GiaQuinta provides legislative update on key Democratic priorities after Republicans repeatedly say no to government that reflects the will of Hoosiers
Today (Jan. 29), Indiana House Democrats offered amendments to address several policy priorities on House Democrats' Economic Freedom Agenda and the joint Statehouse Democrat Agenda. Additionally, House Democrats voted against a bill to roll back Indiana's child labor protections that accomplishes the opposite of House Democrats' priority of building power for working people.
On the House floor, House Democrats offered the following second reading amendments, which were all voted down by the House Republican supermajority:
- An amendment offered by Rep. Vanessa Summers (D-Indianapolis) to maintain current child care professional standards. Summers offered the amendment to House Bill 1102 to restore current requirements for class II child care providers to obtain a class I child care license. Under the provisions of HB 1102 that Republicans voted to maintain today, child care would be deregulated to the point that a 12-year-old could theoretically become a child care provider.
- An amendment offered by Rep. Sue Errington (D-Muncie) to pose a non-binding public question to Hoosier voters on this November's ballot: “Shall citizens be allowed to initiate a ballot referendum in Indiana?” Offered on House Bill 1265, this amendment would gauge public support for adding the right to citizen-led ballot initiatives to Indiana's constitution.
Additionally, House Democrats stood up for keeping Indiana's nation-leading child labor laws in place by voting against House Bill 1093, which would roll back child labor protections related to hazardous farm labor and time restrictions on when kids can work.
House Democratic Leader Phil GiaQuinta offered the following updates on these priorities:
“At the beginning of session, House Democrats declared our commitment to economic freedom and personal liberties in our Economic Freedom Agenda and joint Statehouse Democrat Agenda. I want Hoosiers to know loud and clear that we stood up for them today by offering popular amendments to address the most pressing issues Hoosiers are facing.
“House and Senate Democrats made a commitment to expanding high-quality child care this session – not deregulating it like House Republicans voted to do today. Rep. Summers' amendment to keep our standards high for the professionals who care for our children was a commonsense safety measure to which Republicans said no. Our state's precious children are worth a true financial investment in expanding child care rather than lowering our standards for the profession.
“Additionally, Statehouse Democrats have been calling for the right to a citizen-led ballot initiative in Indiana for a long time, and Rep. Errington today offered a very simple idea: Let's pose a non-binding question to Hoosiers on November's ballot about whether they would like the right to collect enough signatures and put a question on the ballot themselves. Republicans said no to collecting more information from Hoosiers about this. We shouldn't be scared of what Hoosiers think. It's sad that Republicans are.
“Finally, House Democrats set out this session to empower working people by raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour and making union dues tax-deductible. Instead of protecting Hoosiers in the workplace, House Republicans today voted to expose child workers to hazardous farm equipment and let them work later at night on school nights. Kids should be allowed to be kids. I'm disappointed that the GOP chose to roll back Indiana's nation-leading child labor laws today.”