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Democracy Day 2026

On January 28, about 60 League members and advocates from our All IN 4 Democracy coalition organizations braved the cold and snow to participate in our second Democracy Day at the Statehouse.

The League has been holding League Day at the Statehouse for decades. Making this an inclusive Democracy Day at the Statehouse is thrilling! For the second year in a row, Hoosiers with organizations that have become part of the All IN 4 Democracy coalition came together to speak with their legislators about our common priorities. We made our voices heard in December as the Legislature voted down mid-cycle redistricting—one of our priorities—demonstrating that our collective voices can have an impact.

Non-partisan organizations represented includedCommon Cause Indiana,ReCenter Indiana, Count Us IN, League of Conservation Voters,Women for Change, ACLU-IN, Friends Committee on Legislation, and Indiana Voices. Our Keynote and Table Talk speakers included Kerwin Olson, Citizens Action Coalition;Julia Vaughn, Common Cause Indiana; Toby Day, Hoosier Environmental Council; and Nathan Gotsch, Independent Indiana. Video including Kerwin Olson’s keynote on data centers and the impact on the environment is available HERE.

A press conference concluded the day, drawing attention to recent studies on why registered young voters didn’t vote in 2024, voting issues, and what we can accomplish with collaborative action. The two studies may be found HERE and HERE .You may find the results useful as you work to get out the vote this spring!

A special thanks goes to the members of the Special Events Committee for all the planning and implementation—Linda Dunn, chair; Meg Connolly, Tom Gardiner, Pam Locker, Kathy Peck, Barb Tully, Paulette Vandegriff (and yours truly).

To the 20 or so of our 80 registrants who stayed home—we missed you!

Linda Hanson,President LWVIN

FROM LWVUS

• Statements/Messaging
  • Statement from the League of Women Voters on Federal Immigration Enforcement and the Erosion of Constitutional Rights
  • LWV CEO Celina Stewart and Civil Rights Groups Call for ICE Accountability
  • Win for Oregonians: Judge Dismisses DOJ Lawsuit Seeking to Seize Private Voter Data
  • LWV, LWV Georgia, and LWV Atlanta-Fulton County Joint Statement on FBI Activity at Fulton County Elections Facility
    
• Congress Updates
  • Following another murder of a civilian in Minnesota by ICE officials last weekend, Senators came back to movethe final spending and appropriations bills forward. The League joined calls to endadditionalfunding to ICE, CBP and DHS as budget deadline approaches.Read the letter here.Take action here.

• No Kings Partnership – Mass MobilizationMarch 28LWV will again serve as an official partner with No Kings for the March mobilization, withadditionalactionsanticipatedlater in the year. Leagues shouldabsolutely"leanin".

This January-February 2025-26 Legislative Session HAS to set a record for really BAD bills. Below are all the bills we OPPOSE (with the exception of HB 1256 under Voter Services/Elections).

Go HERE to see updates on all the bills Advocates are following.

All the bills have crossed and have gone to committees in the opposite chamber.Go HERE to see all the current Action Alerts, and PLEASE send email letters to the Committee members and/or your legislator as the bills move.

Also you can sign up for the Advocate Committees' email updates listed at the end of each report.

EDUCATION ACTION ALERTS

Oppose SB76-ImmigrationMattersMandates that ICE and Border Patrol agents have access to ourpublic schools, universities, and local government agencies, or be sued for $10,000 per violation - allowing no on-the-ground localdecision-making or local discretion.3rdreading before House is scheduled for 2/12.

Oppose SB239 – Various Education MattersDiminishes local control. Before House Education Committee 2/11 but not voted on.

Oppose SB 204 - Various Education MattersAllows charter-licensed teachers easier access to state licenses.Any individual with a bachelor’s degree and 3.0 GPA now has a pathway to becoming a licensed teacher without additional training or education. Passed House Education Committee 2/11.

Oppose SB 88:1) mandates that schools include instruction on the importance of waiting until marriage to have children as part of being a "good citizen." 2) mandates that colleges accept the Classic Learning Test (which emphasizes conservative content and Christian texts) in addition to the SAT and ACT. Before House Education Committee on 2/11, but not voted on.

OpposeHB 1423 – Indianapolis public education corporation – Vote NO.IPS and other Hoosier school districts do not need more bureaucracy and less local elected control.HB 1423 creates a new education corporation with an appointed board and gives it authority over public school funding and referenda.Passed Senate Education Committee 2/11.

OpposeSB 161 Education Matters.Opts Indiana into the Federal Tax Credit Scholarship Program.This is a significant step toward the nationalization of voucher programs and the elimination of public education.Assigned to House Education, no hearing scheduled.

Oppose HB 1176-Education MattersMakes it easier to convert public schools into charter schools and expands innovation network schools without voter approval. Scheduled to be heard by Senate Appropriations on 2/12.

Oppose HB 1266 Department of Education & Education MattersTransfers the control of school buildings and transportation from the elected school boards and hands over that authority to an appointed centralized board.Passed Senate Education Committee 2/11.

Oppose SB 182 Gender IssuesImposes rigid, statewide rules that increase the risk of discrimination, invite costly litigation, and force schools to police students rather than educate them. Assigned to House Public Health, no hearing scheduled.

Email nanpolk@hotmail.com to get on our email update list.

NATURAL RESOURCES

SB 277: Indiana Department of Environmental Management. OPPOSE. This is still THE most controversial bill that Natural Resources - and HEC, CAC, ICV and others throughout the state - are advocating against!Although the intention was to simplify the Indiana Department of Natural Resources' requirements as well as simplify their duties, measures such as changing around 40 "shalls" to "wills" (thus taking away the duties of IDEM) and eliminating requirements to consider public health and the environment in their permitting processes won't get the desired results.Amendments are being proposed to this bill to help IDEM retain its integrity. It was passed byEnvironmental Affairs on Wednesday, Feb 11 by 6 Yeas, 5 Nays and now goes to the full House.

ACTION ALERT:https://actionnetwork.org/letters/oppose-sb277-environmentalmgmt

HB 1333: Land use and development. OPPOSE. The Utilities, Energy and Telecommunications Committee met on Tuesday, Feb 10 but it wasn’t heard, and the hope is that it won't be heard. It is being amended, but the writer of the bill is even backtracking.

Liz Solberg, Kristina Lindborg, and Cheryl Chapman, LWVIN Natural Resources Co-Chairs

VOTER SERVICES/ELECTIONS

SB12 Prohibition ofRanked Choice Voting OPPOSE is headed to the full House after passing House Elections 2/11.

LWVIN opposes based on a review of 41 RCV studies:

• Banning Ranked Choice Voting in Indiana is bad public policy and very well may be informed by studies lacking in intellectual rigor.
• Indiana should be better than to rely on flawed research to inform policy-making decisions.
• A full, transparent, and meticulous investigation of Ranked Choice Voting should be undertaken before any legislation is proposed, any decision is made, and any ban is considered.
• The voters of Indiana deserve our legislators to fully vet proposals, particularly in committee, before cementing policies into the Indiana Code.
• For these reasons, the League of Women Voters of Indiana declines to support SB12 and suggests instead that the Election Committee study Ranked Choice Voting further.

Oppose HB1359 - Scanning ballots. Assigned to Senate Elections but has not yet been heard.

LWVIN opposes due to the unnecessary introduction of risk into ballot handling during early voting. Early retraction of ballots is problematic in and of itself as these methods may assign identifying characteristics to ballots that would allow voters to be individually identified. This violates the “secret ballot’ concept, which was designed to keep voters free from intimidation and coercion. As of today, there are no voting systems in Indiana using an optical scan ballot scanner which allows for retraction of ballots that has been approved for use in our elections.

Allow HB 1256 to be heard. Assigned to Senate Elections. Send a message to urge Senator Gaskill to bring the bill before his committee. LWVIN supports this bill for it would make information about who is funding the campaigns of candidates for local offices available on the county’s website. This effort to provide more transparency about where campaign contributions come from is increasingly important as tech giants like Google seek to site data centers across our state. Voters need to have easy access to campaign finance reports for local candidates to be fully informed voters. We have a right to know who is trying to influence our local elections.

WOMEN’S HEALTH/REPRODUCTIVE CHOICE/GENDER BILLS

SB 1:Human services matters. OPPOSE. Sponsors 27 Republicans; No Dems. Federal Medicaid cuts which go into effect in 2027 will take healthcare from 267,996 Hoosiers. This bill further erodes Medicaid coverage and SNAP benefits and also involves FSSA in immigration status reporting. It passed the Senate by a vote of yeas 38, nays 8, then had a Hearing Only by the Ways and Means.

ACTION ALERT:https://actionnetwork.org/letters/oppose-sb1-changes-to-medicaid-snap

SB 182: Gender issues.OPPOSE.Defines "female", "male", "gender", and "sex" for all Indiana statutes. Provides that the department of correction shall assign an offender, including a delinquent offender, to a facility or program that is based on the offender's biological sex at birth. Provides the circumstances for when the sex designation on a birth certificate can be amended.It passed easily in the Senate by a vote of Yeas 37, Nays 8.The House Public Health Committee hasn’t scheduled a hearing yet.

ACTION ALERT:https://actionnetwork.org/letters/oppose-sb-182-gender-issues

SB 236:Abortion inducing drugs and abortion reports. OPPOSE. This is the Bounty Hunter bill that would allow any Hoosier to bring a civil suit against anyone in Indiana who possesses or distributes abortion medications with a potential reward of hundreds of thousands of dollars plus attorney fees. In addition, SB236 modifies the definition of an abortion and an abortion inducing drug.It amends the information required to be reported to the Indiana Department of Health concerning an abortion complication and requires the state department to send each abortion complication report to the office of the inspector general.These reports invade the privacy of women who need abortion care especially for an active miscarriage. It passed by a vote of 35 Ayes, 10 Nays. It is now in the hands of the House Public Health Committee.

ACTION ALERT:https://actionnetwork.org/letters/oppose-sb236-abortioninducingdrugsandabortionreports

Women’s Health Advocates Pam Locker, Joanne Evers, Betsy Katchmar, Cathy Rountree

FORGOTTEN FOREMOTHERS

Heather Robinson Scott

Newspapers called her “Dred’s wife,” but Harriet Robinson Scott may have been the real driving force behind one of the country’s most consequential Supreme Court cases.

To read the full article go HERE.

Kathryn Gardiner