The legislative session is approaching midpoint.We are nearing "Crossover". For those who are new to the legislative process, a bill must be passed out of its chamber (House/Senate) of origin by Crossover to continue on its way. If it does not, the bill is dead. This means, a House bill (labeled HB) must be out of the House by that time; same with Senate bills (labeled as SB). Some committees wrapped up their hearings last week while some still have some final hearings this week along followed by final floor debate before the first half of this year’s session ends. Due to the tight hearing schedules of this short session, we anticipate many bills to die on the House and Senate floors. Redistricting Reform bills need committee hearings!The Chairs of the Elections Committee in both the House and Senate have not assigned yet committee hearings for redistricting reform bills filed in either chamber, which will make it very difficult to have a redistricting process in place in 2021. The two bills IMAN Associates, alongside other coalition partners at All IN for Democracy, are pushing to pass this legislative session are: SB293 is the redistricting transparency legislation that the All IN for Democracy coalition wrote with Senator John Ruckelshaus. It would create a redistricting website that citizens could use to access census data and mapping software to draw their own districts and submit them to the General Assembly for consideration. HB1024 is the redistricting commission legislation sponsored by Rep. Jerry Torr and based on the study committee draft from 2016. The housing crisis in Central Indiana: we are looking for answers.Increasing affordable housing for our community members and Hoosiers at large has been one of the key issues that IMAN Associates has explored lately. As we dig deeper into this broad, complicated issue, it becomes evident that the the lack of tenant friendly bills as well as affordable housing, in addition to limitations on habitability and accessibility of homes, have led to high eviction rates in central Indiana. In April 2019, we hosted Sen. Jim Merritt to discuss the lack of affordable housing in Central Indiana and the legislative fixes to this problem. This legislative session, we are monitoring the following bills that tackle this issue: HB 1191 (Rep. Clere): The bill will add in some needed disclosures on land contracts. HB 1103 (Rep. Shackleford): Addresses tenants rights. No hearing scheduled. SB 359 (Sen. Merritt): Amends the statute concerning landlord-tenant relations. No hearing scheduled. SB 442 (Sen. Melton): Makes changes to the residential landlord-tenant statute. No hearing scheduled. HB 1012 (Rep. Chyung): Repeal on Section 8 City Ban. No hearing scheduled. SB 253 (Sen. Ford): Provides more disclosures in land contracts for consumers. No hearing scheduled. SB 137 (Sen. Lanane): Adds sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination protections into fair housing and civil rights laws. No hearing scheduled. SB 292 (Sen. Sandlin): Property tax relief in so-called gentrifying areas. SB 292 was scheduled for “amend and vote” on Tues, Jan 21 before Senate Tax and Fiscal Policy but was held. We want to hear from you!We are excited about 2020 and all it has to offer us! And because we can't do it alone, we want to make sure you get involved in our big plans! Let's start by asking you this question: What role do you want IMAN Associates to play in the Indiana political arena in 2020? We will provide you with some options, but most importantly, we want to hear from you. So, please check "Other" as well and share with us your thoughts! Ready, set, click away! Community Corner:
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