-related skills. 

That’s exactly why Dana Day, the high school coordinator for Invent It. Build It., got involved. She is an engineer herself and joined the Society of Women Engineers right out of college 15 years ago. 

“One of the coolest parts is that each table is with a volunteer role model,” Day said. “They get to talk and learn about what being an engineer is like in real life—not just what it looks like from textbooks or school.” 

Growing up, Day said she only ever saw male science teachers and engineers. 

“I think part of what SWE does really well is getting those role models in front of students,” she said. “I think it really does make a difference. We talk about how engineering isn’t just about sitting behind a computer and crunching numbers. You can really have an engineering life where you are making a difference and making an impact.” 

Mary Zeis is another engineer and also the parent educator coordinator. She joined the Society of Women Engineers her first year of college in 1974. “There weren’t many girls in engineering back then, so it was important to stick together,” she said.

Zeis will aid parents and teachers in learning about college admissions, scholarships, resources and engineering careers. Because they greatly influence what careers kids pick, Zeis’ main goal is helping them learn more about what engineering is and why it’s a great option for girls. 

If interested in attending this year’s Invent It. Build It., follow this link. 

Ashlyn Myers is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students

The post Women engineers want girls involved with STEM appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

INDIANAPOLIS—Two American leaders—one from each political party—just offered a reminder of how mature adults behave.

U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming, delivered her lesson in three words.

“I was wrong,” Cheney said in an interview with CBS’s Lesley Stahl.

Stahl had asked the congresswoman about Cheney’s opposition to same-sex marriage. That opposition created a rift between Cheney and her sister, who is gay, married and has children.

With those three words—I was wrong—Cheney showed how grownups acknowledge mistakes. They don’t shillyshally. They don’t dodge. They don’t make excuses.

No, they own it.

I was wrong.

The other example came from President Joe Biden.

Asked whether the disturbing incidents of mounted horseback riders herding desperate immigrants like livestock along our southern border was his responsibility, Biden was direct in his response.

“Of course I take responsibility. I’m president,” he said.

His answer may seem like a simple thing, but it isn’t. In a self-governing society such as ours, authority always is accompanied by accountability.

More to the point, to be an adult means assuming responsibility—both for one’s own actions and for those of the people who report to you.

Contrast Biden’s attitude with that of his predecessor, former President Donald Trump.

When Trump was confronted about how his administration had mishandled the rollout of testing procedures during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, he snapped.

“I don’t take any responsibility at all,” Trump said.

If one sentence ever encapsulated why Trump was a single-term president, that was it.

Most presidents have been able to use crises on the scale of the pandemic to rally support to them. Challenging times allow most leaders to show that they are in charge.

That they are rocks in unsteady times.

Trump couldn’t do that. Most people sensed—accurately—that he was the antithesis of Harry Truman. With Trump, the buck always stopped somewhere else.

He hogged the credit for things that went right around him.

But he never took any responsibility for anything that went wrong.

That matters.

In both life and politics, mistakes are inevitable. We all falter and fail at times. That’s all right. The process of picking ourselves back up—of determining how and where we went wrong—is a great teacher.

People who cannot acknowledge mistakes are doomed to repeat them. They do not grow wiser as they grow older because they cannot learn from experience.

Purdue University President Mitch Daniels and I disagreed from time to time when he was Indiana’s governor.

One thing I always admired about him, though, was his willingness to acknowledge mistakes and misstatements and offer genuine apologies.

For those who do not know, a genuine apology does not contain the words “if” or “but.”

Saying “If I hurt your feelings, I’m sorry” isn’t an apology. It suggests that the person who took offense was too sensitive, not that what was said or done was unkind.

Similarly, “I’m sorry I made you mad, but…” also doesn’t qualify as an apology. What follows the “but” always is either an excuse for poor behavior or a fresh argument in an ongoing dispute.

When Mitch Daniels apologized for something, there never were any “ifs” or “buts.” He just acknowledged that he’d screwed up and said he was sorry.

He took responsibility for his actions.

Like a grownup.

We live in a divided time. The conventional wisdom is that all our divisions are tribal.

Republican vs. Democrat.

Rural vs. urban.

White vs. Black.

Doubtless, these differences are fault lines.

But some of what eats at our nation also may spring from the fact that so many of us can’t ever acknowledge that our judgment has erred upon occasion or that, from time to time, we have done wrong. Because we cannot acknowledge our mistakes, we too often repeat them.

This is not a partisan or ideological issue.

Some Democrats get it. Others do not.

Some Republicans do. Others do not.

Some liberals do. Others do not.

Some conservatives do. Others do not.

The ones who get it are adults who can be entrusted with responsibility and authority. When they screw up, as all human beings do, they own up to their mistakes and try to make things right.

And the ones who don’t get it?

Well, not so much.

John Krull is director of Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism and publisher of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

The post Commentary: How grownups lead appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

The Indiana Citizen

In a rare moment of bipartisan unanimity—and one that will at least slightly delay this year’s redistricting process—Indiana Senate Republicans on Tuesday further changed their redrawing of eight Marion County districts, an adjustment that they said was spurred by suggestions in public testimony and from Senate Democrats.

The amendment to the Republican-authored redistricting legislation, House Bill 1581, was approved by consent—meaning there were no objections by any of the seven Republican or two Democratic members—by the Senate Elections Committee, which later approved the amended legislation along party lines and sent it to the Senate floor, where debate is expected to begin Thursday.

As a result of the amendment, the legislation, if passed by the full Senate, would need to return to the House, which could either concur with the changes or send the bill to a conference committee to resolve the differences. House Speaker Todd Huston, R-Fishers, told House members last week to be prepared to return to the Statehouse Friday afternoon—after the bill’s expected passage by the Senate Friday morning—if a concurrence vote were necessary.

The bill’s Senate sponsor and author of the last-minute amendment, Sen. Eric Koch, R-Bedford, said it resulted from public input during Monday’s public testimony before the committee and his caucus’ examination of the map proposed by Senate Democrats.

“After our districts were initially drawn, we examined the maps drawn by Senate Democrats,” Koch told the committee. “We hired an academic expert,” whom he later identified as Dr. Brad Lockerbie, a political science professor at East Carolina University.

The redrawn map, Koch said, resulted from Lockerbie’s confirmation that “racially polarized voting does not exist in Marion County” due to white voters’ historically supporting the election of Black candidates.

“Because of that,” Koch said, “the Voting Rights Act does not require ‘majority minority’ districts in Marion County,” or districts drawn to have a predominantly Black population to comply with federal law.

The biggest changes from the amendment involve Senate District 29, represented by J.D. Ford, and Senate District 30, represented by Fady Qaddoura, both Democrats.

None of the changes appear to shift significantly the existing political balance within any of the districts.

Also affected were Senate District 20 in Hamilton County, represented by Scott Baldwin, R-Noblesville, which was changed only by a single precinct; District 31, represented by Kyle Walker, R-Indianapolis; District 32, represented by Aaron Freeman, R-Indianapolis; District 33, represented by Senate Minority Leader Greg Taylor, D-Indianapolis; Senate District 34, represented by Jean Breaux, D-Indianapolis; Senate District 36, represented by Jack Sandlin, R-Indianapolis; and Senate District 46, which would be an open seat shifted from southern Indiana.

Not affected was Senate District 28, represented by Michael Crider, R-Greenfield, which has faced the sharpest criticism of any district that includes Marion County; the district population is predominantly in rural Hancock and Shelby counties but includes a portion of the Indianapolis Eastside so small that critics say it marginalizes its Democratic and minority population. Nor did the amendment affect districts elsewhere in the state, despite testimony Monday that included allegations of racial gerrymandering in Lake and Allen counties.

Before its approval of the bill, the committee voted down other proposed amendments from Qaddoura or Ford to put an independent commission in charge of map drawing in the next decennial redistricting cycle; to redraw the state’s congressional districts with the focus on making Congressional District 5 more competitive; and to require a 30-day “public review” between the introduction and further legislative action on redistricting legislation. The amendments were voted down along party lines except for the one proposing the independent commission, which picked up a vote from Sen. Ron Grooms, R-Jeffersonville.

The two Democrats on the committee also withdrew other amendments—including one that would have redrawn Senate districts in Allen, Marion, Tippecanoe and Vanderburgh counties where “districts were egregiously divided for political gain,” Ford said—because they would have conflicted with the already approved amendment from Koch, meaning that a previous version of the legislation would have been amended. The Democrats indicated that they would redraft and propose those amendments for second-reading consideration of the bill on the Senate floor Thursday.

The post Senate Republicans redraw 8 Marion County districts; amended map will need House concurrence appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

INDIANAPOLIS—So, the unqualified Arizona election auditors former President Donald Trump and his amen chorus pinned their hopes on came up with a surprising result.

They found that Trump lost the state by even more votes than the official count said.

Did that persuade the former president and his cult to dial down their rhetoric about last year’s “stolen election?”

Did it convince them to do what adults do when they experience a setback—pick themselves back up and start figuring out ways to do better in the future?

Nope.

Not a bit.

Trump did what he almost always does.

He lied.

Even though the Cyber Ninjas found that President Joe Biden won Arizona by 350 votes more than previously thought, Trump said the audit revealed he actually won the state. He also demanded initiatives to overturn the election results in other states, including at least one where he came out on top, Texas.

And there were people who believed him.

This idiocy stopped being about Donald Trump a long time ago. He is what he always has been, a real-estate hustler and scam artist who takes as gospel P.T. Barnum’s observation about a sucker being born every minute. He doesn’t believe he has to fool all the people all the time, just enough of them to get what he wants when he wants it.

Right now, what he wants is to escape the truth that he’s a loser and find a way to keep the cash registers ringing so he can continue to prop up the house of cards that is his supposed business empire.

His cons and delusions would be of interest only to him and the team of psychiatrists that would be necessary to re-tether him to reality if it weren’t for one thing.

A lot of people have swallowed his nonsense. Polls show that upwards of 70 percent of Republicans believe Trump’s lie that the 2020 election was “stolen.”

Even worse, there are many people who ought to know better—who, in fact, privately doubtless do know better—who aid and abet Trump’s shams and frauds.

In doing so, they wage war on the idea of America itself.

Our nation is a product of the Age of Reason. Our founders’ faith was less in any specific religious tradition than it was in the firm belief that truth and truth alone mattered.

At least part of their rationale for defending freedom of conscience, freedom of speech and freedom of the press sprang from their faith that only by preserving such values could human beings pursue truth.

And thus arrive at policies and positions that were both just and wise.

Not surprisingly, Thomas Jefferson—author of the Declaration of Independence and possessor of the most graceful pen among the founders—gave the fullest voice to this core conviction.

“No experiment can be more interesting than that we are now trying, and which we trust will end in establishing the fact, that man may be governed by reason and truth. Our first object should therefore be, to leave open to him all the avenues to truth,” Jefferson wrote midway through his presidency.

Jefferson’s sexism, along with his several other prejudices, is more than regrettable. But it is worth noting that he was setting forth a standard by which he and all other American leaders could be indicted.

And he was smart enough to realize that.

He and the other founders believed that facts mattered—that the truth was more than important.

That it was essential.

When Donald Trump and his millions of enablers contend that facts have no weight and the truth no value, they’re doing more than engaging in political gamesmanship.

They’re attacking the very idea of America itself. They’re waging war on the belief that free people can be wise and discerning enough to govern themselves.

The question is no longer about who Donald Trump is.

He is what he is—a con man and a fast-buck artist who always looks out for number one.

No, the question now is about something bigger.

It’s about who we are, as a nation and as a people.

At the moment, the answers to that question aren’t encouraging.

John Krull is director of Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism and publisher of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

The post Commentary: At war with the idea of America appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

TheStatehouseFile.com 

The Senate Chamber was filled with outrage and passion on Monday. 

Around two dozen citizens spoke at the public hearing regarding the Senate-proposed redistricting maps, and not a single one of them approved. 

Many sported “reform redistricting now” buttons on their chests. 

Sen. Eric Koch, R-Bedford, started the hearing by stating the goals kept in mind while drawing the maps. Some of those were to make the process transparent, strive to maintain communities of interest and keep compactness among the districts. 

He also emphasized that the maps met all federal and state legal requirements. 

But citizens challenged the effort and effectiveness of each of those goals. 

One of the main issues that was continuously brought up was the lack of competition among districts, otherwise known as gerrymandering. 

“Competitiveness is not a legal requirement,” Koch said. 

Sen. Fady Qaddoura, D-Indianapolis, is an immigrant from the Middle East, an area that still struggles with the concept of democracy. He said because of this, he understands the value of democracy over self-interest. 

The proposed maps would secure his legislative seat, he said. But he will vote against them. 

“I personally will not support any map at the expense of our democracy,” he said. 

Although the architects of the maps claim they strove for transparency, citizens claimed the maps were intentionally hard to read, especially because they were located on the Republican party’s website. 

Theresa Bruno, who ran for state senate in 2020, was about to pot her plants this morning when she got a text from a friend asking if she would be attending the hearing. She did not know about the public hearing Monday until 8 a.m, an hour before it started. 

“For someone as involved as I am, for me not to know about this …” she said. 

Mary Kohen, from Columbus, said that the room did not represent Indiana. Because of the timing of the meeting and the lost hope for change among some Hoosiers, not many people could be there. 

She herself did not find the maps easy to read. 

“I am 60 years old, I have 60-year-old eyes, but I think even if I had 20-year-old eyes, I would not have been able to discern what these maps were and what they were trying to do,” she said. 

Robert Lee Buggs, a veteran, urged legislators to consider the oath they take when they say the Pledge of Allegiance. And he asked legislators to think of a line from scripture next time they go to church: “That you do to the least of them, you do to me.” 

Pauline Spiegel, a concerned citizen, said that the biggest issue is that the supermajority currently does not have to defend its ideas. 

“That is a big problem,” she said. “If you don’t have to defend your ideas, you don’t have to have good ideas.” 

The Senate Committee will vote Tuesday on the proposed maps, and if the bill passes, it will go to the full Senate. 

Haley Pritchett is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

The post Passionate citizens dominate the Senate hearing, Republicans still on track to get their maps appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

INDIANAPOLIS—Some decisions are just too important to leave to politicians.

Chief among those decisions is how we citizens decide who will represent us. That process goes by a name—redistricting—that is a cure for insomnia.

But it matters, perhaps more than any other question.

That’s because we likely won’t be able to solve any of our problems if we don’t solve the redistricting one first. The only way to do that is to give power back to the people—to remind those who hold public office that they do so only with the consent of the governed.

Indiana’s state lawmakers have been laboring at the redistricting process for months now.

Predictably, they have made a mess of it, conjuring up legislative district maps only hacks and the most rabid partisans could tolerate, much less like.

Some of their hackery is blatantly political.

They redrew the map for Indiana’s 5th congressional district, which has become competitive because the voters have sent dangerous signals that they were both moderate and independent-minded, into another GOP bastion. U.S. Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Indiana, captured the office last fall, but her fellow Republicans feared she might be vulnerable.

Perhaps that is because one of Spartz’s first acts as a congresswoman was to seek out a photo opportunity with fringe figure U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, who veers so far to the right that she’s fallen off the distant edge of the flat earth she believes in.

Some of the mapmakers’ skullduggery was personal, even petty.

Republicans drafted the map to make one of their own, Indiana Rep. John Jacob, R-Indianapolis, easier to challenge. Jacob’s politics are more conservative than Genghis Khan’s and he has all the personal charm of a pit viper. His great regret in life is that he did not live during the Crusades. Nothing would give him more pleasure than to march off to reclaim the Holy Land from the infidels.

Before he became a legislator, he would show up at the Statehouse to harangue lawmakers, even those who were reliable pro-life votes, as murderers because they didn’t share his extreme views on abortion.

Shockingly, some Republicans don’t find a steady diet of Jacob’s hellfire screeches in caucus all that pleasant and they want him gone from their midst.

But it is not fair to single out either Indiana or Hoosier Republicans for indulging in gerrymandering.

The truth is that it’s happening almost everywhere in the country.

Both parties—Democrats in blue states and Republicans in red ones—are guilty of abusing their power and crafting maps that allow them to choose their voters, rather than allowing the voters to choose their leaders.

That’s because, for politicians, gerrymandering is more addictive than crack and nicotine combined.

Absent an intervention, they won’t give it up.

That’s a problem for the rest of us because gerrymandering warps the process of self-government to the point of making it unrecognizable.

There are Hoosier Republican lawmakers who have begun to advance the argument that slicing and dicing the maps had nothing to do with creating their legislative supermajorities. They say it’s just that Republican “ideas” were better.

That contention is absurd.

In the 2020 election, then President Donald Trump and Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb both captured about 57% of the vote in Indiana. Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita snared 58%.

Yet, the Indiana House ended up being 71% Republican and the Indiana Senate 78%.

Does that mean that the GOP House candidates’ Republican “ideas” were 14% better than Trump’s or Holcomb’s and 13% percent stronger than Rokita’s? And that the Republican Senate candidates’ notions were 20% more attractive than those of the statewide GOP candidates?

What makes gerrymandering a serious problem is that it erodes public confidence in government, the instrument through which we are supposed to resolve our differences.

It’s not a coincidence that, when gerrymandering progressed from being a dark art to becoming a dark science, we Americans began snarling at rather than speaking with each other. Because huge swaths of the public—left, right and center—feel no one in power listens to or speaks for them, we have begun screaming all the time in desperate attempts to be heard.

That won’t change if we leave redistricting in politicians’ hands.

Decisions that important should belong to us citizens—and us alone.

John Krull is director of Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism and publisher of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

The post Commentary: Gerrymandering, an addiction pols just can’t break appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

I am now in the step count demographic. I monitor my daily activity so regularly I can make a pretty good guess of how many steps I’ve taken during the day without even looking at the app on my phone. Being able to count calories would be the real trick for me. But I’m not sure I want to know how many calories are in the large “Quattro Formaggio” pizza from Bazbeaux that I nearly finished on a solo binge the other night. Bacon is lo-cal, right?

Pavement pounders like me need to fill the time long walks take with audio entertainment. In 2020, I obsessively listened to news on satellite radio and newsy podcasts on Spotify. In 2021, I have improved my mental health by migrating back to music and my newest hobby, listening to books on Audible. I just finished Anthony Doerr’s Pulitzer Prize winner, “All the Light We Cannot See.” It was so good, I’m sad it’s over.

Being in between books led me back to the news this week, and honestly, it made me laugh. The oncoming doom being reported about the need to raise the debt ceiling, the continuing resolution for the federal budget and the fate of the two massive infrastructure bills are the source of today’s infotainment sector. To hear the analysts on CNN tell it, America is at a crossroads, one like it has never seen before, and the next couple of weeks are truly make or break time for the Joe Biden presidency. Really? I feel so civically detached all the sudden. It’s as if those long, pleasant summer walks I have been on have lulled me into believing that government was not made boring again by the replacement of a soap-opera-riddled Trump term.

Should I be panicking that Sen. Mitch McConnell has pledged that the GOP will not assist in raising the federal debt ceiling, which would lead to the U.S. government defaulting on the debt it already owes? According to fact checkers at The Washington Post, “under Trump, Congress in bipartisan votes suspended the debt ceiling in December 2017, March 2019 and August 2019. The national debt rose by roughly $7.8 trillion during the Trump administration and is now at $28 trillion.”

In a move as predictable as the sunrise, the GOP is now concerned about federal spending. And that faux concern will be the source of their dramatics until they regain control of Congress, the White House, or both. Then it will fizzle away, as predictably as the sunset.

President Biden’s “Build Back Better” campaign strategy translates into two historically large pieces of legislation that really are the main event right now. In August, the Senate passed the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that is designed to replace and upgrade our nation’s roads and bridges. The package also includes spending on climate resilience and broadband initiatives. Nineteen Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in passing it, and McConnell said he was “proud to support” it.

But a month ago we were apparently living in simpler times.

The thing that has made September, and soon, October, more dramatic is the $3.5 trillion “human infrastructure” bill over which the Democrats are bickering with each other. Who knew that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Joe Manchin didn’t view America through the same lens? Maybe all of us? In the battle of the factions of congressional Democrats, I have learned enough over the years to know who to bet on winning. Two words: Nancy Pelosi.

I listened to her press conference on Thursday, and it was classic Pelosi. She said a lot, but primarily, it is clear she has confidence all these things will get done. The price tag will change and how they will pay for it will as well, but a version of the Biden package will become law.

Or the Democrats won’t have anything to run on next year.

In 2017, the Republicans had slim majorities in Congress and a White House that was trying to learn how to govern. Even they passed their precious tax cut bill, and even though it has turned out to be a colossal failure, it was and remains the primary “accomplishment” of the single Trump term.

And then Republicans lost the House in 2018 any way. But they kept the Senate for two more years.

The Democrats can either govern or not. The safe money is on the passage of something that answers that question affirmatively.

In any case, Anthony Doerr’s next book, “Cloud Cuckoo Land,” comes out Sept. 28. Tell me later what I missed.

Michael Leppert is an author, educator and a communication consultant in Indianapolis. He writes about government, politics and culture at MichaelLeppert.com.

The post Commentary: It’s the Democrats’ turn to govern, that’s all appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

TheStatehouseFile.com 

INDIANAPOLIS—Proposed redistricting maps passed through the Indiana House Election and Apportionment Committee  Monday and then the full House Thursday. The Indiana Senate maps were also released to the public this week. 

The Republican supermajority was responsible for creating these maps. There has been friction and push back from Democratic legislators and the public regarding the fairness of the districts created.

Q: Why are the House maps considered unfair?

A: The most common arguments made against the maps are that there has been a lack of transparency in their creation and that the maps are an effort to silence Hoosier voices who are not Republican. 

Q: Why do people feel there has been no transparency in both sets of maps? 

A: Although public meetings were hosted to discuss the maps, they were scheduled before the maps were released, not giving the public a whole lot to talk about. After the maps were released, the public was only given a few days to analyze them before public testimony. 

Q: How could these maps potentially silence Hoosier voices? 

A: Currently, 29% of Indiana’s House seats are filled by Democrats, and 22% of Senate seats are. Yet 42% of Indiana’s population identify as part of the Republican Party while 37% identify with the Democratic Party, according to Pew Research Center. State Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington, said the Democrats are not being fairly represented in the Indiana legislature.

Q: Are there other options for maps? 

A: Yes, there are, for the House maps. The House Democrats released maps to be considered as an option, which they argued would kill the bias of the Republican maps. The Democrats’ maps came from a citizen map-drawing contest held by the Indiana Citizens Redistricting Commission, an independent group. In a press conference hosted by Pierce, he said that it is quite possible the Senate Democrats will also offer alternative maps. 

Q: What happens now? 

A: The Senate Elections Committee will hear public testimony at the Indiana Statehouse at 9 a.m. Monday. On Oct.1, the Senate will cast its final vote. If it passes, the governor then decides to veto it or sign it into law.

Haley Pritchett is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

The post This week in redistricting: A tale of many maps appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS— Sen. Ron Alting, R-Lafayette, recalls when he was a kid, he could swim and fish and eat the fish he caught. That is no longer the case in many places in Indiana. 

“I want generations to come to have the enjoyment I did as a boy with the environment,” Alting said.

Leading the charge, a group of high schoolers from Alting’s district called Confront the Climate Crisis seeks to change generational damage and engage lawmakers on the issue of climate action in Indiana. 

“We are leading one of the largest youth-led movements that our state government has ever seen,” Rahul Durai, Confront the Climate Crisis operations director and a West Lafayette High School student, said in a press release.

The group has passed out information at festivals, promoted petitions and plans to keep going with other events.  

“It is important that people become aware of our efforts, as we are preparing for monumental statewide climate action in the near future,” said Sofi Alge, Confront the Climate Crisis communications director and a West Lafayette High School senior. 

Alting worked with the group this past legislative session on a bill that would have created a climate task force. It never made it out of the Senate. 

Alting said it was their bill, not his—he helped them through the process of revising and talking with committee leaders to get the bill moving forward. 

“This is a young group of people who have an incredible passion for climate change to make a difference in our communities, state and the world,” Alting said. “It’s about persistence.

“Look at the world. We have crazy fires everywhere, hurricanes at record levels, rain at record levels, and droughts in other parts of the country.” 

Ethan Bledsoe, a member of the group, said in a press release, “We can’t go any further, we can’t do any progressive things about the climate if you can’t even acknowledge that climate change is an emergency or that it’s an issue.”

The group has worked toward climate action at the local and national levels as well, even holding discussions with U.S. Congress members. 

“They’ve been busy and really working this,” said Alting. “I want them to see that their state government does work and to give them hope that they can make a change.”

Alting mentioned how bills on climate rarely make it far in the legislative process. 

“Those bills have struggled to see the light of day,” Alting said. “We could do more. We could always do more.”

Confront the Climate Crisis hosted a climate strike in West Lafayette Friday. At the event, Alting spoke on his role with the group and the students discussed their plans moving forward. 

Alting said, “It could be this next generation that makes a difference in climate change.”

Alexa Shrake is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

The post Indiana high schoolers push lawmakers for action on climate change appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

TheStatehouseFile.com

Jorge Fernandez has been a teacher since 2011. Over the years, he has seen overcrowded classrooms, a lack of support for teachers and unfair wages. 

But when trying to have these issues addressed, he felt that his district’s incumbent didn’t care. 

“You try to communicate with them and get them to take concern, and they don’t,” he said.

After feeling like he and other educators weren’t being heard, Fernandez took matters into his own hands and ran to be a Democratic state representative for the 50th District in 2016.

Though he lost this election, he proceeded to try two more times, in 2018 and 2020.

Most recently, he has become involved with a variety of redistricting-focused organizations, which led him to trying his hand at making maps—and this time, met with some success.

The Indiana Citizens Redistricting Commission (ICRC) held a redistricting map-drawing competition in which any registered Indiana voter could participate. The group’s goal was to show that “a politically balanced group of citizens working transparently and in cooperation with citizens can devise districts that will serve the public interest, not the interests of politicians,” as said on the ICRC’s webpage. 

This competition was in response to the recent unveiling of the Indiana Republicans’ redistricting maps. The winners, announced Monday, included Fernandez in first place for the Indiana House of Representatives category. 

Fernandez made sure to have specific goals when drawing his Indiana House map. “I was focused on keeping political subdivisions together,” he said, “keeping communities of interest together, trying to keep minorities together and making sure their voices are not diluted.” He also said he worked to keep school districts together. 

It wasn’t an easy task. Fernandez said it was tedious due to all of the improvements he intended to make while also focusing on Indiana’s geography. While the ICRC hoped for more competition to be created with the maps, he also wanted to make sure to give minorities voices. Sometimes, in efforts to create political competition, Fernandez believes some voices can be silenced. 

Fernandez’s map can be found here.

In Wednesday’s session at the Indiana Statehouse, Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington, used another of the ICRC’s citizen-created maps in proposing a motion to amend Republican House Bill 1581. This motion was denied, with the bill’s creator, Rep. Greg Steuerwald, R-Avon, saying that Democrats didn’t show the ICRC map until that day.

Fernandez and the other participants used DistrictR to create their maps, which is free software that helps people create redistricting maps while also giving key data on political affiliations, school districts, and races in certain areas of various states. 

Julia Vaughn is the executive director of Common Cause Indiana, the organization whose redistricting coalition formed the ICRC. She said the difference between the citizen-drawn maps and the maps drawn by lawmakers comes down to transparency. 

“I think the way the maps differ radically is the process,” Vaughn said. “We’ve demonstrated that people can possibly look at things from a broader context and make a decision.” 

As for Fernandez, despite the fact that his map hasn’t made significant changes in the redistricting process this year, he isn’t giving up. He said he hasn’t ruled out running for office again in the future. 

“These maps don’t belong to incumbents, and they don’t belong to people running for office. They belong to the people of Indiana,” Fernandez said. “I’m gonna stay involved civically, and I’ll find the place that’s best for me to do that while using my talents.”

Ashlyn Myers is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

The post Teacher turned map maker says redistricting process should belong to citizens appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

Indiana Citizen

The legislative responsibility of redistricting occurs only once every 10 years. It’s an important responsibility—organizing the state’s congressional and legislative electorate for the next 10 years—and a big one. In Indiana, there are 159 legislative and congressional districts to weigh against the latest U.S. Census.

Thursday morning, the Indiana House of Representatives wrapped it up in 90 minutes. A 67-31 vote, reflecting the strength of the chamber’s Republican supermajority, sent the redistricting legislation, House Bill 1581, to the Indiana Senate, which is scheduled to begin and wrap up its review next week.

Rep. Gregory Steuerwald, R-Avon, the author of the redistricting legislation and architect of the proposed congressional and Indiana House districts, described the enormity of trying to reconcile the past decade of population shifts with the congressional and legislative district lines.W

Indiana’s 4.7% population growth shown in the 2020 census, he said, “was certainly not evenly distributed across the state.”

More than half of the state’s 92 counties lost population while several counties around Indianapolis gained.

“It exponentially increased what we had to do,” Steuerwald said. “Our goals were a transparent process, a low population deviation … We tried to maintain communities of interest. That term is used a lot, but what it really means is to respect political subdivision lines.”

Steuerwald was one of five Republicans to speak during Thursday morning’s session. Rep. Matt Pierce, who has led the Democratic opposition to the Republican-drawn maps, was the first of six Democrats.

“We’re essentially preserving the status quo … in which the number of seats that go to Republicans is far beyond the baseline partisan makeup of the state,” he said in protest of the bill. “There’s a lot less competition.”

The redrawn Indiana House district map—which keeps all incumbent Democrats in their current districts—“shows some humanity,” Pierce said. “The Senate map borders on mean spirited, in my opinion.”

Both, he added, are drawn to keep Democrats in a superminority that has no voice in legislative policy—29 of 100 House seats, 11 of 50 in the Senate.

“The minority is at a low level that’s really unheard of … that fundamentally changes the character of what happens within these walls.”

Rep. Ed DeLaney, D-Indianapolis, was more emotional in describing the implications of one-party control, at one point drawing a rebuke from House Speaker Todd Huston, R-Fishers, for straying from the legislative topic.

“You as a group,” DeLaney told Republicans, “don’t feel required to explain what you are doing.”

Referring to Wednesday’s second-reading debate on the redistricting legislation, he added, “One Republican gets up to explain, and 10 Democrats rail against it … You never need us, and as long as that happens, our contribution is diminished.”

The redrawn congressional districts, DeLaney said, “are the greatest single embarrassment of this process. You managed to hand four people safe seats, four people who voted to overturn a presidential election. Because they’re good Republicans. They’re bad Americans, but they’re good Republicans.”

The apparent reference to U.S. Reps. Jackie Walorski, Jim Banks, James Baird and Greg Pence—all of whom voted against certifying President Biden’s win in the Electoral College—led to Huston’s interruption from the speaker’s podium on grounds that it was not relevant to the legislation itself.

Rep. Vernon Smith, D-Gary, praised Steuerwald for his conduct in carrying the redistricting legislation and Rep. Tim Wesco, the Osceola Republican who chairs the House Elections and Apportionment Committee, for his dealing with the public in the committee’s hearings.

“But I do have some concerns,” he added, concerning the timeline and the transparency of the redistricting process.

“Redistricting to me is a very critical and most important process,” he added, “and we need to get the process right. So far, the process hasn’t hit the mark.”

The only Republican to speak against the legislation—and the only legislator Thursday to mention the effect on his own district—was Rep. Jeff Ellington of Bloomington, who said the redrawing would split his constituency, which he described as a community of interest along the I-69 corridor between Indiana University and the Crane naval facility in Martin County.

“Having the largest employer in southwest Indiana, I’m here to defend my district, my corridor, from my proposed map change,” he said. “All see this as a bad change at a time when southwest Indiana employment opportunity needs more investment.”

Ellington was one of three Republicans to join all House Democrats in voting against the bill; the others were John Jacob of Indianapolis, a social conservative who is frequently at odds with caucus leadership and whose redrawn district would include the residence of a former legislator who has said she might challenge him for renomination, and Matt Hostettler of Patoka in southwestern Indiana.

Majority Leader Matt Lehman, R-Berne, offered one of the more spirted defenses of the bill, saying Democrats were wrong in suggesting that the way that district lines are drawn would preordain election outcomes.

Saying Democrats once held the majority of elected positions in Adams County and now hold none, Lehman said it was because voters there came to prefer Republican policies.

“Policy, policy, policy,” he said. “We’ve made this about politics.”

With Thursday’s House passage, the legislation goes to the Indiana Senate, where the process will begin Monday with a 9 a.m. public hearing held by the Senate Elections Committee. The Senate is expected to cast its final vote on House Bill 1581 on Oct. 1.

At the session’s end, Huston said that barely a year into his tenure as speaker, he had asked Steuerwald to handle this year’s redistricting legislation. “I had no idea what I was asking”

“Our job was to draw maps to reflect the population, communities of interest and compactness,” Huston said later.  “I’ll stand up and defend these maps all day long.”

Of criticism of the decision to amend the Senate map into the House and congressional maps bill just one day after senators published the map without hearing public testimony, Huston said the House could reconvene if the Senate made changes based on public testimony.

“If they need to change (their map) and there’s constructive input and they feel the need to change, we’ll address it,” Huston said. “It is not a foregone conclusion, and that’s why I told members to make sure they’ve available next Friday.”

Whitney Downard, Statehouse reporter for CNHI Indiana, contributed reporting through The Indiana Citizen redistricting reporting project, which was organized with assistance from the Hoosier State Press Association.

The post House passes new maps; Indiana Senate to vote on Republican redistricting plan next week appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

INDIANAPOLIS—Perhaps the most surprising thing about the new book from Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, “Peril,” is how few genuine surprises there are in it.

Many of the supposed bombshells convey little that wasn’t known before.

The story that former President Donald Trump grew dangerously detached from reality after losing the 2020 election and encouraged an insurrection on Jan. 6?

Not really breaking news.

Accounts of how Trump’s disintegration and irrationality so alarmed elected officials in both parties as well as members of his own administration that they took steps to make sure he couldn’t start a war or engage in other destructive acts?

Again, not a revelation.

That’s the way it goes through much of the book.

Woodward and Costa do an admirable job of marshaling irrefutable details that reveal just how wild, chaotic and frightening the campaign of 2020 and the early months of 2021 were. They make clear the peril the nation and world faced.

But there’s a been-there, read-that quality to the recounting.

Other books already have taken us inside the world of Trump’s meltdown and shown us how eager he was to play footsie with the forces of totalitarianism and white nationalism. Those who aren’t already convinced of the former president’s narcissism and instability drank the Kool-Aid by the gallon a long time ago.

They aren’t likely to be persuaded by one more book, regardless of how meticulously reported it is.

But that’s not to say “Peril” isn’t worth reading.

It is.

The strength of the book isn’t what one would expect from a volume by Woodward. The veteran Washington Post journalist is one of the great reporters of all time, a bloodhound able to tree any squirrel he chases.

He’s made his massive reputation through the blockbuster revelation, pulling back the curtain on the hidden history of one important, often tragic American moment after another. The subjects of his books often grouse about what Woodward reveals, but they long ago stopped challenging his reporting.

That’s because they can’t.

It always stands up.

But, despite all the superb fact-gathering, Woodward’s books are a slog. The man’s prose is the literary equivalent of narcolepsy. Anyone who reads two paragraphs of most of Woodward’s books shouldn’t drive or operate heavy machinery for at least an hour.

That’s not the case with this one.

Maybe that’s attributable to Costa. Maybe not.

It doesn’t matter.

What does matter is that “Peril” reads better than Woodward’s previous two books about Trump.

Part of the reason is that it seems much more human.

In addition to the dissections of events, we also get telling glimpses of the people at the heart of those events.

Often those peeks at the players involved evoke sympathy for people—Mitch McConnell, Bernie Sanders, Lindsey Graham, even Trump himself—who often find themselves reduced to caricatures.

This is important because it elevates understanding of the personal forces that drive our politics.

One of the best examples is a telling account of why a young Joe Biden chose not to attend Amherst for college. Biden’s father, who never attended college, fretted that his son would end up working in the cafeteria serving rich kids.

The younger Biden intuited that his working-class father would be uncomfortable visiting his own son at such a campus.

So the future president chose a state school instead.

The authors relate the tale as an example of Joe Biden’s empathy, his feeling for the stresses and distresses others experience.

But it also hints at one of the sources of Biden’s antipathy for Trump. Biden, after all, has touted his friendship and his willingness to work with many Republicans, despite great policy differences.

But not Trump.

Maybe that’s because Biden could see Trump as one of the rich kids at the high-toned school who would have looked down on the guys serving them food and making Biden’s own father feel uncomfortable. Biden’s scorn for Trump is that of the working-class striver for the entitled trust-fund baby.

Such glimpses make “Peril” something other than another bit of muckraking.

Instead, it is a reminder that, however large the stage upon which they trod, the players in our grand political theater are just people.

Human beings with the same hurts and hopes as the rest of us.

An important reminder in these divided days.

John Krull is director of Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism and publisher of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

The post Commentary: This time around, a more human tale appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

The Indiana Citizen

Discounting Democrats’ attempt to substitute what they described as a more competitive “fair redistricting map,” the Republican-controlled Indiana House on Wednesday consolidated their redrawing of the state’s congressional and legislative districts with those released a day before by Senate Republicans, advancing the legislation to a final House vote on Thursday.

Wednesday’s session was to review the enabling legislation, House Bill 1581, on “second reading,” a step short of final consideration but ordinarily the last one in which the legislation could be amended. It also provided the first opportunity for the entire House to openly debate the once-a-decade redistricting process.

In a 68-28 vote, the motion by Rep. Greg Steuerwald, R-Avon, the bill’s author, to amend it to include the enabling legislation for the Republican-drawn Senate maps was approved within about 10 minutes of the session’s convening.

House Democrats’ point man on arguing against the Republican plan, Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington, urged the amendment’s defeat, saying it would short circuit public input on the proposed Senate districts since it occurred after the two House committee public hearings on the redistricting bill.

“We, as legislators, as representatives of the people, have not had any feedback from the public about the Senate maps,” Pierce said.

Apparently anticipating the criticism in proposing the amendment, Steuerwald said a Senate Elections Committee public hearing on the consolidated bill that is scheduled for Monday would provide an opportunity for public testimony. By including the Senate districts in a House-passed bill, he argued, the House could avoid the extra step of reconvening to concur on the Senate districts later—or the further delay of sending the redistricting bill to a conference committee.

“They’ll have their hearings,” Steuerwald said, referring to the Senate, “but if we do this, we won’t have to come back for a concurrence assuming there are no amendments.”

A slightly longer debate then ensued on a separate motion from Pierce to amend the bill—to remove all of Steuerwald’s enabling language for the Republican-drawn Indiana House maps and replace it with that for a separate map of Indiana House districts that he proposed, drawn by a private citizen and submitted to the Indiana Citizens Redistricting Commission, a citizens’ advisory group composed of members of both major political parties and independents.

The commission conducted a contest with a prize for the best-drawn map, which commission members presented during a House committee hearing last week; the map presented by Democrats on Wednesday was not the one judged the contest winner.

Pierce argued that by enacting the map that he presented, legislators could avoid the conflict of interest resulting from personally being involved in drawing the districts from which they are elected. In addition, he said the citizen-drawn map provided a more proportional reflection of party preferences in the state.

House Majority Leader Phil GiaQuinta, D-Fort Wayne, was among the Democrats to speak in support of Pierce’s amendment, saying it reflected his past support of having an independent redistricting commission similar to those in other states.

“That’s why we’re here today,” he said, “to present an independently drawn map.”

In urging the defeat of Pierce’s amendment, Steuerwald noted that while the citizens’ commission had made public their contest-winning map in a hearing last week, he had never seen the map proposed by Pierce until Wednesday.

“We talked about process and transparency,” Steuerwald said, “and we hadn’t seen this until three hours ago.”

Steuerwald also questioned the deviation in the population of House districts in the map that Pierce presented, which Pierce acknowledged was greater than that in the Republican-proposed maps but still within the necessary requirements.

“When you talk about deviation,” Steuerwald said, “you talk about diluting someone’s vote. It’s extremely important that one vote equals another one. … I urge you to reject this. Our maps are rock solid.”

Pierce’s motion to amend the bill was defeated in a 68-27 vote along party lines.

In a news conference before the afternoon House session, Pierce said the citizen-drawn map would result in about 59 likely Republican House seats, compared to the 71 that Republicans now hold.

“Any map should reflect the current partisan balance of the state,” Pierce said, adding that Republicans “are giving themselves a supermajority they don’t deserve.”

Asked if he was concerned that some of the districts on the map that he presented were less compact than those on the Republican-drawn map, Pierce said it was more important to draw districts that would be competitive.

“There’s no such thing as a perfect map,” Pierce said. “Compactness isn’t necessarily a requirement. The question is what’s more important: having a few districts look a little more compact or having competition in the system.” 

The post House advances GOP redistricting plan to final vote appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

TheStatehouseFile.com 

INDIANAPOLIS— The Indiana House Democrats released alternative redistricting maps Wednesday for the Republican supermajority to consider. 

In a press conference at the Indiana Statehouse Wednesday afternoon, Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington, said the maps passed through the Indiana House Election and Apportionment Committee Monday are going to maintain the status quo of Indiana’s gerrymandered districts. 

With the maps drawn in 2011 being a success for the Republicans, Pierce said all they had to do this year was fight the population shifts.

“All we are essentially saying is we should have a map where you have a fighting chance in as many districts as possible,” he said. 

Pierce argued that it is hard for the average Hoosier to have their priorities get on the legislative agenda. He said the House floor does not fear public opinion anymore unless those opinions are from base Republican primary voters. 

“That’s what’s driving their agenda,” he said. 

His biggest frustration, Pierce said, was the inability to analyze the Republicans’ proposed maps before they were discussed. During the public hearings held around the state back in August, there was nothing really to talk about because the maps had yet to be released. Then, Pierce said, when they were released, the public was given just 24 hours to analyze the maps before giving public testimony. 

With the Senate’s proposed redistricting maps just released Tuesday, Pierce said he has not yet been able to analyze those and talk them over with Senate Democrats. He would not be surprised, however, if Senate Democrats have an alternative Senate map drawn up as well. The maps he championed were generated by a map-drawing contest organized by the Indiana Citizens Redistricting Commission, a citizens’ advisory group composed of members of both major political parties and independents.

There will be a meeting for public testimony about the Senate maps at 9 a.m. Monday in the Senate Chamber of the Statehouse. The Senate Committee on Elections will then meet again Sept. 28 for an amend-and-vote-only meeting. Meanwhile, the House held a second reading for its maps Wednesday, with a third reading expected Thursday.

Haley Pritchett is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

The post House Democrats release their own maps, asking for “a fighting chance” appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

TheStatehouseFile.com 

INDIANAPOLIS—On Tuesday, the Indiana Senate released its new redistricting maps. 

To many Democrats, the Senate maps pose problems resembling those of the Indiana and U.S. House maps, released last week. They have accused the Republican supermajority of manipulating district lines to secure seats. 

The Indiana Democratic Party issued a statement following the release expressing its disapproval, claiming the maps were drawn unfairly, without transparency, and are gerrymandered with the help of a Washington, D.C., Republican consultant the Indiana GOP hired. 

“The Republicans’ new Indiana Senate map keeps in place a broken system where self-serving politicians benefit at the expense of Indiana families,” the statement said. 

In a Fort Wayne Journal Gazette opinion piece written by Mike Schmuhl, chair of the Indiana Democratic Party, he argued that at the end of the last decade, elections were more competitive and public offices more balanced. He feels these new maps will kill that. 

“With gerrymandered districts that are 95% more biased toward its side compared to the rest of the country, the Indiana Republican Party has been more focused on power, control and extreme partisanship in recent years,” he wrote.

Republicans say the Indiana Senate maps comply with all state and federal requirements, use guiding principles provided in statewide redistricting hearings, and keep communities of interest together.

“I’m very pleased with the work done to produce the new Senate district maps we are proposing,” said President Pro Tem Rodric Bray, R-Martinsville. 

Bill sponsor Sen. Eric Koch, R-Bedford, said they aspired to keep communities together in redrawing the maps, using new U.S. Census data delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“With more than 90% of cities, towns and townships kept whole, I believe we have honored that request while navigating the competing interests that inevitably exist when you undertake a project of this magnitude,” he said. 

There will be a public meeting to gather feedback at 9 a.m Monday in the Senate Chamber of the Indiana Statehouse. The Senate Committee on Elections will then meet again Sept. 28 for an amend-and-vote-only meeting. 

Haley Pritchett is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students. 

The post Senate maps released, Democrats claim they are no better than House maps appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

TheStatehouseFile.com 

INDIANAPOLIS—The redistricting maps passed through the Indiana House Election and Apportionment Committee Monday in a 9-4 vote at the Indiana Statehouse.

These maps will determine the districts from which voters elect representatives for the Indiana House of Representatives and the U.S. House of Representatives for the next 10 years. Amendments were offered by Republicans, and two were made. 

Not much was adjusted. A minor change was made to the lines in Fort Wayne. Originally, the maps divided an apartment complex. 

Rep. Gregory Steuerwald, R-Avon, said the information shared during public testimony last week was taken into consideration when making amendments.

“[The constituents] were a part of the process,” he said. “And they are very valuable to us as we progress through the maps.” 

State Rep. Sue Errington, D-Muncie, disagreed. She said she felt the public was asking for more competition, and the numbers of Republicans and Democrats in each district prove their request was not granted. 

Tonya Pfaff, D-Terre Haute, said she would have hoped the legislators would have made the maps beneficial for all Hoosiers, not just those who identify with the Republican Party. 

“I think most voters are like my students in the classroom, and they trust us to do the right thing,” she said. “They trust us to be fair, they trust that the system that we are in charge of is going to do the right thing for all Hoosier voters.” 

The Democrats in the committee did not offer any new amendments. 

“The districts that were made met all state and federal requirements, and I appreciate your support on them,” Steurwald said. 

The committee report was accepted by the full House Monday. On Tuesday, Democratic members of the Indiana General Assembly will have a virtual town hall to allow additional input on the Republican-proposed maps. 

The full House will begin debate on the redistricting plan Wednesday. The Indiana Senate maps have yet to be released. A public hearing is set for Sept. 27 for the Senate maps. 

Haley Pritchett is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

The post Redistricting maps exit Elections Committee without major changes appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

INDIANAPOLIS—Conservative governors and other politicians battling COVID-19 vaccines are betting—and betting heavily—that H.L. Mencken was right.

“No one in this world, as far as I know—and I have searched the records for years, and employed agents to help me—has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby. The mistake that is made always runs the other way,” the acerbic sage of Baltimore wrote nearly a century ago.

Mencken was not a fan of the democratic impulse. His contempt for what he called “mobocracy”—the manifested will of the public—was epic in nature. He believed most human beings to be as easy to manipulate as trained poodles.

Quite a few Republican officeholders hope Mencken had hold of a fundamental truth.

The best example may be Tate Reeves, the Republican governor of Mississippi.

On Sunday, Reeves sat for an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper. To say Reeves’ performance was a public relations disaster is a bit like saying the Titanic experienced minor misfortune at sea.

Admittedly, Reeves didn’t have a strong hand to play.

The numbers show that Mississippi has the highest per capita death rate from COVID than any state in the union. In fact, as Tapper pointed out, if Mississippi were its own country, the state would have the second-highest death rate in the world, behind only Peru.

Most reasonable people would see this as a problem of significant proportions.

Reeves, not so much.

He pursued the curious tack of arguing that deaths really aren’t that important an indicator—an argument that likely won’t serve as a balm for those who have lost loved ones during this pandemic. Then he tried to shift the focus to supposedly tyrannical measures in defense of public health that other “Democrat” governors—a keen appreciation of grammatical niceties apparently is not among Reeves’ virtues—and President Joe Biden have taken.

Tapper would have none of it.

Every time Reeves tried to move the conversation to other states—all of whom have better records regarding COVID than Mississippi does—Tapper brought it back to the Magnolia State.

By the end, Tapper was incredulous.

He asked, rhetorically, why he would bring the governor of Mississippi on to talk about other states.

At that, Reeves showed a sickly smile because it was a fair point.

If Tapper had wanted to talk about what other states were doing, he would have asked the governors of those states to do his show. Reeves was there to talk about Mississippi.

When the governor couldn’t do that, he resorted to the “hey, look, your shoe’s untied” defense.

Reeves is not alone in that.

The governors of states that have most mishandled the pandemic—those in, say, Florida, Texas and Alabama—are desperate to talk about anywhere but their own states.

Good luck with that.

Alabama, for example, accomplished something last year the state never had done before. More Alabamans died in 2020 than were born. Texas and Florida have seen their COVID numbers spike, and their healthcare systems become overwhelmed to the point of collapse.

Not surprisingly, the governors in Florida and Texas—Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott—have seen their poll numbers descend in free fall, imperiling what should have been sure-bet re-elections for both.

It turns out that saying “Vote for me so you’ll have a much better chance of dying early” isn’t such an attractive political pitch.

There’s a reason for that. Polls—even the most recent one conducted by Fox News—show Americans support vaccine mandates and that such support is climbing steadily.

That’s because—shock of shocks—most Americans are tired of the pandemic and weary of seeing loved ones at risk or watching them die. They want to do everything they can to get past this tragic period in history.

Governors such as Reeves, DeSantis and Abbott, though, have trapped themselves. The noxious nonsense they’ve been peddling regarding vaccines has been swallowed by the most activist and engaged members of their base.

So, they have no other option but to keep wagering that H.L. Mencken was right.

That their supporters won’t figure out the truth.

That no one ever went broke or lost a public office by underestimating the intelligence of the people.

John Krull is director of Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism and publisher of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

The post Commentary: ‘Vote for me so you can die early’ appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

This week Indiana lawmakers will very likely approve legislative maps for Congress and those for the Indiana House and Senate. Critics say the maps were not drawn to create competitive races, but instead, the districts were gerrymandered for Republicans to keep their overwhelming majorities in the legislature.

I will have to respectfully disagree with my friends and colleagues. I argue, ladies and gentlemen, that the GOP didn’t really have to engage in much gerrymandering because of the natural political demographics of Indiana and how they have changed over the years. And if Democrats want to win elections, they need to present ideas to the voters, not count on political boundaries.

For example, in 1991, Democrats controlled the House of Representatives 52-48 and then went to 55-45. But then came the Republican revolution of 1994. Republicans took control of the House 56-44. They won on ideas and a lot of voters being mad at then-President Bill Clinton. Democrats came back with a 50-50 split and then controlled the House from 1999-2005.  And even though Democrats drew the House maps in 2000, Republicans managed to win in 2004, when Mitch Daniels got elected. Still, the GOP lost control in 2006 and 2008, regained power in 2010, and has had the House Chamber ever since.

Meanwhile, looking at the congressional map, Democrats controlled the map 7-2 in 1992, but that flipped in 1994, and Republicans were the majority delegation until 2006 and regained it 2010. Once again, it wasn’t necessarily political lines that gave Republicans their control, but ideas that appealed to Hoosiers.

And if Democrats want to get back in the majority, they need to present ideas and an agenda to voters. Now it helps if voters are angry at the incumbents, i.e., Richard Mourdock and Tony Bennett in 2012, but you can’t count on anger all the time to win an election; you need ideas, and you need to reach voters where they are.

In the current maps, Republicans didn’t have to do much gerrymandering because of the political demographics of Indiana. For example, there used to be a lot of Democrats in Southern Indiana, that’s not the case anymore. As the national and state parties drifted to the left, a lot of those conservative Democrats turned into Republicans, which is why if you can find a Democrat south of I-70 outside of Terre Haute, Bloomington Evansville, and Jeffersonville, go buy yourself a lottery ticket, because it’s your lucky day.

And while we’re talking about “fair maps,” don’t forget, Libertarian Donald Rainwater came in second in about 30-plus counties in 2020 during his run for governor. So how do we adjust for that? I’m just wondering out loud here.

Now, this doesn’t mean there weren’t some politics being played, notably when you look at the 5th congressional district, but even then, the GOP only delayed the inevitable as the southern portion of Hamilton County becomes more purple (or burgundy) and less red. But that’s at least two to three election cycles from now.

In a nutshell, folks, the GOP did what the GOP was legally required to do with the current maps, maintain as close to equal populations in all districts, be contiguous and not dilute minority voting power. There was only a one-percent deviation in House District populations, literally, a one-to-two-vote difference in congressional district population, and minority lawmakers were virtually untouched. Anything else would be extra. But let’s face it, for now, Indiana is a Republican state and will be for the near future.

If Democrats want to win in Indiana, they need to offer up ideas and meet the voters where they are. Lines on a map won’t matter, nor should they.

Abdul is an attorney and the editor and publisher of IndyPoltics.Org. He is also a frequent contributor to numerous Indiana media outlets. He can be reached at abdul@indypolitics.org.

The post Commentary: Map maker, map maker, make me a map appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

Every 10 years, following the federal census, states are required to redraw congressional and legislative district boundaries. In the coming weeks, members of the Indiana General Assembly will meet to decide new maps setting the precedent for the next decade of elections. What follows is an op-ed written by Bauer, discussing her thoughts: 

We are facing turbulent social, economic and political times. We continue to adjust our day-to-day routines as we still endure the impacts of a year-and-a-half–long global pandemic and surging Delta variant.

During times like these, it couldn’t be more clear the importance of responsible leadership, and representative government, that will serve you in decision making. 

This year’s redistricting process is the opportunity to demand fair representation in government. The new maps will influence how your future state and federal elected leaders will address the hardships we face as a community, the opportunities provided to you and your family and will shape Indiana’s political climate for the next decade. 

It is well known that Indiana has more gerrymandered state legislative maps than 95% of the country. The result of one-party-rule has led to non-responsive government, a lack of representation in your elected officials and extreme policy agendas.

The practice, known as gerrymandering, is a way of manipulating political boundaries to allow legislators to pick their voters when it should be the other way around. 

While attending the one and only public hearing in our region on redistricting, I heard the overwhelming demand from residents for inclusion in the map-drawing process. Despite these efforts, decisions are being made right now behind closed doors by the supermajority on who will represent you.

While 2020 election results for statewide candidates totaled an average of 57% of the vote, it is not reflective of the current imbalance of power of a 71% and 78% supermajority in the House and Senate.

While Indiana’s population is 51% female, our Indiana General Assembly is represented by a governing body of decision makers that is only 26% women.

By continuing to allow politicians the power to draw their own districts that lean toward their own political party, we will continue to settle for non-responsive government, a lack of representation in decision makers that is not reflective of our state’s population, and extreme, partisan policy which often get overturned in a long and expensive court process at the taxpayer’s expense. If we want to restore faith in our democratic system, and truly make this a state that works, it is time to end partisan gerrymandering.

Representative government requires inclusion, transparency and public involvement. The nine public hearings that occurred this summer did not provide any proposed maps for public comment, and avoided urban communities like South Bend, thereby neglecting the voice of minority populations, people without reliable transportation and working families. It is time to reform Indiana’s legislative redistricting process to allow for an independent, transparent and equitable state. I am encouraging all Hoosiers to remain vigilant as the next ten years of our state is shaped this month. 

Maureen Bauer, D-South Bend, is a member of the Indiana House of Representatives.

The post Commentary: ‘It is time to reform Indiana’s redistricting process to allow for an independent, transparent and equitable state’ appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

INDIANAPOLIS—The ancient Romans had a myth they revered.

It concerned the patrician farmer turned general, Cincinnatus. In a time of extreme threat, the Romans offered Cincinnatus absolute power.

He was reluctant to assume it. When he defeated the enemy, he relinquished the power he held and went back to his farm.

Historians now doubt the veracity of some parts of the Cincinnatus tale.

But there is no doubting the power of his legend.

It helped shape the young United States because it inspired George Washington. Like the mythical Cincinnatus, Washington always seemed hesitant to take power and eager to give it back.

His repeated renunciations of office and authority added to his appeal.

Americans wary of tyranny felt they could trust a man reticent about using power and happy to surrender it.

That trust helped a fledgling republic find its feet.

I thought about the myth of Cincinnatus the other day.

It was on a day when Hoosiers gathered to rally and testify at the Statehouse regarding the redistricting process. Many are concerned that the legislative maps that will determine Indiana’s representation for the next 10 years will be drawn to favor Republicans even more.

It’s a valid concern. The current maps, which also were drawn by the GOP, are so gerrymandered that, in most legislative districts, they make voting all but pointless.

The Republicans who already have overwhelming power in every part of state government are itchy for still more unquestionable and unassailable authority.

While the rally at the Statehouse was going on, I was recording a Zoom discussion with former Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Randall Shepard. The conversation primarily was about the balance and separation of powers in the Indiana and U.S. Constitutions.

Shepard is one of the most astute students around of law and history.

At the beginning of our discussion, he noted—correctly—that America’s commitment to portioning power out to three branches of government sprang from a desire to keep one person or one group of people from having too much control. The founders of this country feared arbitrary authority. They sought ways to fashion a government that could function and, at the same time, represent the will of the people.

That is not an easy task.

Because the government depends upon the consent of the governed for its legitimacy, there must be a relationship of some good faith between those who lead and those who follow. Trust and acts of good faith are essential.

I asked Shepard at one point what happens in our system when people in power don’t act in good faith. I cite President Andrew Jackson’s refusal to enforce a Supreme Court decision in the early 1830s.

Shepard didn’t have an easy answer because there isn’t one.

Much of our system of government depends upon people in power being willing to do the right thing. When those in power refuse to honor their obligations, refuse to play by the rules, our country struggles to function.

Which brings me back to the question of redistricting and the thought of Cincinnatus.

Republicans in this state—like Democrats who hold sway in other states—want to draw maps that favor them because they hunger for power. They see short-term things—lowered tax rates, etc.—as the end of the process.

The founders of this country had a different end in mind. Their fundamental goal was to prove that a nation with a government that drew its authority from the consent of the people could survive.

They feared those who would be monarchs or autocrats and who would abuse the authority entrusted to them in the service of narrow or personal ambitions. They felt they could trust only those leaders who hesitated to assume power.

That’s why the story of Cincinnatus spoke to them with such force.

And that’s why Cincinnatus’s example, real or myth, seems so attractive to me now.

John Krull is director of Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism and publisher of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

The post Commentary: A Roman myth, redistricting and renunciation appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

Oh, the things people say. The chronology that leads to the most provocative quotes in history is that they begin with a feeling, which leads to some thinking, and then is organized in some carefully chosen words shared with others.

Eulogies and memorial services of all kinds often inspire profound commentary. Last weekend, as America remembered the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, I heard a few speeches, watched a few interviews and read a pile of articles and columns. The people of this nation seem to share an incredibly similar emotional perspective about that day. We did then, and it appears we still do. Since last Saturday, I have found myself wondering how we would collectively feel and respond if those attacks happened today.

One week after we memorialized the events of 9/11, a rally is being held at the U.S. Capitol named “Justice for J6.” That’s right, there is a group of people out there who believe the perpetrators of the Jan. 6th insurrection are not being treated fairly. They are so upset by the injustice to those who stormed the building that houses the nucleus of our democracy during the certification of the presidential election, they are returning to the crime scene to protest the treatment of the original criminal protesters. We have been hearing about this rally for weeks as the Capitol Police and congressional leaders prepare for the worst again. The discussion of those preparations and the more wide discussion of the absurdity of the event appear to have stunted the enthusiasm of the right-wing stunt. I expect it to be a dud, but we’ll see.

I am a true believer in due process, but I found myself browsing Thesaurus.com in search of synonyms for “absurd” to describe the thinking of this group. We need new words for the whole idea of Justice for J6, but for now I will settle on “preposterous.”

One of the speeches from last weekend that has been widely reported, is the one delivered by former President George W. Bush, at the Flight 93 Memorial at Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The memorable sentence was this: “There is little cultural overlap between violent extremists abroad and violent extremists at home, but in their disdain for pluralism, in their disregard for human life, in their determination to defile national symbols, they are children of the same foul spirit.”

Who embodies that foul spirit today? The violent extremists at home to which President Bush refers are clearly the “children” of former President Donald Trump, even though he didn’t mention his name in the speech. I wish he would have. Those children are not sensitive to the impact of nuance.

On Tuesday, during my new and long commute, I was listening to an interview on one of the news stations with conservative writer, George Will, and he said something that nailed my feeling about today’s Republican party. I was a little upset because I was sure I would lose the words before I could make it home and write them down. I found the sentiment captured in an article by Raw Story:

“There is no place for conservatism in the Republican Party right now…We have a Republican Party who are — they won’t say this — are frightened of their voters, and because they’re frightened of them, they don’t much like them. Because they don’t like them, they don’t respect them. It’s a very tension-ridden relationship between the Republican’s elected officials and the Republican base. Until the Republican Party gets back to something like the principles that made it a vibrant force in the ’80s and ’90s, conservatives are, as I say, orphans.”

Yes! Do we really think that either Sen. Mitch McConnell or House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy like or respect their party’s base? Talk about absurd. If they respected the people who are willing to rally to support those who invaded the offices of these men, they would be honest with them. Instead they passively tolerate their worst instincts and pretend those instincts have some meaningful governing ideology.

It is not a mystery why this “base” doesn’t believe the 2020 election was won by President Joe Biden, or more importantly to them, lost by former President Trump.

President John Adams famously wrote in one of his letters on Dec. 17, 1814, “Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.”

That is what we are watching now. It would probably surprise Adams that it took this long.

These children, these orphans, desperately need parenting. If our democracy is to survive.

Michael Leppert is an author, educator and a communication consultant in Indianapolis. He writes about government, politics and culture at MichaelLeppert.com.

The post Commentary: Children, and then orphans, of the same foul spirit appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

Earlier this month, I and my fellow members of the House Elections and Appropriations Committee attended public redistricting hearings across the state of Indiana and listened as hundreds of Hoosiers called for the same thing: fair maps. 

In a time when politics and the pandemic have divided so many, it was inspiring to hear hundreds of Hoosiers unite and demand that the legislature implement a nonpartisan redistricting process. Republicans and Democrats alike shared their many frustrations, including the fact that many of their communities were split up like jigsaw puzzles.

For example, my home county, Delaware County, is divided among five state representatives. Only two of those representatives, including myself, actually live in Delaware County. Yet, the other three representatives are expected to be advocates for the people of Delaware County in the General Assembly. How can they know what to advocate for if they don’t live and engage with the community? Every county is unique. Every county has its own values, causes and issues. On top of that, Delaware County is home to Ball State University, which brings its own needs and concerns when it comes to representation. 

Legislators cannot truly represent the people if they do not know the people. 

Counties like mine are split up to create safe districts and easy elections for the supermajority. There is no incentive to get to know the community or its people because the legislator doesn’t need their vote. They don’t have to put in the effort to get to know Delaware County because they have several other counties within their district to make up the difference at the polls. This has a ripple effect. The legislator doesn’t know or need to advocate for legislation and change that benefits the people so they support or oppose legislation based on their own biases or their own party agendas. This is how Indiana has seen extremely partisan policy, like the abortion reversal or permit-less gun carry legislation we saw in the 2021 Legislative Session. That policy always ends up costing Hoosiers, either through costly, taxpayer-funded lawsuits or further infringement of basic rights. 

The testimony of Marilyn Moran Townsend during Indianapolis’s redistricting hearing united the voices of all concerned Hoosiers:  “We understand from our voters that they believe that unfair maps by either party leads to less representative government. It leads to more abuses in government, it leads to more extreme government, and it leads to less responsive government.”

Hoosiers deserve to look at their representatives and see their communities reflected back. They deserve to see their values and causes reflected in the legislation their representatives present. They deserve maps free from political bias and greed. 

Hoosiers have made their voices heard. Now it is time to turn their words into action and draw fair maps.

Sue Errington, a Democrat, is a member of the Indiana House of Representatives from Muncie.

The post Commentary: Legislators can’t truly represent the people if they don’t know the people appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

TheStatehouseFile.com 

INDIANAPOLIS—The next 10 years of Indiana politics started this week during redistricting. 

Redistricting is a complex issue often skimmed over by citizens. The process, however, is vital in determining whether or not all Hoosiers’ voices will be heard. 

Q: What is redistricting? 

A: Redistricting is the process by which the state’s lawmakers redraw the boundaries of each voting district. What district you live in determines what Indiana House, Indiana Senate and U.S House candidates you vote for. District maps are redrawn every 10 years after the U.S. Census is completed. The United States Constitution says that each representative should have an equal number of citizens. Lawmakers are supposed to keep this and other considerations in mind. 

Q: Why does this matter? 

A: Although it seems to be a simple, straightforward process, redistricting is a bit messier when it is looked at under a microscope. Because politicians themselves are in charge of redrawing the maps, oftentimes they are accused of gerrymandering. 

Q: What is gerrymandering? 

A: Gerrymandering is when districts are drawn with intentional political motives. Politicians make sure they stack the odds in their favor when they place certain people in each district. This could mean putting all of the opposing party in one district so those people do not create competition in another, or stacking more of their supporting party in a district that they think could sway competitive districts to their advantage. 

Q: Is this happening in Indiana? 

A: At the public meetings on Sept. 15 and 16, which discussed the supermajority Republicans’ proposed maps for the Indiana House of Representatives and U.S. House of Representatives, it was argued that this is in fact happening in Indiana. For example, Julia Vaughn, policy director for Common Cause Indiana, a group that has no political affiliation, called the redistricting process a complete conflict of interest. 

Q: What are the effects? 

A: The effects of unfair redistricting processes are long term, even past the 10 years they are in place. They are especially harmful for minority populations. One in four Hoosiers is a minority, yet only one of the 11 members of the Indiana congressional delegation is a minority. Only 16 of the 150 members of the Indiana House and Senate are minorities. 

Q: Where is Indiana in the process now, and what comes next?

A: Indiana’s House Elections and Apportionment Committee just finished hearing public testimony about the proposed maps for the Indiana House of Representatives and U.S. House of Representatives. The committee will have an amend-and-vote-only meeting on Monday, followed by a full House vote on the committee report, before it moves on in the process. As for the Indiana Senate maps, which have yet to be released, a public hearing is set for Sept. 27.

Haley Pritchett is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

The post Redistricting made simple: what happened, and what’s next appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS—On a second day of rigorous public testimony, the message was clear: Many voters want more time before the proposed redistricting maps are set in stone and for legislators to hear their concerns.

Proposed redistricting maps for both the Indiana House of Representatives and U.S. House of Representatives were released by Indiana Republicans on Tuesday, with mixed reviews. Just two days later, the House Elections and Apportionment Committee heard passionate public testimony about the new maps for the second day.

Critics accused the Indiana Republican supermajority of gerrymandering, or strategically drawing legislative districts to benefit the political party in power. Speakers said allotting more time for decisions that would impact the next 10 years of elections would allow Hoosiers to review the maps and give feedback, something they described as impossible in the short turnaround between the release of the maps and the hearing.

Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis student Nicholas Roberts posted data regarding the Congressional districts online but said other Hoosiers do not have the same resources. He and others advocated for a more transparent process.

“I guess my issue more so is just a lot of the process that has gone behind all this, as other people have mentioned,” Roberts said. “If I did not have knowledge of mapping software and five hours to kill, and a lot of things that most people don’t have, I don’t think the data would been published.”

Some mentioned “shapefiles,” or files that include location, demographical and geographical information. Robby Slaughter, an independent Indiana congressional candidate from Indianapolis, said these would help make the process more transparent.

“Getting the shapefiles would allow us to reverse engineer and determine the demographics for each of the districts,” Slaughter said, “to determine things like income distribution, age distribution, aspects of individual membership and voting patterns.”

These files were made available on the Indiana House GOP website following some technical hiccups.

One hot topic was the redrawing of the Fifth and Sixth Congressional Districts. Destiny Scott Wells, the Indiana Democrats deputy chair for coalitions and expansion, said the proposed maps removed Black voters from the Fifth District and added them to the Seventh District. 

“Speaker of the House Todd Houston said yesterday that GOP followed the population data and the Seventh District ‘just kind of drew itself,” Wells said. “I’d have to say, the Seventh District has a pretty wicked sense of humor, or congressmen are just trying to choose their voters.”

The Fifth House District is currently represented by Republican Victoria Spartz. Spartz narrowly defeated Democratic challenger Christina Hale in the 2020 election. Meanwhile, the Seventh District is represented by Democrat Andre Carson.

Wells’ argument was met with roaring applause by the hearing attendees.

Brian Smith, Kosciusko County Democratic chair, testified that splitting his county into two different congressional districts will confuse voters.

“It’s just so frustrating when you see ads on TV and you think that’s who your choice of voters are, and then you get in the voting booth and it’s two names that you don’t recognize,” Smith said, adding that voters may not have time to do more research before entering the booth.

Dr. Christopher Warshaw, a national gerrymandering expert, provided data on Indiana’s proposed maps to Women4Change. His findings were frequently cited throughout the two-hour hearing.

Warshaw’s study found that 44% of Indiana voters vote Democratic, yet Democrats only hold 22% of the congressional seats and 31% of the seats in the Statehouse. The maps have “historically extreme levels of bias,” he said, with the proposed lines being more biased towards Republicans than 90% of all plans in the U.S. over the past 50 years.

More transparency and involvement of the process was the goal of the Indiana Citizens Redistricting Commission, a nonpartisan redistricting group led by Common Cause Indiana Director Julia Vaughn. Vaughn and several other members of the organization provided testimony at the meeting. The committee released a proposed House map Thursday, with congressional maps to come next week.

Rev. Fatima Yakubu-Madus of the Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis did not want to waste time repeating criticism of the maps that others had shared, she said. Instead, she asked what would cause lawmakers to change course.

“The only thing I want to ask this morning is, what can we do, what can we say to change your mind?” Yakubu-Madus said. “How can we say anything that will make you consider the maps that have been drawn by the Indiana Citizens Redistricting Commission?”

The current redistricting process was frequently criticized, with testimonies citing the hearing being held in the middle of a weekday during the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur. Speakers cited this as a reason why the meetings were less attended than in 2011. This criticism was also apparent at the earlier public hearing Wednesday. Speakers asked for night and weekend redistricting meetings in order to accommodate workers.

The committee is expected to reconvene on Monday for an amend-and-vote-only meeting, followed the same day by a full House vote on the committee’s report. The redistricting bill’s second reading is scheduled for Sept. 22. 

The Indiana Senate maps, which have not yet been released, are expected to get a public hearing Sept. 27.

The most up-to-date schedule of events can be found at iga.in.gov.

Taylor Wooten is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

The post “Slow down” on redistricting, public testifiers tell House Elections Committee appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

TheStatehouseFile.com 

INDIANAPOLIS—Jacob Schwartz was supposed to be in an Aristotle lesson Wednesday afternoon. 

Instead, he was in the House Chamber at the Indiana Statehouse trying to, as he saw it, protect the next 10 years of Indiana politics. Only about a dozen other Hoosiers accompanied him at the public hearing for the newly released redistricting maps for the Indiana House of Representatives and U.S. House of Representatives.

“You can see how empty the room is compared to the last time this happened,” he said, citing the chosen day and time. “It’s also in the middle of Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. Would you hold this hearing on Christmas or Easter, just out of curiosity?”

Schwartz did not think the timing of the hearing was coincidental. 

Lynn Slivka, a Jewish voter, said she had just learned she would be moved from the Fifth District to the Seventh District under the proposed maps, which were announced Tuesday. She was concerned about going from a competitive district to a safe Democratic district, lessening the impact of her vote. 

Aaron Welcher, representing the Jewish Community Relations Council, said that this divide separates the Jewish community.

“This washes away our voices in both districts,” he said. 

Pauline Spiegel from Marion criticized Republican lawmakers for only releasing the maps the day before, not giving the public enough time to analyze them before the meeting, and she did not feel as if the process of creating and sharing them had been transparent.

Kyle Feldcamp, current chair of Indiana Legislative Youth, came to speak not for or against any party but for the interest of young voters in Indiana.

In 2020, Indiana ranked second to last in the Midwest for voter turnout, Feldcamp said: “I think we have to figure out how we can make as many competitive seats as possible for the sole fact of trying to increase civic engagement.”

Mary Bookwalter asked that lawmakers take the time to reconsider the districts because of what she described as an obvious political agenda. 

“The only thing I have heard was, ‘Oh my goodness, we’ve got to race to have districts so we can get re-elected next year,’” she said. “How nice for some of us—but for the rest of us, not.”

Rep. Gregory Steuerwald, R-Avon, who was involved firsthand in the drawing of the maps, says that politics were looked at only after the population of each area. 

Meanwhile, Jordan Davis, Republican Rusty Johnson’s campaign manager, said the Seventh Congressional District in Indianapolis should not have been touched in the first place. 

“I believe the way the district was already set up was perfect,” he said. 

Haley Pritchett is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

The post At public meeting, redistricting maps lambasted as purposefully nontransparent appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

STURGEON BAY, Wisconsin—So many of the best stories happen in small, even out-of-the-way places.

I learned that truth many years ago. The newspaper for which I worked gave me a beat that required me to travel around Indiana and the four states surrounding it in search of interesting tales.

I covered some fascinating stories.

Some were tragic, such as the story of a high school music teacher in a tiny town in Michigan. His leadership of the school band made it a powerful force. It began winning regional and national competitions.

The little town was overjoyed. They celebrated the band’s achievements and lauded the teacher.

Then some people in the community found out the teacher was gay. They mounted a campaign to drive him away.

Their effort split the town. People on both sides of the question were angry—furious even. The teacher was the rope in a community tug of war.

He and the school reached a settlement and he agreed to leave. But the struggle took a toll on his health.

Not long after he left the school, he had a heart attack and died.

He was only 32.

Other stories were bittersweet.

I traveled to Marion, Ohio. I talked with an old woman in a wheelchair.

When she was a little girl, national news photos of Warren G. Harding’s successful presidential campaign featured her. Harding, touting a need to return to “normalcy” in the turbulent days following World War I, ran a front-porch campaign.

The little girl who became the old woman had luxurious ringlets of hair that caught everyone’s eye. Her mother cut one of them and preserved it.

Harding won a landslide victory. For a moment, Marion seemed to be the center of the universe.

After Harding died in office, though, an avalanche of scandals involving his administration destroyed his reputation. And Marion began a hard slog as another struggling town in rust-belt America.

The old woman showed me her ringlet of hair, carefully preserved in a special box, a keepsake of a time when she was young and her hometown was at its zenith.

Still other stories were uplifting.

I interviewed a man who left California to work on a tugboat on the Ohio River. His life in California, he told me, had melted down around him. He’d lost jobs, relationships, even hope. He’d even gotten to the point where he wouldn’t eat.

The hard work of pulling and pushing barges up and down the river helped him find his way. He sorted his life out and settled down.

When we stopped for lunch after I’d shagged a ride with him and the rest of the tug’s crew, he dove into his meal. I glanced at him, and he smiled.

“That river makes you hungry,” he said.

I think about those days and those stories now as I walk along the streets of this small community nestled along Lake Michigan.

It isn’t a large place. Around 9,000 people live here year-round.

But, attracted by the water and the clear northern skies, the population swells to 36,000 in the summer months.

I learned a long time ago that the key to coming to know something about a place involved two “l” words—linger and listen.

What I find here confirms what I already know.

There are tales of pain and desperation and sorrow in this little place.

The local district attorney tells me the town and the surrounding county battle with drunk driving, domestic violence and meth amphetamine use. These are all scourges that roam across much of America these days, but each tale of this kind is its own tragedy.

There also are stories of striving.

Of joy.

When I stop at a local coffee shop, two women greet the man behind the counter—presumably the owner—and ask if they now are talking to a PhD.

He is, like me, a man of mature vintage.

He ducks his head sheepishly and acknowledges that he now has his doctorate.

“I doubt it will help me sell any more coffee, but I’m glad I did it,” he tells them.

When I pay him for my scone, I thank him and say, “Congratulations, doctor.”

His smile almost splits his face.

So many of the best stories happen in places like this.

John Krull is director of Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism and publisher of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

The post Commentary: Tales of lingering and listening appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

My son will vote for the first time next year. And for his first time, the state of Indiana will have brand new legislative and congressional districts. It should feel like a clean slate, the perfect opportunity for my son’s voice to be heard and reflected in his elected representatives. But it doesn’t, because Indiana’s redistricting process is on course to remain more gerrymandered than 95% of all redistricting plans in the nation. 

Not only may my son’s vote be diluted due to his political beliefs, but it will be diluted as he, like many in Northwest Indiana, is Hispanic. According to the latest data from the U.S. Census, Hispanic and Latino Hoosiers make up 7.3% of Indiana’s total population, yet I remain the only 100% Hispanic legislator within the Indiana General Assembly. Those who sit in the state legislature should be a reflection of the state’s population. We need legislative and congressional districts that allow for the people within our minority communities to elect more leaders who look like them and share their culture. That is how we achieve true representation and grow as a state.

Such legislative and congressional districts cannot and will not be created in Indiana until we break the political stranglehold the supermajority currently has over the process.

We must fight gerrymandering on many fronts, as there are many deceitful tactics used to carve out power for one political party. One strategy is to “crack and pack” minority communities to the point where their votes cannot properly influence an election, no matter how many voters turn up at the polls. To use this tactic to silence any voice is to undermine the very democracy that this nation was founded on. 

The next 10 years will be determined by the new maps that the supermajority draws. These maps will have a ripple effect across the lives of all Hoosiers. They will determine the kind of people that represent Hoosiers in the legislature, which will determine the laws and budgets of the state, which will determine the quality of education our children receive, which will determine the kinds of jobs they can get, and on and on and on until we redraw the maps again in 2031.  For the sake of our children and their future, we must change course and create fair maps.

Mike Andrade, a Democrat, is a state representative from Munster.

The post Commentary: Fair maps for our children, our Hispanic communities, our futures appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS—The Indiana Democratic Party says the new redistricting maps for the U.S House of Representatives and Indiana House of Representatives, released Tuesday, are unfairly drawn, lack transparency and are gerrymandered. 

In the days and weeks leading up to this first map unveiling, many citizens and Democratic officials have expressed concerns that Indiana’s redistricting process isn’t inclusive. In the 2011 redistricting process, Republican lawmakers in charge of the process were accused of gerrymandering.

Gerrymandering is when politicians intend to create unfair political advantages by drawing legislative district lines to increase their party’s population in each district. This makes it so that during election time, their party has a higher chance of winning and gaining political control. 

Redistricting is triggered every 10 years by the release of a new census, which can show changes based on where citizens live. State lawmakers have to adjust voting districts to make sure each legislator has a generally similar population within their district. The 2020 U.S. Census results and impetus for the current redistricting process were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

State Rep. Sue Errington, D-Muncie, wrote an editorial explaining the downsides of gerrymandering. “Delaware County is divided among five state representatives,” she said. “Only two of those representatives, including myself, actually live in Delaware County. Yet the other three representatives are expected to be advocates for the people of Delaware County in the General Assembly. How can they know what to advocate for if they don’t live and engage with the community? Every county is unique. Every county has its own values, causes and issues.”

Mike Schmuhl, chair of the Indiana Democratic Party, shared similar frustrations about the new maps. He said in a Tuesday release, “Indiana Republicans have once again manipulated our Hoosier democracy in this year’s redistricting period. Over the summer, they held shadow hearings that felt more like a comment box, promised a process that would be ‘fair’ and transparent,’ and when it mattered most, manipulated the system once again to favor themselves over Hoosier voters. 

“The Republicans’ new Indiana House and Congressional maps keep in place a broken system where self-serving politicians benefit at the expense of Indiana families. These maps were drawn unfairly, without transparency, and are gerrymandered.”

During the public hearings, many voters felt like their “voices were being taken away,” said Drew Anderson, director of communications for the Indiana Democratic Party. When people would attempt to ask questions, including himself during testimony, legislators weren’t open to answering them. 

Anderson also said that the way the lawmakers cut the suburbs shows that Republicans know they are losing voters in these areas and that the new lines serve as some sort of “padding” to keep their supermajority.

“In the months and years ahead, Indiana Democrats will continue to work overtime to deliver a brighter future for all Hoosiers where voting rights are expanded, workers make a livable wage to provide for their families, our public schools and teachers become some of the best in the country, and every Hoosier feels as though they belong,” said Schmuhl. “Our party is big, bold and welcoming, and we look forward to offering Hoosier voters a better path forward in the elections ahead.” 

Other lawmakers shared their opinions about the maps via press releases: 

• House Speaker Todd Huston: “These maps follow all statutory and constitutional requirements and reflect the population trends over the last 10 years. For the new House maps, Rep. Steuerwald took a holistic approach and worked tremendously hard to keep communities of interest together with a focus on compactness. 
• Sen. Eric Koch, R-Bedford: “I have been pleased with the high level of collaboration between the House and Senate as we have worked to prepare our new draft congressional map. I look forward to continued conversations with members of the public and other legislators on this proposal as we move forward.”
• House Democratic Leader Phil GiaQuinta, D-Fort Wayne: “While we don’t know everything about these newly drawn districts, we do know that any map drawn with the assistance of high-priced D.C. consultants, using advanced political and consumer data points, will benefit the Indiana GOP—not Hoosier voters.”

Julia Vaughn is the policy director for Common Cause Indiana, a nonpartisan organization that “works to promote open, ethical and accountable government for every Hoosier.” She said the current redistricting process is a “complete conflict of interest.” 

“Today what we’re dealing with is a complete lack of transparency,” said Vaughn. “You know, this is my third go-round of redistricting. I was there firsthand in 2001 and 2011, and this is the first time I can remember that maps have been released online with no in-person explanation.”

Vaughn also said that Common Cause and other advocates have asked for the proposed districts to be released in a shapefile format, which is an electronic format that can be used to build districts by combining census data and political precinct data. She believes if her organization had access to this, it would be much better prepared to do analyses to show how voters and communities could be impacted by the proposed districts.

“Unfortunately, when we have supermajorities controlling everything, we’re only going to get one option on the table,” Vaughn said. 

Vaughn recommends concerned people raise their voices. 

“If you’re one of the fortunate people that doesn’t have to work a 9-5, I would encourage you to come to the Statehouse Wednesday or Thursday to the committee hearings and make your voice heard,” she said. “ If you are unable to do that, which is completely understandable, contact your legislators. Tell them you want them to not vote for any maps that weren’t drawn in a transparent manner.”

The public meetings are set for 1 p.m. Wednesday and 10 a.m. Thursday in the House Chamber.

Ashlyn Myers is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

The post Critics decry new Indiana and U.S. House maps as gerrymandered appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

The Indiana Citizen

The face of Indiana is changing rapidly, less white, more Black, brown and Asian.

But whether the faces of the state’s representatives in Indianapolis and in Washington, D.C., will better reflect that growing diversity depends on what the GOP-controlled Indiana General Assembly does over the next few weeks to redraw the boundaries of Indiana’s state legislative and U.S. House districts.

Based on what happened when the Republicans controlled the map drawing after the 2010 Census and the similar process they have outlined for the 2020 Census, the focus seems to be more on maintaining the partisan advantage created by the 2011 maps. One study found the districts created then to be among the most gerrymandered of any state.

If that is what happens this year, then the gap between the representatives and the represented in the state will grow. The result, some believe, will be a further increase in political conflict, a decline in trust in political institutions and in participation in the process, and an overall weakening of our democracy. Indiana consistently ranks in the bottom 10 of states for voter turnout.

“I hate to paint a very gloomy picture, but I do think that American democracy is at a very fragile place, and the fragility of this democracy rests on the question of how citizens view political institutions,” said Emmitt Riley III, associate professor of political science and Africana studies at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana.

“This threat that we see manifesting itself … a lot of it boils down to the question of representation,” Riley said, “What does our government look like?

Riley also sees a repeat of a phenomenon identified in a seminal 1949 book called “Southern Politics in State and Nation” that argued that an increase in minority population leads to greater white hostility.

“We’ve studied this to suggest that in areas where there are an increased minoritized population, we typically see white voters voting more conservative,” Riley said.

And the increase in minority population is striking.

About one of four Hoosiers is a minority, according to the 2020 census. The number of minority citizens has nearly doubled since 2000.

Overall, Indiana’s population grew by a little more than 300,000, or 4.7%. But the white population droppedmore than 200,000 while the minority population grew by nearly a half million.

The same trend is true nationwide, said Yurig Rudensky, redistricting counsel for the Brennan Center for Justice.

“The reality is that this multi-racial, multi-ethnic America is not some faraway future destination, but it is who we are already, it is who we are today,” Rudensky said.

In Indiana, the state’s multi-racial population grew 240%. Its Asian population grew more than 60% over the decade while the Hispanic population grew more than 40% and Black population by about 10%.

And the people representing this rapidly diversifying population?

One of the 11 members of the Indiana congressional delegation, one, Rep. Andre Carson of Indianapolis, is a minority. Sixteen of the 150 members of the Indiana House and Senate are members of a minority group.

***

The representation gap is likely even greater than the 2020 Census numbers show because historically, minorities have been undercounted.

William O’Hare, a longtime expert on census data, testified in a 2019 lawsuit brought by Hispanic groups against the Trump administration, challenging its plan for the 2020 census. In his written testimony, O’Hare cited research showing that the rate at which people voluntarily return their census forms can be a proxy for underreporting.

“Census tracts where Hispanics and Blacks are the plurality of the population have lower self-response rates in the 2020 Census than tracts where NonHispanic Whites are the plurality of the population in the 2020 Census. This indicates Hispanics and Blacks are likely to have higher net undercounts and omissions rates than Non-Hispanic Whites in the 2020 Census,” O’Hare wrote in his testimony.  

An analysis of voluntary response rates inIndiana by the Indiana Business Research Center found many census tracts—the smallest geographic areas measured by the census—in high minority urban areas of the state were also those with voluntary response rates of below 50%.

State Sen. Fady Qaddoura, a Democrat from Indianapolis, argues that poor representation of minorities ultimately causes the state economic harm.

Qaddoura, a Muslim Arab American, said it undermines the state’s ability to attract a diverse workforce, which leaves Indiana “regressing and not competing on a national level.”

***

In addition to race, the other major trend that map drawers will face is the decline in rural Indiana and the shift in population to suburban and urban areas.

In fact, the 11-county central Indiana metro area, including Indianapolis, Carmel and Anderson, added 223,163 residents between 2010 and 2020, or nearly three-fourths of the state’s entire net population gain.

Andrew Downs, associate professor of political science at Purdue University Fort Wayne, said the shift creates a challenge for the rural interests that have wielded great political power in Indiana.

“Will they lose influence, or will they change their approach?” Downs said of rural interests.

Those like Majorie Hershey, professor emeritus of political science at Indiana University in Bloomington, who see Indiana’s political boundaries as clearly drawn to diminish the power of Blacks and other minorities, point to Monroe County as an example.

The county is carved up among five state House districts and two state Senate districts.

“Well, that’s called cracking, taking where the minority party is dominant and breaking it up into as many districts as possible,” Hershey said. “If you were to have Monroe County split among two state House districts, there will be the chance for Democratic candidates to win or at least be competitive in both of them.”

Hershey said that while Hoosiers may share common interests at a certain level, such as having safe communities, different groups will support different policies to achieve those goals.

“Do we, for example, get to a safe community by having larger and better funded police force and locking up as many people who might be thought to have criminal characteristics as possible?” she said, “Or do we get to a safer society by emphasizing opportunities for all people and providing remediation and help for people who are having difficulties so that they do not turn out to be as likely to commit crimes?”

Women also remain greatly underrepresented in the Indiana’s state legislative and congressional delegations. While women comprise about 51% of the state’s population, they hold less than one in four of the state legislative seats and two of the 11 congressional seats.

“Many of our issues don’t advance in the Indiana General Assembly because we are underrepresented,” said Rima Shahid, executive director of Women4Change. The nonpartisan group has been pushing for fairer maps and commissioned the study released last month that found the high degree of gerrymandering in the 2011 maps.

If the growth in the minority population continues the same pace as it has for the past 20 years, by 2040, about 42.5% of Indiana’s population will be minority.

But it is the current situation that requires a response from the Indiana General Assembly, said Hershey with IU.

“It’s pretty clear the bottom line here is that a democracy is supposed to permit popular control of the institutions of government,” she said. “When you systematically give more of that control to one group of people than another, you can assume that the interests of that part of the population that has been given control will be much better represented.”

Added Rudensky with the Brennan Center: “Our country was founded on the principle that our legislators and Congress should reflect the people, that there be a close connection between policymakers and the people who have to live with the policies.

“Where redistricting doesn’t capture the evolution of the population and the changes that are occurring, the principle is subverted, and there are all sorts of negative consequences that come with that,” he said.

“People are less engaged in political life, in public life. People are disconnected from their government and representatives, and that leads to an overall degradation of our democratic systems.”

This article was published by TheStatehouseFile.com through a partnership with The Indiana Citizen (indianacitizen.org), a nonpartisan, nonprofit platform dedicated to increasing the number of informed, engaged Hoosier citizens.

Bill Theobald is a veteran Washington, D.C.,-based journalist who most recently worked in the USA TODAY Washington Bureau and for the nonprofit news website The Fulcrum, which focuses on democracy reform efforts. He was a reporter and editor for The Indianapolis Star from 1990 to 2005.

Janet Williams recently retired as executive editor of TheStatehouseFile.com at Franklin College. She formerly worked in corporate communications for Cummins and as a reporter and editor at The Indianapolis Star.

The post A study in contrasts: The representatives versus the represented in Indiana appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

TheStatehousefile.com 

STURGEON BAY, Wis.— Former Franklin College President Thomas Minar refuses to budge on a plea deal and continues his legal battle. 

Minar appeared on Zoom for a status update Monday morning for the first time since June. 

“Matters are not resolved yet,” Minar’s attorney Brett Reetz said. 

Reetz said he and Minar’s two other lawyers are still doing their forensic investigation and are unsure when that will end.

“I’m not going to schedule anything else at this time,” said Judge David L. Weber. 

Minar’s lawyers said at the last status update that they were going to send Door County District Attorney Colleen Nordin documents on Minar’s mental health treatment, a condition of his bond, and forensics, but they have yet to do so. 

“We are still proceeding to trial,” Nordin said. “I look forward to it.” 

Nordin’s original plea deal, the details of which have not been released, is still available until the final pretrial. Pre-trial is where all evidence and motions for testimony are finalized for the trial. 

The final pre-trial will be held at 1:30 p.m. Feb. 25. The jury trial is set for March 23-30. 

In January 2020, Franklin College announced in an email to students and faculty that Minar was fired by the Board of Trustees after his arrest. At the time, Minar was in Wisconsin taking care of his elderly mother, who passed away in December 2020. 

Minar, 58, has been charged with 12 counts of possession of child pornography, using a computer to facilitate a sex crime, and exposing a child to harmful narrations. He was arrested on January 6, 2020, by Sturgeon Bay police, who tracked him to a McDonald’s after conducting an undercover investigation on the dating app Grindr. Law enforcement alleges that chat records from Grindr show Minar planned to meet with a 15-year-old child. 

The Sturgeon Bay Police Department obtained a warrant to search Minar’s cell phone to see the Grindr chats and say they found child pornography. 

Police dashcam footage shows police arresting Minar at night in a McDonald’s parking lot just outside of Sturgeon Bay’s downtown area. He was questioned by Officer Brandon Shew, who works for a unit called Internet Crimes Against Children, or ICAC. Police say Shew posed as a 15-year-old, “Tyler,” whom Minar spoke to on Grindr. Minar said he intended to meet up with “Tyler” for “friendship” and “mentorship”

Later, separate videos from the Sturgeon Bay Police Department show Shew interrogating Minar in the Door County Jail for more than an hour. 

“I’m not attracted to children, to be clear,” Minar said, explaining he’s attracted to younger men and that he may have been with 18-year-olds in the past.

In a similar case that took place in Sturgeon Bay three months after Minar’s arrest, a retired educator of Wheaton-Warrenville School District 200, Paul Mckinney, was arrested by the same officer for attempting to meet with a minor while he was in Sturgeon Bay. Mckinney was meeting a 15-year-old at a hotel while in town taking care of his mother. Mckinney pleaded guilty and was sentenced to one year in prison and 20 years on the National Sex Offender Registry. 

Minar was released from custody on a $7,500 bail bond posted by his husband, Frank Becker. He is not allowed to use any social media or have unmonitored interactions with minors while awaiting the results of the case. 

“Although he is presumed innocent until proven guilty, the evidence is strong,” Nordin said previously when Minar pleaded not guilty. “I am confident in the case.”

Alexa Shrake is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

The post Ex-Franklin College president pushes toward 2022 trial appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

INDIANAPOLIS—Former President George W. Bush spoke plain truth during his remarks commemorating the 20^th anniversary of 9/11.

He also did his best to save his fellow Republicans from the fury and irrationality that have come to hold their party captive.

Speaking at the memorial for Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, Bush talked about how the attacks on this country two decades ago taught Americans many things.

The attacks showed us that we were vulnerable but not fragile, the former president said. That bravery was more common than we might have imagined. That any time with our loved ones, however brief, was an experience to be treasured.

All of this was good and wise and true.

But the heart of Bush’s speech dealt with the forces we Americans should and must oppose

“Many Americans struggled to understand why an enemy would hate us with such zeal. The security measures incorporated into our lives are both sources of comfort and reminders of our vulnerability. And we have seen growing evidence that the dangers to our country can come not only across borders, but from violence that gathers within. There is little cultural overlap between violent extremists abroad and violent extremists at home. But in their disdain for pluralism, in their disregard for human life, in their determination to defile national symbols, they are children of the same foul spirit. And it is our continuing duty to confront them,” Bush said.

There was truth in this, too.

And the former president was speaking it to the members of his own party, the ones who cower before defeated former President Donald Trump and the mobs that embrace and even support Trump’s many lies.

One of the puzzling and frustrating things about the modern GOP has been its abandonment of so many of its own principles.

Chief among these was Republicans’ support for American traditions and institutions. To be a Republican for most of my life was to have a reverence for the rule of law and a bedrock commitment to the parts of American life and government—the courts, law-enforcement agencies, etc.—that preserved that rule.

One might and often did disagree with Republicans of the old school, but it was impossible not to respect their devotion to their vision of a thriving, orderly and opportunity-driven society governed by a system that treasured American institutions and core beliefs.

Now, it is hard to know what the Republican Party is, other than a gathering of disgruntled souls connected only by a series of vaguely connected grievances, some real and some not.

It’s tempting—and much too easy—to blame Donald Trump for all of this.

The reality, though, is that he is the symptom, not the disease itself. All the evidence suggests that the dark forces he represents will continue to infect this land long after he has left the scene.

That is especially true for the Republican Party Trump has come to lead.

It’s also the reason Bush’s remarks are so important.

The former president was trying to remind Republicans of who they once were.

And who they once again can be.

He told them of a time when conservatives embraced the brotherhood and sisterhood of an increasingly diverse America, a time when Republicans saw pluralism as a strength, not a weakness.

And not a threat.

“At a time when religious bigotry might have flowed freely, I saw Americans reject prejudice and embrace people of Muslim faith. That is the nation I know,” Bush said.

“At a time when nativism could have stirred hatred and violence against people perceived as outsiders, I saw Americans reaffirm their welcome to immigrants and refugees. That is the nation I know.”

These were welcome words.

Many of us miss the Republican Party as it once was.

The truth is that this nation does not work well without a strong and well-moored GOP. Our country does not work well without two vital and sane political parties pushing and prodding each other, prompting Americans to weigh and balance questions of fairness and opportunity.

When Donald Trump was elected in 2016, George W. Bush mused that Bush’s presidency might end up being the last genuine Republican presidency in American history.

Let’s hope W. is wrong about that.

John Krull is director of Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism and publisher of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

The post Commentary: George W. Bush’s plea to the GOP appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

By Ashlyn Myers

TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS—With September being Suicide Prevention Month, a Johnson County organization is urging people to enroll in prevention and awareness classes. 

Hope Thompson is the project coordinator for Upstream Prevention, a mental health and suicide awareness organization based in Greenwood, Indiana. Thompson said that Upstream’s philosophy is about not waiting until there’s a crisis, and that it’s instead about intervening and getting ahead of things before major problems occur. 

Upstream’s name stems from an analogy Thompson shared, which you can also find on the organization’s website: “Imagine a large river with a high waterfall. At the bottom of this waterfall, hundreds of people are working frantically trying to save those who have fallen into the river. … One individual looks up and sees a seemingly neverending stream of people falling down the waterfall and begins to run upstream. One of the other rescuers hollers, “Where are you going? There are so many people that need help here.” To which the man replied, “I’m going upstream to find out why so many people are falling into the river.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused people to feel as if they’re drowning, with a lot of the population’s mental health being affected due to the uncertainty experienced over the last year and a half. 

Thompson said there have been a lot more calls to Indiana’s 211 crisis line as well as an increase in ER visits from suicide attempts. She mentioned that though the data for Indiana’s suicide deaths over the last two years won’t be out until December, the Johnson County Coroner’s Office has been keeping people updated on recent deaths. It posted to Facebook on Sept. 5 that its office had already experienced two deaths by suicide in the month of September. 

According to KFF, a nonprofit focusing on mental health issues, four in 10 U.S adults have reported experiencing mental health disorders such as depression or anxiety. 

If people suspect their family members or friends may be struggling, Thompson said it all comes down to asking questions. 

“If they’re concerned and wondering if maybe their family member is having suicidal thoughts, asking questions is important,” Thompson said.

She also said it’s important to listen nonjudgmentally. 

“If your family member can sense that you can’t handle what they’re about to share with you, they’re not going to be honest and tell you.”

Upstream offers QPR training sessions for those interested in building basic skills on how to ask the right questions and get people the help they need. QPR is summed up by these three words:

• Question: This relates to asking the people in your life the right questions.
• Persuade: This is all about persuading those struggling to get help and helping them realize why the help is necessary.
• Refer: Referring is about leading people to the right resources and checking in with them to ensure they have proper support while receiving help. 

A typical training session is about two hours. People learn about different ways to approach the questions that need to be asked as well as how to move forward if they are confronted with someone who needs help. Each participant will also receive a QPR guide on certain numbers to call as well as a reminder on how to use QPR’s practices.

If interested in attending a QPR session, here are some coming up in the Johnson County area. Everyone is welcome to attend the training sessions, though Upstream does ask that those under 18 bring a guardian:

• 6-8 p.m Sept. 21, Grace United Methodist Church in Franklin; register for this training at https://sept21qpr.eventbrite.com, 
• 5:30-7:30 p.m. Sept. 22, Trafalgar Branch of the Johnson County Public Library; register for this training on the library’s website at https://jcplin.libnet.info/event/5423927.
• 12:30-2:30 p.m. Oct. 7, virtual via Zoom; register at https://oct7virtualqpr.eventbrite.com. 

“If you’re listening nonjudgmentally, asking those open-ended questions, reflecting back what you’re hearing them say and validating their feelings, it encourages people to open up more,” Thompson said.

Ashlyn Myers is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

The post Mental health organization offers insight on supporting those in need appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

INDIANAPOLIS—Well, at last we Americans now are arguing about something real.

President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandates for the federal government and large businesses have provoked a vigorous debate.

This is as it should be.

The questions involved are important ones.

How much power should government have to protect the nation and its citizens? Does that power extend to forcing individuals to make choices about their own bodies and health with which those individuals do not agree?

How far does an individual’s liberty? Does one individual have the right to make a personal choice that could have disastrous and even deadly consequences for those around him or her?

These are big questions—as large as life and liberty, as real as death and taxes—and they ought to be debated.

Some of them will be—must be—answered in court.

Litigation challenging the president’s order that everyone working for the federal government or for a business with more than 100 employees either must be vaccinated or have a weekly COVID test is inevitable. In those legal battles, the judicial branch will do what it should do—balance and weigh the interests involved within the framework of the Constitution.

The ideologues and partisans on both sides of the question who think this will be a slam dunk are mistaken.

The Constitution extends broad protections to individual liberty, but it also grants government immense power—the necessary and proper clause—to protect the country’s citizens and preserve the national interest.

The legal struggle will boil down to a debate over which of those constitutional priorities should prevail in this circumstance.

But the wrangling shouldn’t and won’t be confined just to the courtroom.

It’s important—essential, even—for a free people to have a robust discussion about how they should meet common challenges such as this deadly pandemic.

We should be arguing about where lines must be drawn. About what we owe each other and our country. And about what our fellow citizens and our country never can demand of us.

Because this is what it means to be a self-governing nation.

A free country.

The fact that we are having a debate about something so fundamental is a welcome change from the wrangles and dustups of our recent past.

Many of the disputes that claimed national attention over the past couple decades—phantom hordes of immigrant mobs threatening our southern border, “death panels” that would condemn the sick and the elderly to early graves—weren’t just aimed at dividing us for no good reason.

They weren’t even real.

This debate is real.

And it matters.

It’s interesting, thus far, to see how the argument is playing out and the sides are shaping up.

Corporate America thus far either has supported the president’s mandate or remained silent—which amounts to an endorsement.

There is a reason for that.

Most big businesses want to spare themselves the costs of lost productivity and other drags on the enterprise that the pandemic has brought and continues to bring. But they don’t want to be the enforcers of any requirements that employees be vaccinated or submit to regular testing because that might lead to labor troubles.

Those businesses are more than content—grateful, even—to have Joe Biden be the bad guy.

If they continue to be content and grateful, the slow distancing of corporate America from the Republican Party will continue.

Small businesses, though, are far less enthusiastic about the mandate. They’re even hostile.

They see the president’s order as one more restraint on their one big competitive edge in the marketplace—their freedom of motion and flexibility to adapt to changing circumstances and challenges. They believe the mandate will make it harder for them to find and retain good employees in an environment in which labor is a scarce resource becoming even more scarce.

Both these positions—both these concerns—are valid.

In saner times, we might find ways to reconcile them. For much of our history, America’s peculiar genius was for finding productive compromise, ways to allow many people at the table to feel they were walking away winners.

But that seems to be a talent we have lost, or at least misplaced.

This is why we’re going to have a huge argument now.

But at least it’s an argument that matters.

One that’s real.

John Krull is director of Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism and publisher of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

The post Commentary: This argument isn’t a trivial pursuit appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

When I was a little boy in the ’70s, TV options were scarce in a way kids today struggle to imagine. The first TV I remember in our house was black and white, and while the second one was color, neither of them had a remote control. And so what if they did? There weren’t too many channels to surf with one anyway. During the day, we could watch “Bonanza” or “Gunsmoke,” two westerns that I don’t recall anyone in the house actually enjoying. But it was here where I first learned what a “posse” is.

The new Texas abortion law empowers a posse to enforce an extreme policy that government apparently lacks the courage to do on its own.

The policy goal of the new law is to prohibit abortions in the state once “cardiac activity” can be detected in an embryo. It is common to refer to this level of restriction as a “heartbeat law,” and since that cardiac activity occurs generally around six weeks into a pregnancy, that time frame is also often used to describe the new Texas law. Abortion providers there estimate that between 85 and 90 percent of abortions currently occur after these estimated points in pregnancy.

However, what is not yet fully understood by Americans who are rightfully outraged by this attempt to eliminate a woman’s right to reproductive health, is how this bizarre new law will be enforced. For starters, it will not be enforced by the government. Huh? You read that right. The law creates a right to sue by seemingly anyone in America, against anyone, again seemingly anywhere in America, who “aids or abets” an abortion that occurs in Texas after cardiac activity is or should be detected. Whew. Except for the woman who allegedly receives the abortion. Yes, she is exempt.

The “aiding and abetting” language is bizarre all on its own. What is regularly in the news on this front is the discussion of the Uber or Lyft driver who transports the pregnant woman to the abortion clinic. Will that driver have civil liability under the new law? It obviously has not been tested yet, but it certainly will be. But this part of the law creates liability for anyone who intends to aid or abet a prohibited abortion. Really? An Uber driver who meant to take a woman to an abortion provider but failed can be sued in Texas because he or she intended to do so? It appears so.

But let’s take that a step further. Did the man responsible for the pregnancy itself aid the abortion simply by playing his necessary biological role in creating it? I sure hope so. Let’s see if the Texas legislature means what it says.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has been on the hot seat for his moronic comments about the law’s lack of consideration for pregnancies that result from rape or incest. When asked about the law’s silence on this issue, he responded by saying, “…Texas will work tirelessly to make sure that we eliminate all rapists from the streets of Texas…” Wow. If defending this goofy law leads to a big state like Texas “eliminating rape,” that actually would be something. Sadly, that statement is dumber than the law he was trying to defend with it.

The deafening lack of celebration by most politicians who should be celebrating can be explained with ease. The rabid anti-abortionists who understand basic legal principles have no confidence that this law will actually survive an actual judicial review. Not the lack of judicial review that the U.S. Supreme Court gave the law last week by actively taking a pass on reviewing it, but an actual challenge to the litany of legal weaknesses contained in this trash law.

Republicans know this can mobilize a Democrat base in a midterm election next year that normally would benefit the minority party. So, celebrating this one is an electoral risk for the GOP because Republicans primarily want congressional control back.

For those of us who have spent considerable time in a statehouse, any statehouse, we have been witness to countless abortion protests. Many of them are characterized by graphic and shocking materials on signs and literature to provoke emotional responses to their viewpoints. Usually, they appear to be unmoored mobs.

Sort of like a posse. The very type of group the Texas legislature is attempting to call on to take care of its dirty business.

American government is not a posse or a mob. At least it didn’t used to be.

Michael Leppert is an author, educator and a communication consultant in Indianapolis. He writes about government, politics and culture at MichaelLeppert.com.

The post Commentary: The Texas abortion law is truly Old West appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

When it comes to crime, if you think the city of Indianapolis is less safe than it was last year, you’re not alone. Last month, my media company, Indy Politics and ARW Strategies, LLC, polled 400 registered voters. We asked about crime, COVID-19, charter schools, and marijuana legalization.

Voters split on the direction of Indianapolis.  About 40% of registered voters believe that Indianapolis is headed in the right direction, while an equal 40% think the city has gotten off on the wrong track.  Democrats and younger voters are most optimistic about the direction of the city, while African American, Republican, Independent, and older voters are more pessimistic. And 63% thought the city was less safe this year as opposed to last.

Mayor Joe Hogsett is largely liked by the voters in the region.  A majority (55%) of voters have a favorable opinion of Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett and 57% approve of the job he’s doing as mayor. Just 29% have an unfavorable view of him, while 32% disapprove of the job he’s doing.

While the mayor is getting high marks, he hasn’t solidified re-election just yet. Asked whether voters would vote to re-elect Mayor Hogsett or if they’d vote for someone else, 37% said they’d vote for Hogsett, while 32% said they’d vote for someone else. Another 31% said they’re undecided.

Just over a year out, the county prosecutor election is a total toss-up. When asked whether they’d vote for Ryan Mears in next year’s Marion County prosecutor election, just 23% said they’d vote for Mears, while 21% say they’d vote for someone else. A massive 56% are undecided, leaving open a major lane for a viable challenger. Among Democrats, Mears is underperforming, with just 30% saying they’d vote for him, while 15% would vote for someone else, and a majority – 56% – are undecided. Among Republicans, 22% would vote for Mears, 20% would vote for someone else, and 57% are undecided. For Independents, just 11% would vote for Mears next year, with 32% choosing someone else and 58% undecided.

African American voters are more pessimistic on local schools as well. Just 27% of registered voters believe the public schools in Marion County are going in the right direction, while 38% say they’ve gotten off on the wrong track.

There is a slightly more optimistic view of charter schools in Marion County, with 34% believing they’re headed in the right direction and 23% saying they’ve gotten off on the wrong track. And 43% indicate they’re unsure or don’t know.

Despite those views on the direction of local charter schools, a clear majority (59%) say they support school choice overall, with just 28% opposing it. Opposition to school choice is most pronounced with self-identifying Democrats, with 31% opposing. However, a majority (54%) still support school choice.

When it comes to COVID-19 vaccinations, self-reported vaccination rates are encouraging, and among those who haven’t yet received one, the recent full authorization from the FDA should help.

Among registered voters, 69% report being fully vaccinated, and an additional 5% say they’ve received at least one shot so far. It’s important to note that while official vaccination rates for Marion County place the number at 50%, this survey reflected just registered voters and not the overall population.

And when it came to marijuana legalization, 85% supported either full legalization (medicinal and recreational) or just medicinal; just 10% opposed any form of legalization.

The poll of 400 registered voters was taken August 13-23.  It was a combination of online and text messages. The margin of error was 4.9%. You can get the complete details at IndyPolitics.Org.

Abdul is an attorney and the editor and publisher of IndyPoltics.Org. He is also a frequent contributor to numerous Indiana media outlets. He can be reached at abdul@indypolitics.org.

The post Commentary: Poll surveys attitudes on crime, COVID and charters appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

TheStatehouseFile.com 

INDIANAPOLIS— Indiana was ranked the 15th riskiest state to travel to this fall. 

QuoteWizard, an insurance comparison platform, analyzed traffic safety and COVID-19 information from each state to come up with rankings. 

Indiana was ranked 22nd in the country for the highest health risk. These rankings were calculated by the number of citizens vaccinated, hospital capacity, COVID-19 deaths, and the seven-day moving average for infections. 

The biggest red flag for Hoosiers was vaccination statuses. Indiana ranked ninth in the country for the most unvaccinated citizens. 

With 5,240 positive cases from Sept. 6 to 8, Indiana has hit the highest number of cases by day since January. 

On Sept.1, Gov. Eric Holcomb signed an executive order after extending the state of emergency until Sept. 30. In that order, hospitals and schools were given more guidance. No mask mandate was made. 

Quote Wizard noted that airline travel will not be as popular this fall due to COVID-19, so driving risks were calculated as well. 

Indiana came out as the 20th riskiest state to drive in. This rating was calculated by driving-under-the-influence tickets, accidents and speeding. 

For DUIs, Indiana ranked 16th. 

According to Responsibility.org, in 2018, 227 Hoosiers were killed in drunk driving incidents. 

In August, Holcomb and Indiana Criminal Justice Institute Executive Director Devon McDonald gave out 65 Traffic Safety-All-Star Awards to officers that in total had made 3,163 DUI arrests in 2020. 

A release from the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute stated that drunk driving has been on the rise. Seventeen percent of last year’s traffic fatalities were alcohol related. 

Haley Pritchett is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

The post Unvaccinated Hoosiers and DUIs make Indiana a high-risk travel state appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS—After last week’s news of Afghan refugees coming to Camp Atterbury, many residents of Indiana have expressed interest in giving donations to the refugees and military workers. 

On Sept. 1, Gov. Eric Holcomb held a press conference with Brig. Gen. R. Dale Lyles of the Indiana National Guard. During this conference, they shared a phone number to call for people interested in donating—but this number is no longer the best way to go about it. 

The American Red Cross and Team Rubicon, a nonprofit involved in emergency response, have taken over and now facilitate all donations to Camp Atterbury, according to Master Sergeant Jeff Lowry of the Indiana National Guard. “We set up a phone number until we could announce the two organizations,” he said.

According to the American Red Cross website, it has 300 volunteers helping the Afghans and U.S. citizens who evacuated Afghanistan. It is currently caring for refugees on eight different military bases, as requested by the Department of Defense.

The American Red Cross has been working to make sure the refugees have certain basic items, such as food, water, blankets, toiletries, feminine hygiene products and baby care items. As of Sept. 3, it had provided nearly 100,000 comfort kits and towels; some 33,000 blankets; more than 24,000 personal protection items such as hand sanitizer, masks, gloves and thermometers; and 83,000 personal items, including baby bottles, portable cribs and stuffed animals. 

While there are organizations accepting donations, such as Exodus Refugee Immigration and Team Rubicon, the Red Cross released a statement saying, “While we appreciate the generosity of the American people to offer clothing and other items to Afghan refugees who have recently arrived, the American Red Cross does not have the ability to process or distribute donated items in this way.”

As an alternative, the organization does offer a few ways to help during “Operation Allies Welcome”:

• The Red Cross has purchased many items to give refugees upon arrival, so if interested, go to https://www.redcross.org/donate to give a monetary gift. 
• If you want to volunteer, you can also go to https://www.redcross.org/volunteer and read through the various volunteer positions available. 

In a media release, the Red Cross mentioned having only eight volunteers in its Indiana region. These volunteers are busy “welcoming the Afghan refugees to Indiana,” said Dr. Allison Barber, one of those Camp Atterbury volunteers, in a tweet. 

Team Rubicon is a national disaster response nonprofit that works with veterans and first responders to help communities impacted by natural disasters and humanitarian crises. It is working to give newly purchased donations to the refugees at multiple military camps across the U.S. 

Here is a list of the items the group is currently looking for. Once you are ready to donate, use this form to let Team Rubicon know what resources you are able to give. 

Exodus Refugee Immigration, an organization that helps assess and tackle the needs of refugees in Indiana, is also accepting donations. Here you can find a list of all items it is accepting. Most of these items will be used during the housing and placement process after Afghans finish their time at Camp Atterbury. 

Exodus is also accepting monetary donations. If interested in donating online, follow this link, or send a check to: Exodus Refugee Immigration, 2457 E. Washington St., Suite A,  Indianapolis, IN 46201. 

Exodus offers a variety of programs for refugees to use once they reach the U.S. “The first 90 days after refugees’ arrival are critical to the resettlement process and provide the foundation for the services that follow,” the organization said on its resettlement website. It is currently working to set up apartments and rental houses for this higher-than-normal volume of refugees. 

One of the organization’s programs offers English language and cultural orientation classes. Heba, a Somalian woman whose family fled to the U.S due to worries of being sent back to their home country, Kuwait, said, “I was very nervous when starting school, but Exodus made all my worries go away. They taught us how to do everything.” Heba now works as a respiratory therapist helping patients impacted by COVID-19 due to classes Exodus helped her enroll in through Ivy Tech. 

Heba said on Exodus’ refugee story page that she wants people to know refugees have hopes and dreams too. 

“People dream to come here and completely change their future. In Kuwait, we also had education and employment opportunities, but the United States has given us freedom in citizenship.”

Exodus is also asking for volunteers. On its website, it lists each position and grades them from highest to lowest need. Due to the sudden influx of Afghan refugees, Exodus is also asking for people to do one-time volunteering by helping to set up apartments and rental houses. For more information on volunteering with Exodus, go here. 

Ashlyn Myers is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

The post Here’s how you can help the Afghan refugees in Indiana appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

INDIANAPOLIS—The saga of Indianapolis Colts quarterback Carson Wentz demonstrates just how confusing it is to be a professional football player or fan these days.

Wentz had to go into quarantine a few days ago as part of the NFL’s COVID-19 protocols. Wentz is not vaccinated. He has been adamant in his refusal to get the COVID vaccine.

His move onto the quarantine list provoked controversy.

Several commentators—most notably Gregg Doyel of The Indianapolis Star—all but called for the Colts to send Wentz packing. If the quarterback wasn’t going to do what was best for the team and community, the argument ran, Wentz should go.

But that provoked a strong pushback from many football fans. They argued that the decision to get the vaccine should be Wentz’s alone.

His body, his choice.

This is where things get puzzling.

Many of the same people who contended that Wentz had a right to refuse to get the COVID vaccine—even if it meant putting his teammates and others at risk—were the same ones who said NFL players lose their First Amendment rights when they put on their uniforms.

They don’t want Carson Wentz run out of town because he refuses to take a common-sense health precaution, but they were comfortable with having Colin Kaepernick blackballed out of the league because he opted to take a knee rather than stand for the national anthem.

In that case, it wasn’t Kaepernick’s body, Kaepernick’s choice.

No, it was Kaepernick’s body, their choice.

They chased him not just out of town but out of football.

Here’s where it gets even more confusing.

Kaepernick’s actions had nothing to do with his performance on the field. There is no evidence that he shirked any of the responsibilities of a professional athlete. He trained hard, stayed in shape, followed doctors’ orders, did rehab when necessary and preserved his body so he could compete at an elite level.

This, after all, is what a professional athlete is paid to do—what makes a professional athlete a professional athlete.

That’s what Wentz is refusing to do.

He’s arguing, in effect, that his political views should override what amounts to a contractual obligation to keep himself healthy and available to compete at a top level.

And he’s got people supporting him on this.

How would they feel, I wonder, if he showed up to training camp 50 pounds overweight? If he refused to hit the weight room? Do wind sprints or any other form of conditioning?

After all, if it’s his body, his choice, he ought to be able to wreck it if he wants to, right?

But it’s not just his body he’s making the choice for.

Several of Wentz’s teammates went into quarantine when he did. There’s no evidence Wentz was the one who exposed them to the virus, but that’s been the most damning challenge this pandemic has presented.

Because COVID is transmitted by air, we’re all at the mercy of those who choose not to wear masks.

Or get vaccines.

The weakest link determines the strength and durability of the entire chain.

The truth is that Carson Wentz does have a choice.

He can do what is necessary to play football at the highest level—which is what he is paid a tremendous sum of money to do—and preserve his health, as well as that of his teammates.

Or he can find another way to make a living.

If he doesn’t like either of those options, there is another thing he can do.

He can protest this hard reality by taking a knee during the national anthem.

That ought to go over well with his fan base.

John Krull is director of Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism and publisher of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

The post Commentary: Carson Wentz and the confused state of pro football appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

TheStatehouseFile.com 

INDIANAPOLIS— In America, one in three women have experienced physical violence by a partner. 

Four and a half million have been threatened with a firearm, and of those women, a million of them were shot at. 

The risk of homicide goes up by 500% when a firearm is involved. 

These facts were released in a report by the Domestic Violence Network, an organization based in central Indiana, as an attempt to grasp lawmakers’ and the public’s attention.

Kelly McBride, executive director of DVN, said she is not looking for new laws to be created; she is just looking for the laws in existence to be enforced while closing up loopholes.

More specifically, she is referring to gun laws. For instance, only individuals with certain relationships to their abuser, such as marriage, can currently request the abuser’s gun or guns to be removed. That presents challenges for victims in relationships outside those described in the law. 

The monitoring of gun removal is another issue. The DVN requests that law enforcement get more involved and not leave it up to the current honor system, trusting individuals to turn in their guns when asked. 

On a single day in September 2018, the Indiana Coalition against Domestic Violence, conducting an audit of 47 Indiana domestic violence programs, found more than 2,000 people had been served, more than 600 hotline calls answered, and more than 200 requests for help denied due to lack of resources. Multiple surveys and studies have shown numbers spike further since the COVID-19 pandemic began. 

Sen. Michael Crider, R-Greenfield, who authored a domestic violence bill last session,  says one of the biggest issues domestic violence victims face is being separated from their abuser when bail is posted too low. 

“[Victims] call the police, their spouse gets arrested, but then they are back home within a few minutes, and they’re even more angry when they get home than they were when the police took them away,” he said. 

Rep. Vernon Smith, D-Gary, has been working for years to get a law passed that prohibits people who have been convicted of a domestic abuse case from bearing arms. He says the Republican supermajority, however, prevents bills regarding gun control from ever being read. 

His main concern is the lack of the abuser’s ability to make decisions in emotionally charged situations, especially around loved ones. He said when you combine this with firearms, the results are deadly. 

“The most emotional situation is when you are involved with people you love and people you interact with on a continuous basis,” he said. 

Haley Pritchett is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

Editor’s note: This story was updated to clarify under what circumstances a domestic violence victim can request their abuser’s firearms to be removed by police.

The post Guns, loopholes in laws exacerbate domestic violence problem, study finds appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

INDIANAPOLIS—That September Tuesday morning, I drove my children to their preschool.

They were young then—my daughter a toddler and my son just a few months old. We were all younger then.

I didn’t have the radio on. I told jokes and played nonsense word games with my daughter as we drove to the preschool.

After I dropped them off, giving each a hug and a kiss as I left, I got back into the car. I still didn’t turn the radio on.

In those days, I was the executive director of what was then the Indiana Civil Liberties Union. Some things were the same as they are now. The beginning of September meant the onset of the prime charitable giving season, the time when not-for-profits made or broke their budgets.

I spent my drive from preschool to the office on the phone, setting up meetings and donor visits. I had a busy calendar that day. There wasn’t likely to be any other time to deal with my call list.

Cell phones then weren’t miniature computers—at least mine wasn’t—so I was cut off from the news on my commute.

When I got to my office, the ICLU’s legal director, Ken Falk, knocked on my door.

“Have you heard?” he asked. “A plane just flew into the World Trade Center.”

I asked him if anyone knew the cause. Did the pilot have a heart attack?

He said he didn’t know and headed back into his office.

A few minutes later, he returned.

“Another plane just flew into the other tower,” he said.

We were silent for a long moment.

“We’re at war,” I said.

I’d been in New York just a few days earlier for meetings. The national ACLU’s offices were in the financial district. During a break, I strolled past the World Trade Center.

I sat in my office wondering how many people I’d passed on that afternoon amble now were dead.

My wife and I talked. She was going to pick up the kids. She wanted them home, close to their parents. I told her I’d get there as soon as I could.

Calls came in, cancelling appointments. Everything—courts, government office buildings, businesses—was closing for the day. My calendar cleared.

The only thing that remained was a lunch on the north side with a longtime ICLU supporter.

As I drove to it, I had the radio on, listening to updates as the day’s horrors became clear. The city had turned into a ghost town, the streets empty, sidewalks deserted.

Lunch was a morose occasion.

We were the only customers in the restaurant, which was one of the few still open. We picked at our food and kept looking at the TV playing in the corner.

At one point, my lunch companion shook her head and said, almost to herself:

“I never thought this could happen. Elsewhere, but not here. Not to us.”

There didn’t seem much point in lingering over our meals. We paid the check and left.

I went home.

My wife is from New York. Much of her family still lived there. She placed call after call, trying to find out if her parents, both then in their 70s, were all right.

We had two TVs going, one turned to the news, the other playing videotapes—it was not yet a completely digital world—of Maurice Sendak’s Little Bear. We took turns, one of us watching the news, the other watching with our children as Little Bear discovered a world that suddenly seemed comfortingly gentle and generous.

Finally, we heard about my in-laws. In a city that had all but shut down, they walked from their offices in midtown to their home some 50 blocks away. The power was out at their building, and they’d had to walk up 15 flights of stairs to get to their darkened apartment.

But they were safe.

That night, my wife and I held our children especially close. We knew even then the world they were going to grow into had become a much more dangerous and darker place.

Over the years, we’ve given away almost all the videotapes our kids watched when they were small.

For some reason, we’ve never been able to part with those Little Bear tapes.

John Krull is director of Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism and publisher of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

The post Commentary: The day that turned then into now appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

INDIANAPOLIS—With their assault on reproductive rights, Texas conservatives have made a few things clear.

The new law those Lone Star State radical rightists rammed through—and the U.S. Supreme Court, unconscionably, has allowed for the moment to stand—represents as assault on both law and precedent.

It also demonstrates they mean little, if any, of what they say.

And it shows that they have no regard for women and women’s capacities to make informed and rational decisions about their own lives and health.

First, some background.

This new Texas law outlaws abortion after the sixth week, even in instances of rape and incest. It also deputizes every resident of the state to report on and sue anyone—the woman, her doctor, a friend who loans a woman money for the procedure, a clergy member who drives her to the clinic—who helps her have an abortion after the sixth week. The person who rats out the poor woman and those who aid her stands to collect a $10,000 bounty.

As a practical matter, this new law invalidates Roe v. Wade.

Many women don’t know they are pregnant until more than six weeks have passed. Most don’t know if they are until at least four weeks have gone by—and abortions often can’t be performed that early.

That means these jihadists in Texas have decided they know more about what is good for a woman and her health than her doctor does.

Than her family does.

Than she does.

What makes this so offensive is that these same folks are the ones arguing that they shouldn’t be required to get a vaccine or wear a mask to prevent the spread of COVID-19, regardless of the damage their refusal does to the lives and health of others.

Their reasoning for refusing to prevent other people from dying?

“My body, my choice.”

But they don’t extend the same sort of logic—or protection—to women.

This blatant double-standard makes clear at least two things.

The first is that the people in the anti-reproductive rights crowd who also are part of the anti-vaccine and anti-mask mobs aren’t pro-life at all. If they were, they would be eager to save the lives of people walking and breathing now.

The second is that these folks really, really, really are threatened by and don’t like women. Their focus is less on preserving life than it is on curtailing the choices women may make. The thought that women might be able to control their own bodies and their own destinies scares them right into almost exponential hypocrisies.

Their frequent protestations of devotion to the doctrine of limited government are not the least of these hypocrisies.

Not only does this latest assault on privacy illustrate this point—how can a government be considered limited that has the power to make the most intimate personal decisions for individuals?—but so does the method of enforcing it.

In effect, Texas has made every citizen opposed to reproductive rights an unvetted and unconstrained law enforcement official. This greatly expands the reach and the power of the government—and does so in ways that are likely to go unchecked.

What is to prevent anti-abortion zealots from making false reports? What penalty or sanction will they face? Where is the accountability conservatives so often claim they value?

This new law, slipshod and mean-spirited as it is, may prove to be one of those hinge points in American history.

It is likely to motivate female voters, including those in suburban battlefield districts, to continue their drift away from the Republican Party regardless of how much they may agree with the GOP on other issues. If they’re not allowed to own their own bodies, then promises of tax cuts may not mean as much to them—if they’re willing to believe any conservative promises at all, that is.

It also will increase the pressure on President Biden and Democrats in the U.S. Senate to reform Supreme Court nominating procedures and expand the size of the court.

But those possibilities are down the road.

In the short term, this new Texas law reveals some truths about supposed pro-life conservatives.

In short, they aren’t pro-life.

And they aren’t conservative.

John Krull is director of Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism and publisher of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

The post Commentary: A revealing moment in Texas appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

The Baltimore Colts drafted John Elway with the first overall pick in the 1983 draft. He never bothered to even pack his bags for Baltimore, demanding to be traded before the dust even settled on the draft. His Hall of Fame career started and ended in Denver instead.

Elway had choices back then. He had also been drafted by the Kansas City Royals and would have happily played Major League Baseball before playing football for a team led by owner Bob Irsay and coach Frank Kush. Even the Colts didn’t want to be in Baltimore, leaving in the middle of a snowy night less than a year later for Indianapolis.

Today’s Colts are now burdened with a quarterback they don’t or shouldn’t want. The franchise and the city it now calls home deserve better than Carson Wentz.

Let me be clear: I am a Colts fan. I am rabid about it. I am that guy who has irrational and emotional scar tissue in his soul from the beatings we took from the New England Patriots when the Colts were winning more games than any other team in the NFL. I was the guy who used to waste his energy arguing that Peyton Manning was better than Tom Brady. I despise the city of Boston over it, and I have never even been there. Yes, I’m that guy.

I am also one who would rather see his Colts lose every single game this season than watch Carson Wentz play quarterback here. His “it’s a personal decision” act regarding getting vaccinated is not only not good enough, it is the most disrespectful thing he could do as a new member of our community. That would be true if he came here to work on any of our voluminous road construction crews, or at Eli Lilly, or heaven forbid, at a hospital or a school. But to choose not to get vaccinated in the situation he is in is truly unfathomable.

Let’s review Mr. Wentz’ situation. Since being drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2016, and being on their roster for five years, he has played two entire seasons. Two. Yes, he has struggled with injuries and that was the most prominent consideration on the table during trade negotiations with the Colts, when Philadelphia had decided to go a different direction at the quarterback position. When he is healthy, he puts up good numbers. But he has been unhealthy more often than he has been healthy. Hmm, maybe he should take better care of himself.

Case in point, he missed the entire preseason schedule over an injury that he brought with him to the Colts. Yes, the unusual bone fragment foot injury was aggravated and discovered in practice here, but his ability to even be healthy enough for opening day on his new team has been in doubt since the beginning of August. We knew then that he was taking the “it’s a personal choice” position on vaccination, and I can recall feeling like he was so contagious that his foot injury spread to the team’s best position player, guard Quenton Nelson.

Yes, Nelson suffered the same unusual foot injury Wentz did, the very next day. I recall believing Nelson did it to himself on purpose just to show our new injury-prone quarterback how to rub some dirt on it.

Bringing Wentz to Indy was a risky move from the start. Indy gave Philly a third round pick this year, and a conditional second round pick in 2022 for him. What are the conditions on that second-round pick?  How many snaps Wentz takes this year? That’s right, the value of the trade itself hinges on whether he can show up for work.

The job of playing quarterback in a city like Indianapolis is not just another job. This city, region and state is invested in the Colts. We paid and continue to help pay for the playground in which the team plays. In exchange, we have expectations on the franchise. The NFL is a quarterback’s league. The QB is the de facto leader, captain and chief on the field, and that duty follows into the locker room and onto the streets in the community. This week, Gregg Doyle of the Indianapolis Star pointed out the team’s recent community track record: Peyton Manning’s Children’s Hospital, then matched to some extent by Andrew Luck’s involvement at Riley Children’s Hospital. Now, our highest paid player wouldn’t be allowed inside either place.

Because it’s a personal decision.

Don’t unpack your bags, Carson. This rabid Colts fan wants you gone.

Michael Leppert is an author, educator and a communication consultant in Indianapolis. He writes about government, politics and culture at MichaelLeppert.com.

The post Commentary: Carson Wentz shouldn’t bother unpacking his bags appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

TheStatehouseFile.com 

INDIANAPOLIS— Afghan refugees are here. 

Earlier this week, part of the group flew into Camp Atterbury through a sped-up placement process. Moving refugees can take years, but with the urgent state of Afghanistan, it has taken a couple of days. 

Before they even arrived on American soil, they were given background checks from Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, the Department of State, the FBI and the National Counterterrorism Center.  They were then screened again when they arrived in the United States, and one more time when they got to Camp Atterbury. They were also required to complete three COVID-19 tests by the time they were settled in and were offered vaccines. 

It may seem as if the majority of their problems are over. They have escaped the chaos and trauma of their home country, jumped through every hoop the United States put in front of them and are finally safe. But their battle is far from over.

Cole Virgo, executive director of Exodus Refugee Immigration, said that when immigrants arrive in the United States, the largest issue they face is culture shock. Organizations like his have systems in place to help immigrants, but not everyone finds them. 

An immigrant from Mexico living in Indiana without legal permission, whom The Statehouse File is calling Chris to protect his identity, was too scared to reach out and ask for help. Chris struggled with the inability to drive, get an apartment under his name or even land a job. He now works 45 to 60 hours a week doing manual labor and still sometimes struggles financially. 

“My family helped me,” Chris said. “If it weren’t for them, I would’ve never come here. It would’ve been too hard.” 

Most Afghans will not have family already settled in the United States. Although Camp Atterbury will be a safe place, they are only expected to reside there for a couple of weeks. 

Once outside the camp, they will have to navigate a forgein lifestyle. According to the Great Falls Tribune, only 70 immigrants have settled in Indianapolis since 2002. Afghans will most likely feel out of place while still trying to heal from their past traumas.

Christian Gallo is immigration clinic director for Lafayette Ministries and an immigrant from Argentina. He said he was anxious about sleeping in the suburbs his first nights in the United States. He was not used to yards not having barbed-wire fences and windows not being boarded.

For these reasons, Rev. Wes Tillett, executive director of Lafayette Ministries, suggests that Hoosiers do their best to make Afghans feel welcomed into our community. 

“Hospitality goes a long way. If there are Afghans settling in our communities, can we offer transportation, coffee, food, friendship, smiles … support to them?” he said. 

Lafayette Ministries and Exodus Refugee Immigration can help with housing, the job hunt and learning the customs of Indiana. But according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, immigrants are likely to struggle with their mental health. This is due to insufficient treatment, stigma, stereotypes they face and missing a sense of belonging. 

Chris said the other day he was at a store purchasing an item. The cashier, who was white, pulled the item away from him and ripped his money out of his hands. Chris has shopped there for years, and had never given a reason to be suspicious. 

“I don’t know, man,” he said through a deep breath. “It’s just really messed up.” 

Haley Pritchett is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

The post Afghans arrive in Indiana, but their struggle is not yet over appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS—Indiana hospitals are becoming increasingly overwhelmed by the surge of COVID-19 delta variant cases, moving the governor to release a new set of guidelines Wednesday.

As of Sept. 1, there were 4,735 new COVID-19 cases in the state, a daily average of 4,192. Between Aug. 1 and Sept. 1, there were more than 22,000 hospitalizations and 1,311 ICU admissions due to the virus. 

According to The New York Times COVID-19 map, there have been 101,343 hospitalizations around the United States in the month of August alone. This is also the first time since January that hospitalizations have reached over 100,000 COVID-19 patients. 

Gov. Eric Holcomb signed Executive Order 21-24 Wednesday, just days after extending his state of emergency order to Sept. 30, hoping new guidelines on combating the spread of the delta variant will help lower hospitalizations. The guidelines include the following provisions:

• Health-care providers will decide based on hospitalization and staffing levels at their facilities whether to delay non-emergency procedures.
• Hospitals must report any information about diversion, which is when hospitals reroute patients to other facilities due to overcrowding or understaffing, to the Indiana Department of Health (IDOH) to help with monitoring resources and capacity across the state. 

For its part, IDOH will adjust some of its procedures:

• It will extend prior authorizations for non-emergency procedures that are postponed due to COVID-19 or related staffing issues.
• It will direct insurers to enable hospitals to expedite the process of transporting patients out of hospital care to the next appropriate setting.
• It will issue a “COVID-19 control measure.” This measure will allow schools and daycares to modify their quarantine protocols if they meet certain criteria. For example, schools and daycares mandating face coverings will not be required to quarantine students, teachers and other staff members who are in close contact with a positive case.

According to WFYI, between July and August, the number of children under 18 in Indiana testing positive for COVID-19 rose over 600%. 

Holcomb’s executive order will expire Sept. 30. At a press conference this week addressing the Afghan refugees coming to Camp Atterbury, Holcomb was pressed by reporters about whether he would call for another mask mandate; his answer was no. He again urged all Indiana residents to be vaccinated as the most important step toward ending the pandemic.

State Democrats have been calling for more regular COVID-19 updates from the governor.  

“Democrats are asking Hoosiers to take action and demand Holcomb hold a much-needed press briefing because it’s become very clear their governor is failing to provide the solutions needed to solve the most pressing problem facing Indiana and its families: COVID-19,” said Drew Anderson, spokesman for the Indiana Democratic Party, in a statement. 

Claire Castillo is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

The post New COVID-19 guidelines will attempt to slow delta’s surge appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.

TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS—Early Wednesday, Governor Eric Holcomb and Adjutant General R. Dale Lyles held a Statehouse press conference on the plans for the 5,000 Afghan refugees heading for Indiana’s Camp Atterbury.

Holcomb applauded the welcoming attitude of Hoosiers, saying, “We’re a patriotic state, and we’ll prove that in the next few days.” Lyles also described Indiana residents as eager to help the refugees and donate items.

Holcomb and Lyles received a variety of questions during the conference, many touching on concerns of safety for both the refugees and Indiana’s citizens. They said every refugee goes through a three-part vetting process. Local law enforcement has been receiving information since the initial news broke. During a 14-day quarantine upon arrival, the refugees will go through significant health screenings and receive necessary vaccines, including for COVID-19.

Other highlights from the hour-long press conference:

• Camp Atterbury has the space to hold up to 10,000 people, though half that many refugees are expected. 
• Refugees will be living in dorm-style barracks and fed by Camp Atterbury staff.
• Fort Hood officers and other military professionals will be coming as additional backup. 
• Refugees will potentially start arriving later this week and will come in increments of 1,000.
• The operation is federally funded.

Once the refugees are through their screening processes, they will be allowed to leave and begin the steps to create lives in new areas across the country. Many will need help adjusting to living on U.S. soil, and for this, there are a few different non-government organizations to help.

Holcomb stressed the idea of being open minded and supporting the refugees as they come to Indiana. “We need to be there for the folks who have been there for us,” he said.

Some of the last questions from reporters at the conference changed the subject to Holcomb’s current stance toward a reinstated mask mandate. He simply said, “No.” Later asked if a mask mandate was in the works for schools, he said that Indiana’s citizens have made it clear that they’d like it to remain a decision for each school corporation. 

Senator Mike Braun weighed in with a media release Tuesday: “It is extremely important that all local units of government and first responders know who [the refugees] are, how many and what part of the vetting process they’re in so Hoosiers do not suffer the fallout of President Biden’s disastrous withdrawal.”

Those interested in helping the Afghan refugees can call the Indiana National Guard at (317) 247-3559.

Ashlyn Myers is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

The post First of 5,000 Afghan refugees to reach Indiana’s Camp Atterbury this week appeared first on TheStatehouseFile.com.