Here’s what Terre Haute residents need to know about this year’s legislative session

Now that the dust has settled for this year’s legislative session at the Indiana General Assembly, I want to provide residents of House District 43 with an update on the good and the bad bills that became law this year.

Let’s start with the positives: I was proud to cosponsor several pieces of legislation that I hope will transform mental health and public health in Indiana for the better (Senate Enrolled Acts 1 and 4, respectively). While I wish each program had been fully funded and the state, flush with $2.1 billion in previously unanticipated dollars, certainly could have afforded to fully fund them, these bills are still wins for Hoosiers.

As a teacher, I have seen the growing mental health crisis in our kids, and I know that many adults are struggling as well. Through the 988 mental health crisis line, I’m glad we’re going to ensure all Hoosiers have someone to call, someone who responds, and somewhere to go.

I also cosponsored legislation to move forward key job-creation efforts here in western Indiana. Senate Enrolled Act 451 will allow Wabash Valley Resources LLC to continue its carbon sequestration plant project and will fairly compensate farmers and landowners who will have carbon dioxide stored under their land. This project will create 500 to 750 construction jobs and over 100 good-paying permanent jobs in our region.

We were also successful in playing defense, fighting for our school children, public schools, and parents by calling attention to the fact that a draft of this year’s school funding model promised free textbooks for kids but made schools pay for them without receiving a proportionate funding increase. As a result of our advocacy on this issue, textbooks are being funded as their own line item in the budget moving forward – meaning that neither schools nor families are on the hook for them. I have heard too many horror stories of textbook bills being sent to collections. I’m proud Indiana will finally make good on its promise of a tuition-free K-12 public education for all Hoosier kids.

Unfortunately, we weren’t able to stop all negative bills this session.

Despite the victory on textbook fees, I fear for the future of our state’s public education system. Bills were passed to further diminish teachers’ abilities to collectively bargain and to force public school districts in several counties to share referendum dollars with charter schools (which do not have elected school boards and thus are unaccountable to taxpayers).

Our students continue to face extensive learning loss and our schools have growing staff and teacher retainment problems. The response to these problems by the Republican supermajority was to spend far too much time on legislation that will get in the way of the teacher-student relationship by forcing teachers to notify parents when a child has requested a different pronoun be used to refer to them.

The number one thing I care about most in my classroom is whether your child understands algebra. I want to leave the parenting to parents and get back to addressing the generational challenges our schools currently face.

I was also disappointed that once again Republicans passed yet another bill to make it more difficult to vote. House Enrolled Act 1334 adds unnecessary, additional rules for submitting an absentee ballot, which will lead to more disenfranchised of voters, particularly the elderly, those serving in the military, and those with disabilities.

Finally, I voted to try and keep your utilities bill lower by opposing Senate Enrolled Act 9, which unfortunately passed into law. This legislation will allow utility companies to recover unexpected additional costs from customers without pre-approval, thus giving them the power to pass on additional costs on utility bills. We should always put consumers before utility profits – and this law flies in the face of that.

I will continue looking out for your interests at the General Assembly and welcome your input on pending legislation and community issues. Thank you as always for allowing me to represent you in Indianapolis.