Errington implores Republican supermajority to prioritize Hoosiers

INDIANAPOLIS – A vote today during a Technical Corrections hearing led to the override of Gov. Eric Holcomb's veto of House Bill 1041, which will effectively ban transgender girls in Indiana K-12 schools from playing on a sports team matching their gender identity. Despite Holcomb saying he found no evidence of transgender girls compromising the fairness of school sports, Indiana's Republican supermajority voted 67-28 to discriminate against transgender children and have the state government interfere in areas it doesn't belong. 

“Sports are an important part of high school life, and it's cruel to ban kids from participating in sports with their friends,” said State Rep. Sue Errington (D-Muncie).

“The IHSAA has a long-standing procedure for ensuring fairness. I also take issue with the fact that this law will block kids from benefiting from school funding and resources by denying them participation on a school-facilitated team.”

While Indiana Republicans occupied themselves with the non-issue of transgender children playing high school sports, they have repeatedly avoided taking action on an actual issue affecting Hoosiers: the gas tax. This month, gas prices have hit a historic high in the state. The Indiana House Democratic Caucus has repeatedly called for the supermajority to take action by temporarily suspending the state gas taxes ­­to help Hoosiers at the pump. To fill up a 14-gallon tank, Hoosiers would save $7.84 at the pump from the suspension of the state gas taxes under House Democrats' plan.

“Indiana is sitting on a historic surplus of over $6 billion while Hoosiers are struggling to make ends meet,” Errington said.

“Let's use a fraction of that to suspend the state gas taxes for the summer. In fact, unanticipated state revenue from April would responsibly cover the cost of a gas tax suspension through July. Relief at the pump would give Hoosiers money to spend on groceries or make the work commute cheaper.”