The Indiana House of Representatives passed State Rep. Bob Behning’s (R-Indianapolis) legislation Monday to give Hoosier K-12 schools more flexibility on education decisions.
It gets reviewed by the Senate next.
Behning said the goal of House Bill 1002 is to remove outdated and duplicate text in Indiana’s education statutes to give schools more control over local decisions.
“This is really an opportunity to streamline our K-12 education processes and give schools more flexibility,” Behning said. “Our teachers and school administrators ultimately know what’s best for their students and staff and should be able to take more innovative approaches to education without government getting in their way.”
Representatives from the Indiana School Boards Association, Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents and Indiana Association of School Principals support the bill.
“I consider this to be the first step in a years-long process to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy in state education so schools can focus more on teaching future generations of Hoosiers rather than spending that time on reporting requirements,” Behning said. “There is still more work to do in this space, and I welcome continued input from stakeholders on how we can simplify our regulations.”
A bill being reviewed at the Statehouse would cut the number of days where Hoosiers can vote early from 28 days to 14.
It’s known as Senate Bill 284. It was approved by the Elections Committee by a vote of 6-3.
Republicans like State Senator Gary Byrne, the author of the bill, believe this is the right thing to do. Critics of it say it just makes it unnecessarily harder to vote.
When talking to county clerks across Indiana, Byrne said Monday to the Elections Committee that the clerks told him that they see fewer voters show up in the first 14 days of early voting than the last 14 days.
“We don’t need less voting in Indiana. We need more of it, and this bill significantly reduces the options. It will be particularly harmful to the elderly and disabled voters,” testified Julia Vaughn with Common Cause, a nonpartisan, grassroots organization that advocates for the values of American democracy.
Democratic Senator J.D. Ford is also against the measure.
“I know in my counties this post-election cycle, we saw long lines even with the 28 days, so I know if we reduce that number, we are going to see longer lines in that 14-day window and longer lines on Election Day,” Ford said at the hearing.
Ford represents part of Marion, Boone, and Hamilton counties.
“I know in my counties this post-election cycle, we saw long lines even with the 28 days, so I know if we reduce that number, we are going to see longer lines in that 14-day window and longer lines on Election Day,” Ford said.
The bill is expected to go before the Senate for another reading and Ford said he’ll likely add amendments to it.
“We should be making it easier to vote, not more difficult,” Ford concluded.