Rep. Matt Pierce and Sen. Shelli Yoder discussed education, Medicaid, the economy and more at a virtual town hall Saturday sponsored by The League of Women Voters of Brown, Johnson and Bloomington-Monroe Counties and the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce.
Sonia Leerkamp, vice president of the Brown County League of Women Voters, said the league is a non-partisan organization and all legislators in the Brown, Johnson and Bloomington-Monroe Counties are invited to the town halls, regardless of party. Only Democrats Pierce and Yoder, who both represent Bloomington and Monroe County, agreed to participate.
Education
Pierce said education is an important topic in the upcoming session and about half a billion dollars has been put toward Indiana’s school choice voucher program that could instead be focused on the public school system.
Yoder, who is on the Senate Education and Career Development Committee, emphasized protecting the public school system and transparency about how taxpayer dollars are spent. She said the education committee is focused on addressing chronic absenteeism of public school students, and she is working on legislation to fix it.
When asked whether the school choice program will remain capped at a certain income level, Yoder responded saying she has heard that Governor-elect Mike Braun may eliminate the cap. The current cap is 400% of the income required to be eligible for federal free or reduced lunch, which amounts to $270,692 for a household of five.
Pierce agreed, claiming "these Republicans do not want a system of public education” and instead want to provide universal school vouchers. He said Braun seeks to “siphon” state education money to private or charter schools rather than supporting public schools.
Braun’s proposed education policies include universal school choice, boosting teachers' pay, prioritizing school safety, investing in programs for incoming teachers, raising academic standards, preparing students for success after high school and “protecting parental rights.”
Medicaid and health
Pierce noted that recent changes to the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration have hurt senior citizens and people with disabilities. These changes came after state officials found an error in the budget that they predicted would cause a $1 billion deficit, forcing IFSSA to decrease reimbursements for families and replace programs for in-home care.
Yoder echoed concerns for those who would be hurt by potential Medicaid cuts, emphasizing the issue of inaccessible childcare in Indiana. She said FSSA does not have enough of a budget to provide childcare statewide.
Yoder said she is working on a bill that would implement a nurse visitation program to provide universal aid to all new mothers and babies in Indiana. She also plans to continue her efforts to allow universal abortion access in the first trimester of pregnancy, she said. Abortion is illegal in Indiana except if the mother’s health or life is at risk. Additionally, if a lethal fetal anomaly is detected, abortion is allowed before 20 weeks of gestation and up to 10 weeks in cases of rape or incest.
She added that she wants to have Medicaid cover over-the-counter birth control.
Pierce said the state health budget will likely be tight. He said Braun is focused on employer-based healthcare policies rather than improving the public health system. Yoder said she has heard from local health departments about their concerns about reduced or cut funding but has not yet heard from Braun’s team on specific healthcare budget numbers.
“So, the amount of work that our local health departments do, we just need to make sure that that money is protected,” Yoder said.
Democratic minority, proposals
Pierce also discussed the House’s bill-pending rule, which puts the legislature’s minority at a disadvantage.
“If you introduce a bill and it goes to committee and the committee chair refuses to give it a vote, you are not able to offer that same subject matter on the house floor as an amendment to another related bill,” Pierce said.
As a member of the Democratic minority, Pierce said it is important to leave options open to offer amendments on the floor by not introducing many bills.
However, Pierce hopes to introduce two bills: an end-of-life options bill, which would give people suffering terminal illnesses the choice to end their lives, and a bill banning signal jammers, which are devices that block Wi-Fi or cell phone signals. Signal jammers are illegal under federal law, but Pierce hopes to mirror this in state law.
The economy
Yoder said she was taken off the Senate Committee on Appropriations. She expressed her unhappiness about the decision, which leaves only one woman on the appropriations committee. However, Yoder said these developments have only made her want to work harder for Hoosiers.
Yoder said she hopes to improve Indiana’s economic vitality and provide living wages for Hoosiers. She is working on legislation to create a state-supported, employee-owned resource center to help Hoosiers start co-op businesses.
Leerkamp asked about taxpayers’ frustration with the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, a public-private partnership led by the Indiana Secretary of Commerce that works to grow the state economy. Yoder said the IEDC needs to be transparent and accountable, as residents do not feel like they have a say in what it does, including the IEDC’s massive innovation district in Boone County, LEAP. Pierce said Braun seems to share that goal.
Environment
Both Yoder and Pierce said the General Assembly likely won’t focus on environmental issues due to the Republican supermajority and incoming governor. Pierce added the environmental affairs study committee has not been assigned any topics for around 10 years.
Yoder said, as a U.S. senator, Braun was responsive to climate issues but did not focus on the environment during his campaign for governor. She said even without majority legislative support for climate issues, she continues to work toward protecting the environment.
Budget session, new administration
Pierce said the upcoming session is a budget session, and Indiana’s is tight this year.
Pierce also stated his concern about how Braun’s tax cut plans will be funded with such a tight budget. He referenced Braun’s focus on protecting the coal industry from plants closing and being replaced with natural gas as a “battle” he is anticipating.
Pierce said the upcoming session will be interesting with a new governor, agency heads and a lieutenant governor who is “really interested in fighting the culture wars.” Something that will stay the same, Pierce said, is the minority Democratic legislators making sure all views are heard and joining in on Republicans’ positive policy proposals.
“We won’t give up and we’ll just see what kind of positive things we can make happen in what I consider to be a pretty challenging environment,” Pierce said.
