Tune into season five of the Statehouse Express, the podcast of the Indiana Non-Public Education Association. Each week, INPEA leaders update on the previous week in the Indiana General Assembly and forecast the coming week. Get caught up on what's happening at the Statehouse in 10 minutes or less!
Tune into season five of the Statehouse Express, the podcast of the Indiana Non-Public Education Association. Each week, INPEA leaders update on the previous week in the Indiana General Assembly and forecast the coming week. Get caught up on what's happening at the Statehouse in 10 minutes or less!
Statehouse Express: Season 5, Episode 1
Hi I’m John Elcesser, Executive Director here at INPEA, and welcome back to Season 5 of the Statehouse Express! And yes, it’s that time again! Legislators from around the State reconvened at the Statehouse on January 8th for what is referred to as a short session because it is not a budget year. Not being a budget year means that no bills will be passed that have a cost associated with them (at least a cost not already in last year’s budget).
With that said, it doesn’t mean necessarily that it’s going to a quiet year. There will be plenty of bills filed and we’ll be watching closely for any impact on non-public schools. We are currently tracking about 50 bills.
Every year we have to be play defense and this year will be no different. There are already bills that are raising red flags. The House Education Committee held its first meeting on January 10th and Senate Education Committee met for the first time last week. Because it’s a short session, things move quickly!
As you would expect, there will be lots of attention on literacy, work force development, absenteeism and a sundry of other topics.
On January 10th the House Ed heard four bills:
Last week 9 bills were heard across the two committees.
We really encourage elementary schools to familiarize themselves with their the bill and to reach out to their elected representatives with comment and feedback,
Another bill that has drawn significant attention is Senator Ryan Mishler’s SB 255. This bill would sundown the choice scholarship program and replace it another ESA type program. This bill was heard last week with limited testimony, and there was no vote taken on it. He was just planting the seed. Senator Mishler has said he will bring it back next year during a budget year. We continue to study the proposal and will be engaging schools in this conversation and encourage your advocacy around the bill prior to next session.
It can go without saying that advocacy and your engagement this session will again be critical! WE will NEED you! So appoint your legislative liaison and set your public policy goals. Be ready for when INPEA legislative alerts are sent out!
In our last mailing you received a link to this year’s advocacy video. PLEASE show it to your boards and other stakeholder groups. We’ll need everyone’s help this year and as we look to 2025!
So until next week’s episode of the Statehouse Express. Be well and God bless!