2/11/2022 Newsletter

Legislative Updates and Action Alerts

This week we worked on HB1294 which deals with using the least restraint necessary during the second and third trimesters of an inmate's pregnancy.  This is already a practice in federal facilities, but our state facilities has not adopted it yet.  The bill successfully passed out of committee and goes to the Senate floor.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits have been under attack this session (HB 1354 and HB 1410) and we are working with community groups like Feeding Indiana's Hungry (FISH) to help preserve these benefits for our most at risk citizens.  We've helped blunt many of the worst parts of this legislation and will continue to work on this language as it moves to the Senate. There should be more updates soon.
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HB 1134 (Education matters) is still on our radar. HB1134 bans critical race theory from being discussed in schools, hence curbing freedom of speech in classrooms when it comes to race and institutionalized racism. It also burdens our teachers with additional workload and insinuates lack of trust. We are still watching to see if it will get a hearing and if so kill the bill.  It could get a hearing Wednesday but the legislators know this is a deeply unpopular bill and there is still a possibility it doesn't  get heard in committee. 29 letters were sent to state senators across the state, voicing your concerns regarding this bill. Your calls and emails are making a difference! If you haven't contacted your senator yet, please do so by clicking on this link: 

Urge Your Senator to Vote NO on 1134

Finally, Senate Joint Resolution 14 (SJR14), which would have amended the Indiana Constitution to give responsibility for state and Congressional redistricting to a politically balanced citizens commission, was denied a hearing in the Senate Elections Committee, despite the fact that committee members heard hundreds of citizens call for such a commission during the redistricting hearings last year.  On Monday, SJR14 will be debated in the Senate Elections Committee, during which Senator Qaddoura will propose an amendment to create a summer study committee to explore how redistricting is done in other states and propose reform for Indiana.

We want to make sure the committee chairman and members hear from their constituents. If any of the committee members is your legislator, please urge them to support the amendment by clicking on the below link: 
Senator Jon Ford - Terre Haute
Senator Linda Rogers - Saint Joseph and Elkhart counties
Senator John Crane - Hendricks and Putnam counties
Senator Stacy Donato - Cass, Fulton, Miami, Carroll counties
Senator Eric Koch - Lawrence, Monroe, Bartholomew, Jackson, Brown counties
Senator Greg Walker - Bartholomew and Johnson counties
Senator J.D. Ford - Hamilton and Marion counties
Senator Fady Qaddoura - Hamilton and Marion counties

Urge your Senator to Support SRJ14 Amendment

Thank you for taking action with us. 

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Meeting with Marion County Prosecutor Mears

On Tuesday, February 8, 2022, a group of inner-city Muslims met with Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears to uplift their experiences and discuss a set of policy priorities that can bring positive impact to all communities. At the meeting, we lifted up a set of policy priorities, including:

• Data Transparency on racial inequity in pre-textual stops. 
• Robust Crisis Response System that provides alternatives to incarceration for those struggling with mental illness, substance use, and homelessness. 
• Pre-Trial assessment and release. We applaud initial steps already taken by the prosecutor's office to hire pretrial officers and we hope that this capacity is scaled up.
• Cultural Competency training. We welcome the initiative that the prosecutor’s office has already started to train 400 prosecutors within Marion County and we hope to see religious diversity included in the training. 

This meeting is part of the Muslim organizing project led by IMAN Associates, Faith in Indiana and Masjid Alfajr, to empower the community and amplify the Muslim voice. We thank everyone for their participation and we look forward to future opportunities to continue to build bridges and make our communities safe. 

Interested in joining the next meeting? 

Email Us