Vic's Statehouse Notes #282 - March 2, 2017

Dear Friends,
 
If you want to keep your power as a voter to elect the Indiana State Superintendent of Public Instruction, as Hoosier voters have done for 166 years, these are your 26 heroes who voted "no" to SB 179, a bill to switch this power from voters to the governor: (see addresses below)

Senator Becker  Senator Head   Senator Niemeyer
Senator Bohacek Senator Kenley  
  Senator Niezgodski
Senator Breaux Senator Koch  
  Senator Randolph
Senator Crane  Senator Kruse   Senator Stoops
Senator Crider  Senator Lanane   Senator Tallian
Senator Doriot  Senator Leising   Senator Taylor
Senator Ford  Senator Melton Senator Tomes
 Senator Glick Senator Mishler Senator Young
Senator Grooms  Senator Mrvan 
 
Before the Senators return on Monday for the "second half" of the session, I hope you will send a message of thanks to any or all of these Senators for standing up for the power of voters and for keeping our democracy in Lincoln's words "of the people, by the people and for the people."
 
This issue is still up in the air. In the second half of the session, these Senators will be pressured to change their vote and support the appointment of a "secretary of education" by the Governor in House Bill 1005, a bill that passed the House removing any requirement that the appointee ever lived in Indiana and, unbelievably, opening the door to appointing a person with no experience as a teacher or administrator. No qualifications for this office are included in House Bill 1005.
 
Here is a key point: The Senate has a rule regarding a defeated bill that says "that exact language or substantially similar language shall be considered decisively defeated and shall not be considered again during the session."
 
Ask the 26 Senators listed above to take the position that they have "decisively defeated" the bill to appoint the State Superintendent. If all 26 stick to that position, attempts to resurrect the bill will fail.

If you want to cut and paste this list of emails into your "to" field, you can email them all at once:


[email protected];[email protected];[email protected];[email protected];[email protected];
[email protected];[email protected];[email protected];[email protected];
[email protected];[email protected];[email protected];[email protected];[email protected];
[email protected];[email protected];[email protected];[email protected];[email protected];
[email protected];[email protected];[email protected];[email protected];[email protected];
[email protected];[email protected]

Also ask the 23 Senators who voted for the bill to uphold the Senate rule that "decisively defeated" bill language shall not be considered again until the next session. Even though they supported SB 179, they should take the position that it is fundamental to uphold Senate rules.The 23 Senators to contact on this point are:
Senator Alting
Senator Eckerty
Senator Perfect

Senator Bassler
Senator Freeman
Senator Raatz

Senator Boots
Senator Hershman
Senator Ruckelshaus
Senator Bray
Senator Holdman
Senator Sandlin

Senator Brown
Senator Houchin
Senator Smith
Senator Buck
Senator Long
Senator Walker
Senator Charbonneau
Senator Merritt
Senator Zay

Senator Delph
Senator Messmer


One Senator who was excused and did not vote on the bill was Senator Zakas, who should also be contacted on these points.
 
If you want to maintain your power as a voter in our democracy, it's time to go to work. This issue will be decided in the Senate, so please contact any and all Senators to tell them how you feel about keeping or losing the power to elect the State Superintendent of Public Instruction.

To contact these Senators in one email, copy and paste these addresses into the "to" field of your email message:

[email protected];[email protected];[email protected];[email protected];[email protected];
[email protected];[email protected];[email protected];[email protected];[email protected];
[email protected];[email protected];[email protected];[email protected];[email protected];
[email protected];[email protected];[email protected];[email protected];[email protected];
[email protected];[email protected];[email protected];[email protected]

Indiana Lawmakers
 
For more information on this topic, the weekly television and radio show Indiana Lawmakers on public broadcasting stations will feature this subject on their show that airs this weekend.  In Indianapolis it will be Friday, March 3 at 11 p.m. on Channel 20. (Broadcast times for other stations throughout the state are below.) At last report, the panel on this program will include Joel Hand, our well known and well respected ICPE lobbyist, who will speak up for keeping the election of the State Superintendent in the hands of voters.
 
The grassroots need to be heard. If you want to keep the election of our State Superintendent in the hands of the people, contact any or all Senators and tell them how you feel.
 
Thanks for your advocacy for public education!
Best wishes,
Vic Smith     [email protected]