| An update for League friends and subscribers. | | | | LWV-BMC Annual Meeting Scheduled for May 13 | Please join us for the League’s annual meeting on Tuesday, May 13, from 6:00-7:30 pm. We will once again meet at St. Thomas Lutheran Church (3800 E. Third St., Bloomington).Although this meeting is primarily for LWV-BMC members, nonmembers are welcome to attend.
This is your opportunity to meet other local League members and hear about all the work we are doing. We will update you on the past year’s events, talk about significant changes to our bylaws, and elect new officers and Leadership Team members. We are pleased to announce that IU Mauer School of Law Professor Steve Sanders will speak on the topic of constitutional crisis. In April, Sanders participated in a Noon Edition at WFIU, which gives some background on the topic.
You can access the meeting packet at this link: 2025 Annual Meeting Packet. Members, please review the material to be discussed and voted on. As with all our meetings, there will be light snacks and beverages. We look forward to seeing you! – Marion Krefeldt (team@lwv-bmc.org) and Ralf Shaw | | Podcast Features Indiana Wetlands | In our April podcast, we welcomed Anne Kibbler to discuss the importance of Indiana's wetlands. Kibbler wrote about environmental issues in the “Down to Earth” page for The Herald-Times. She later served five years as the editor of Indiana Environmental Reporter at Indiana University's Media School until the publication lost its funding in 2023.
Kibbler noted that wetlands are important because they serve as a haven for endangered plants and animals, filter out pollution, and absorb excess water – which helps prevent flooding. “Wetlands,” said Kibbler, “are like a person’s kidneys.”
| | | | Two hundred years ago, Indiana had 5.5 million acres of wetlands, but now it has only 800,000 acres. Until 2021, Indiana had stronger wetlands protections than many other states. Since that period, however, the Indiana legislature has significantly loosened regulations, allowing people to build more in areas once designated as wetlands. Go to https://lwv-bmc.org/podcasts to listen to the podcast. - Becky Hill and Jim Allison | | Are Vote Centers in Monroe County's Future? | Vote centers offer flexibility and convenience to voters by allowing them to cast a ballot at any county location of their choosing on Election Day. Over half of Indiana counties have moved to the vote center model. In 2023, the Monroe County Board of Elections created a vote center study committee, tasked with studying the topic and drafting a proposal, including how many vote centers to have and the cost and logistics of such a change. The Monroe County Vote Center Study Committee presented its report to the Election Board at the board's March meeting. The report is available from the Vote Centers in Monroe County webpage.
The Election Board held its first public hearing on the proposal on April 7, 2025. Some 22 people spoke, almost all in favor of changing from precinct-based voting sites to vote centers. Arguments in favor include (1) make it easier for rural voters and Indiana University students to vote, (2) help compensate for Indiana’s short voting hours, (3) put Monroe County practices in line with other counties, and (4) avoid the problem of voters going to the wrong poll site. The latter is particularly important for people who work far from where they live, or who try to squeeze in voting after they get off work in the evening.
In comments from the Election Board, Clerk Nicole Browne quoted a clerk from another county, “It’s seriously the best thing since buttered bread. We never had an inch of trouble or regret. Voters love that they don’t get turned away from being at the wrong polling location, which reduces frustration, and it also reduces provisional voting.” Election Board Chair John Fernandez noted that the board will also want to consider the potential fiscal impact of a move to vote centers.
On April 22, Vote Center Study Committee Chair Ilana Stonebraker spoke to the County Council on the draft plan. If the Election Board unanimously approves vote centers, both the Council and the County Commissioners would need to express their support as well. In light of the state’s pending budget cuts (see article on Legislative Update), several Council members had questions about the costs of vote centers. Many also expressed support in general for moving from precinct-based polling locations to vote centers.
A second public hearing will be held on Monday, May 19, 5:30 pm, in the Courthouse Nat U. Hill meeting room. Comments can also be submitted online. - Ralf Shaw, LWV-BMC spokesperson and a co-chair of the Voter Service Committee. Ralf represents LWV-BMC as a member of the Vote Center Study Committee. | | April Legislative Update: Tumultuous Session Winds toward Close | On April 19, area Leagues hosted the final 2025 Legislative Update. All state legislators representing Bartholomew, Brown, Johnson, and Monroe counties were invited to report on the Indiana General Assembly and take questions from attendees. Senator Shelli Yoder and Representative Matt Pierce accepted the invitation. Sonia Leerkamp, vice president of the Brown County League, moderated and forty people attended.
Representative Pierce noted that the budget forecast shows a deficit of more than $2 billion. Recent dramatic changes in national economics, coupled with the state’s fiscal policies in the past few years, are creating problems that cannot be solved by budget cutting. Pierce predicted that the burden will fall on local government and schools. He also noted that Monroe County will lose one of its judges; utilities will be able to pass on to rate-payers the costs of investigating small nuclear reactors, and student IDs will no longer be valid forms of voter identification.
Senator Yoder echoed concerns about the budget shortfall. Provisions for schools’ curricular materials were not fully funded in the last budget; voter complaints about this led state leadership to remove that budget line, folding curricular support into general school funding and then decreasing the amount. Yoder is also concerned about reduced funding for reproductive health, Medicaid, and hospitals in rural parts of the state. Bringing into Indiana the 33 Illinois counties that voted to leave that state would cost Indiana $2 billion; and their vote for secession was done by a ballot initiative – which is not allowed in this state,
Audience members raised questions about:
• Prospects for a pension supplement (“13th check”) for retired teachers, which the legislators see as unlikely in light of the budget shortfall.
• Utilities being reimbursed by rate-payers for investigating small nuclear reactors. Rep. Pierce noted that these concerns now move to the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission. Citizens Action Coalition is a good source for keeping tabs on IURC activities.
• SB 287, allowing partisan school board races, will likely increase the cost of elections.
• HB 1004 appears to be encouraging not-for-profit hospitals to become for-profit, which would have major implications for cardiology and labor and delivery services (which are higher cost), especially in rural and underserved areas
• Student voting ID: The voter’s address does not need to be on the state-issued ID in order to vote. Rep. Pierce thinks the legislature inadvertently described student IDs as acceptable in the initial legislation. Ruling them out is seen as a way to reduce student voting.
• Have the prospect of tariffs and the loss of federal jobs/workers had any impact on members of the legislature? Neither Rep. Pierce nor Sen. Yoder has seen evidence of legislative responses. Sen. Yoder drafted a resolution calling on Indiana’s members of the US Congress to stand in opposition to tariffs, noting that 60% of China’s soybean imports come from Indiana.
In closing, moderator Leerkamp challenged the speakers to report on good developments from the session. Sen. Yoder reported on the Governor’s nine executive orders to “Make Indiana Healthy Again.” Three are potentially helpful: removing food dyes, investigating links between diet and chronic illnesses, and improving local markets for Indiana farmers. Other orders, such as work requirements for SNAP benefits and crackdowns on alleged SNAP and Medicaid benefit fraud, seem less beneficial.
Rep. Pierce has “voted ‘no’ more times than I can remember” this session. Even a bill on parental responsibility had a “poison pill” exception for care of trans youth. He identified improvements in electricity transmission lines and easing requirements on film production in Indiana as positive accomplishments this session.
Find up-to-date information on these and other bills at https://iga.in.gov/.
Legislative Updates are co-sponsored by the Leagues of Women Voters of Bloomington-Monroe County, Brown County, and Johnson County, the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce, NAACP Branch of Monroe County, and Unitarian-Universalist Congregation of Columbus Indiana. CATS recordings of all 2025 Legislative Updates are accessible from the LWV-BMC website. - Ralf Shaw | | LWVIN Women's Health Advocates Post Update | | The LWVIN Women's Health Advocates Update for April covered issues in the Indiana legislature as well as several relevant article and news items. Click here to view the update. If you'd like to subscribe, email lwvin.womenshealthadvocates@gmail.com. | | Lieutenant Governor Scheduled Town Hall for May 19 | | Lieutenant Governor Micah Beckwith is coming to Ellettsville for a town hall on May 19 at 6 pm. The event will be held at the Ellettsville Town Hall, 1150 W Guy McCown Dr, Ellettsville, IN. | Contacts, Events, and News Sources | | Many citizens feel they have no say in their government. We can't have a say if we don't say anything. Contact your elected officials when you have something to say. Go to https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials to find the people who represent you in federal, state, and local governments. Contact them not only to urge action but also to show appreciation. Remember that you are not representing the League, just yourself. So do not include any indications that you are a League member with your communication. | |