Blue 812 News Issue 11

Mar 09, 2025

Last Tuesday night, Trump gave his second Joint Address to Congress (what the State of the Union is called during a President’s first year in office). It was the longest such speech in history at over 90 minutes, but he needed time for all of his lies, I suppose. NPR did a fact check of the whole speech, I’d like to draw your attention to some connections to the Hoosier state amongst the noise:

Trump mentioned ‘growth in the auto industry’ and ways major car companies will be changing their business practices to avoid his tariffs. He said, “In fact, already, numerous car companies have announced that they will be building massive automobile plants in America, with Honda just announcing a new plant in Indiana, one of the largest anywhere in the world.” However, a Honda spokesperson stated: "Honda has made no such announcement and will not comment on this report…The Honda Civic has been made in our Indiana Auto Plant [currently, Honda operates one production plant in Greensburg, Indiana.] since the facility opened in 2008 based on our longstanding approach to build products close to the customer.". More at IndyStar

Also in the speech, Trump called for Congress to undo the CHIPS and Sciences Act, a major piece of bipartisan legislation championed by Indiana Senator Todd Young. Young worked on the legislation for years prior to its passage in 2022. In a 2024 opinion for IndyStar, Young wrote that the CHIPS Act's efforts to bring semiconductor production back to the U.S. is important for the country's economy and national security. During the speech, Trump said, "Your CHIPS Act is a horrible, horrible thing.” Young has not posted any public response to Trump's criticism of the CHIPS Act, which includes more than $4 billion of investment in Indiana. More at IndyStar

The only part of the speech that really broke through to the mainstream was Rep. Al Green’s (D-TX) outburst and expulsion from the chamber. Following the speech, the House voted to censure Rep Al Green (D-TX) for interrupting Trump’s address to yell that POTUS didn’t have a mandate to cut Medicaid. Censures are formal condemnations, but they don’t otherwise come with punishments. 10 Democrats (Reps. Ami Bera (Calif.), Ed Case (Hawaii), Jim Costa (Calif.), Laura Gillen (N.Y.), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Wash.), Jim Himes (Conn.), Chrissy Houlahan (Pa.), Marcy Kaptur (Ohio), Jared Moskowitz (Fla.) and Tom Suozzi (N.Y.).) joined Republicans to censure their colleague.

Did you get married and change your last name? If so, Republicans in Congress are trying to make it harder for you to vote. In case you missed it, the “Safeguard American Voter Eligibility” (SAVE) Act has been reintroduced in Congress, but the name is deceiving because it will do nothing to make elections safer.

The SAVE Act would require all eligible Americans to provide proof of citizenship by presenting a passport or birth certificate when registering to vote. This is in addition to voter ID laws that already exist in most states (including Indiana), so it’s not needed at all.

The SAVE Act is deceptively named (surprise, surprise) because its purpose is actually to disenfranchise millions of eligible voters. Right now, over 21.3 million people lack easy access to documents that prove citizenship like a passport, U.S. birth certificate, naturalization certificate, or citizenship certificate. These new requirements will have a disproportionate impact on people of color and young and elderly people, all populations who are more likely to have problems accessing these documents. The bill also burdens military voters, tribal voters, rural voters, survivors of natural disasters and the millions of married people in America who have changed their names. Additionally, members of the LGBTQ+ community – particularly trans Americans who have gone through the process of changing their legal name and therefore can no longer use their birth certificate for proof of eligibility and citizenship – would be impacted.

If passed, many voters wouldn’t be able to register to vote with just their driver’s license, they would need an Enhanced Driver's License or other forms of documentation like a U.S. passport or birth certificate.

→ The SAVE Act is a dangerous anti-voter bill and it will not make our elections safer. Urge your members of Congress to vote NO on this terrible bill. (from MomsRising)

→BONUS POINTS: Represent.US, a leading nonpartisan grassroots organization fighting for a government accountable to the people, are working hard to stop the SAVE Act by running phone banks in which volunteers call people in red districts and help them call THEIR reps to ask them to oppose the bill. They need more volunteers! You can sign up for a time slot here.

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Congress is on recess and back in their home districts this week! But after getting yelled at by angry constituents, the NRCC chair told lawmakers to stop holding town halls.

From Indivisible:

CALL YOUR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS RIGHT NOW AND DEMAND AN IN-PERSON TOWN HALL. If Republicans want to vote to gut the social safety net and hand billions to Elon Musk, they should have to face their constituents and explain themselves. As for Democrats, we need them to be out there, loudly, explaining to their constituents what’s going on and how they’re going to fight back.

Use Indivisible’s Town Hall call tool and scripts to:

IF THEY WON’T SHOW UP, START PLANNING YOUR EMPTY CHAIR TOWN HALL. We will call them out. We will invite the press. We will make sure every voter in their district knows exactly what kind of coward they are (just for fun, we came across this video we did back in 2017 on putting together an empty chair town hall, and figured you'd also like to see it). And if your Republican senator or representative is dodging, reach out to a neighboring Democrat to stand in for them at your empty chair town hall.

A video showing federal agents forcing two Honduran men from their company van in Indianapolis and detaining them without providing a reason for the traffic stop is sparking questions and conversation about immigration enforcement on social media. The cellphone video shows the men being confronted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents before the traffic stop escalates into a forceful arrest. More at IndyStar

Governor Braun caused confusion earlier this week when he announced two orders impacting transgender Hoosiers. Braun initially told reporters an order wouldn't impact driver's licenses for transgender people, saying there'd been no declaration on that and "what else might be impacted by it remains to be seen."

But that wasn't true. Not only would the order result in the elimination of the X gender option at the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles, but it could restrict transgender Hoosiers from getting an Indiana driver's license that uses a gender identity that's different from the sex they were assigned at birth. The administration later clarified that Braun had misspoke. The mix-up raised questions about whether Braun was unaware of the impact of his own executive order. More at IndyStar

We are in the second half of the legislative session! Bills that have been passed by their chamber have switched to the opposite chamber, where they have been assigned to a new committee, and the legislative process repeats. If you have a comment about a House bill (starts with HB), now you'll need to contact your State Senator, and your State Rep for comments on Senate bills (start with SB).

The House Ways and Means Committee met last Wednesday for a marathon meeting to hear SB 1 and SB 518. The meeting lasted an amazing nine hours (until well past 10pm), and roughly 150 people signed up to testify. These two bills are closely linked as they both address the issue of property taxes.

SB 1 claims to provide property tax relief by allowing homeowners to defer property taxes and capping property tax growth, but, it will cost local communities $1.4 billion in lost revenue. The plan does not offer a replacement revenue stream. Plus, it does not offer relief for renters, who have also experienced increased in housing costs, and, it restricts schools to referendums every two years. Expect SIGNIFICANT amendments to this bill. Contact Ways & Means committee chairman, Rep. Jeff Thompson [email protected] / 317-232-9651 ASK FOR: lawmakers to identify revenue replacements. They should also improve and stabilize school funding, so schools aren't dependent on referendums to pay for projects, and lawmakers should create direct relief for property owners facing financial hardship, rather than deferring taxes that could create future financial burdens.

SB 518 would, among other things, require many traditional public schools to share a portion of their property tax revenue with certain charter schools. While it would dramatically impact Indianapolis Public Schools, this would also impact at least 50 or more other traditional public school districts. The bill, combined with other property tax measures in SB 1, could create serious financial challenges for traditional public schools, forcing them to reduce essential services. Contact Ways & Means committee chairman, Rep. Jeff Thompson [email protected] / 317-232-965

SB 10 and SB 287 are bad Elections bills.

SB 382 was brought up in the most recent Nasty Women meeting. Since this bill is basically Vigo County-specific, I don’t have a lot of information on it or its impacts. You can get some info from this Feb. 2nd article in the Indiana Economic Digest.

A Senate committee this week unanimously advanced HB 1137 that would allow courts to expunge a person's red flag law record if a judge determines they are no longer dangerous. Indiana’s law was one of the first of its kind in the United States when it was passed over twenty years ago, and was seen as a common sense gun measure. The law, however, came under scrutiny about four years ago when it was discovered a gunman who fatally shot eight people at FedEx facility in Indianapolis previously had a gun seized under the red flag law.

from Indiana Community Action Poverty Institute:

A big CONGRATS to Nasty Women of Vigo County captain Jamie Drendel for being elected Treasurer of the 8th district Democrats!

Now that we know Dave Crooks (812.617.0179) and Cheryl Schultz (812.459.7645) are re-elected, we can make sure they know our thoughts on who should be State Chair. You can contact them at their numbers above to share your support for Destiny Wells plus email [email protected] (Women’s Caucus chair) prior to March 15th.

On a related note, Jennifer McCormick has dropped out of the race for State Chair, and Dr. Valerie McCray has joined the race. Both of those videos are from @corrinestraight, who you can follow here: YouTube | Instagram | TikTok | website

From Nasty Women of Vigo County:

A recent School Board meeting got some attention when a book in the HS curriculum, The Hate U Give was challenged by a "concerned" parent who, instead of simply requesting an alternative selection for their child, has put in motion the possibility that no one's children will be able to read this book in a classroom environment, with appropriate scaffolding and discussion.

The supporting speakers were incredibly eloquent. (the recent board meeting is on YouTube, and the discussion of the book The Hate U Give starts at 1:47:00.)

Let's back them up by sending emails to the board members voicing our support for our teachers understanding of curriculum and expertise and our students, who need literature to develop as empathetic, responsible, engaged adult citizens.

Note from board member Carey LaBella:

EMAIL ADDRESSES:

PROPOSED SCRIPT:

Dear Member of the Vigo County School Board,

My name is _________________________, and I write in response to the recent “controversy” surrounding the teaching the award-winning YA book The Hate U Give (2017) by Angie Thomas. Several eloquent speakers championed this book’s inclusion in the 9th grade curriculum during the school board meeting on March 3. These educators, students, and parents made compelling arguments, which I hope spoke to you.

I would like to encourage you to read the entire novel, not simply read or pull “questionable” quotations out of context. I ask that you spend the time to familiarize yourself with its complex themes of the need to speak up and out when faced with wrong-doing and of the need to engage peacefully when exercising one’s First Amendment rights as messages that young people coming of age in 2025 desperately need to mature into responsible, conscientious members of society. I would like to strongly encourage you to support this novel’s inclusion in the 9th grade curriculum because it serves Vigo County students and falls right in line with the Vigo County School Corporation’s Vision statement: “Working together with our community, we inspire our students to discover their talents and rise to their greatest potential” and Mission statement: “Building on the strengths of our diverse community, we create an engaging, comprehensive educational environment that supports the growth of lifelong learners,” both of which are front and center on its website.

I would further ask that you support this book because supporting this book demonstrates genuine support for the experienced, valuable teachers in our corporation who have chosen it for this unit of study and who work so hard to prepare students to engage actively with its content. We entrust our corporation’s teachers with our students 180 days per year, and we need to show them that we respect their professional credentials and experience.

The last comment I would like to make is the reminder that there is already a protocol in place for parents who are uncomfortable with a text to communicate their discomfort and for their child to be given an alternative. The educators who spoke at the meeting on March 3 both discussed previous experiences accommodating those requests. Why remove an award-winning book from the curriculum when concerned parents can have accommodations made for their own child? As a community member, I want Vigo County teachers to lead their classroom curriculum, not a small handful of parents who have no experience in education or literary studies.

Thank you for your time and your continued support of our county’s students and educators.

Sincerely, your name

In late February, the Vigo County Capital Improvement Board continued discussions regarding potential renovations of the Indiana Theatre.

Vigo County Commissioner Chris Switzer said that they proposed a 4-million-dollar project to get a new roof, needed masonry work, interior lobby improvements, new bathrooms, and other general maintenance. The proposal involves funding the project with food and beverage tax dollars, because CIB members said they want to use that money to continue to fund tourism. According to the TribStar article on this topic (beware, paywalled), the other option is to raze the building.

Terre Haute Farmers Market, held in front of the Meadows Shopping Center, 2800 Poplar St. is starting up for the 2025 season. The market will be held on Saturdays from 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. on March 15, April 5 and 19, and May 3. With the upcoming tariffs, the market could be a good way to avoid extra costs and get to know some new community members.

A National Parks employee on BlueSky is asking us to sign this petition from the National Parks Conservation Association, requesting the Trump Administration reverse their draconian cuts to National Parks staff.

Nasty Women discussed showing up en masse to local meetings, maybe starting with School Board meetings. @mrs.frazzled posted a guide for showing up to meetings and how to prepare. The next School Board meeting is March 24th at 6pm. Regular Meetings are usually held in the Administration Building Board Room at 501 W. Olive St., West Terre Haute, IN and are open to the public.

You probably get emails all the time asking you to sign this petition to do X. Sometimes those are translated into emails or other messages to your legislator! YAY! Sometimes those are just ways to build up an email list to send you one hundred emails or texts per day. BOO!

I try to only include click-to-sign items that actually go to our elected representatives, and aren’t just trying to add you to a mailing list. How do I know? I have sacrificed my inbox to the cause, lol. But really, there are a couple of things I look for before I click the button:

March 10th: "What Now? A Citizen's Call to Faithful Action." A number of speakers will share information on specific issues and there will be a time for participants to ask questions. Feel free to invite anyone you know who wants to better understand recent political shifts and want to find reasonable, faithful responses and actions we can take to protect local people. 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM at Central Christian Church (DoC) 4950 Wabash Avenue

March 15th: St. Patrick’s Day parade. Walk with VigoDems! Line up begins at noon in the parking lot north of Baesler’s. Parade is at 1:00pm. Democrats’ Day of Service for March will be picking up debris/trash along the parade route directly afterwards. Supplies will be available at the end of the parade route (near 19th and Poplar). The tram will be available for anyone that would prefer to ride the route.

March 21st: Vigo County Democrat Party meeting ‘event’. 5:30pm at VFW Post 972 (1111 Veteran’s Way)

March 27th: Nasty Women of Vigo County. 5-7pm in meeting room C, VCPL Main Branch. Pamphlet Club reading assignment is the Precinct Committee Chair Handbook

Gov. Braun has expanded paid parental leave for state employees!

The USDA was ordered to reinstate almost 6000 fired workers!

The Supreme Court rejected Trump’s bid to keep billions of dollars of foreign aid frozen!