'Inside the Statehouse' - Victories for Hoosier Families, A Post Session Wrap-Up

The Institute has made some great progress for our policy agenda this session. In three areas, we were successful in adding to legislation or convincing the General Assembly to further study issues that are vital to working families. Some of our agenda items were introduced but failed to pass this session; we will be discussing those in a forthcoming blog. 

Unemployment Insurance 

• Description: HR 95: Resolution calling for a study committee on the topic of Work Sharing Unemployment Benefits. 
• Action Taken: Adopted. 
• The Institute has been advocating that Indiana adopt a Work Sharing program, and while we have not yet reached this goal, this study committee will give us the opportunity to educate legislators and other stakeholders on the benefits of establishing a Work Sharing program. 
• We'd like to extend our gratitude to Rep. Douglas Gutwein (IN-16) and Rep. Karlee Macer (IN-92) for their hard work on this issue during session. The Institute's research on Work Sharing can be found here. 

Higher Education 

• Description: HB 1314: Proprietary education.
• Action Taken: Signed by the Speaker and the President Pro Tempore, waiting to be signed by the governor.
• This bill was amended to include The "Counting Credentials Amendment", supported by the Institute and the Indiana Skills2Compete Coalition. This amendment would result in a single, measurable statewide post-secondary standard for skill attainment that counts the spectrum of skills outcomes and publishes them annually. 

• Description: SR 87: Resolution calling for the study of part-time student completion. 
• Action Taken:  Filed and passed committee unanimously. 
• Part-time students in Indiana need more support from the State if they are to attain the credentials they seek. Studying the challenges and barriers faced by Indiana's part-time students is the first step to coming up with a meaningful solution that improves student outcomes. The Institute's latest fact sheet on part-time students can be found here. 
• The Institute would like to thank Senator Dennis Kruse (IN-14) and Representative Ed Clere (IN-72) for their hard work this year on improving skills attainments and supporting non-traditional students. 

Asset Development

• Description: HB 1001: The Biennial Budget. 
• Action Taken: Signed by the Speaker and the President Pro Tempore, waiting to be signed by the Governor. 
• The original version of the budget cut the appropriation for the Individual Development Account (IDA) program in half from the last biennium. Indiana boasts one of the most successful programs in the nation and this cut's effects would have been doubled as it would have limited the state's access to federal dollars for this program. Thankfully, the final budget restored the funding to its previous level of $1,000,000. 

The Rest...

Below you will find the rest of the bills we tracked this session, listed by whether or not the bill passed or failed. Click the links below if you are interested in learning more.

Passed Legislation

SB 162: Economic Development Reporting, SB182: State Educational Institutions; Credit Transfers, SB238: Charges for Consumer Loans and Credit Sales, SB305: Child Care Regulation, SB343: Local Government Reorganization, SB406: Post-Secondary Enrollment Opportunities, SB459: Local Government Reorganization, SB465: Indiana Works Councils, SB530: Schedule for Electronic Benefits Transfer, SB532: Higher Education, SB559: Fraud, HB1001: Biennial Budget, HB1002: Indiana Career Councils, HB1003: School Scholarships, HB1004: Early Education Evaluation Programs, HB1011: Public Mass Transportation, HB1067: Federal Fund Exchange Program, HB1170: Training 2000 Program, HB1312: EARN Indiana Program, HB1544: Various Tax Matters, HB1545: Tax Credits, HB1546: Tax Administration.

Failed Legislation*
HJR2: Supermajority Requirement for Tax Increases, SJR4: Governor's Veto, SB019: Local Government Reorganization, SB030: Early Childhood Literacy Pilot Program, SB052: Evaluations of Agencies and Programs, SB054: Redistricting, SB102: Release Time for Public Employee Union Activities, SB110: Use of Consumer Reports for Employment Purposes, SB121: Limitation on Adoption of Agency Rules, SB123: Public Employee Salary Limitation, SB129: Education Roundtable, SB185: Individual Development Accounts, SB192 : Income Tax Rates; SB193: Common Core State Educational Standards*, SB239: Tax Credit for Quality Child Care, SB299: Uses of Credit Reports for Employment Purposes, SB301: Required Curriculum for CCDF Funding, SB302: Redistricting Commission, SB307: Food Stamp Assistance after Drug Conviction, SB408: Single Articulation Pathways, SB413: Electronic Benefit Cash Assistance Access, SB418: Financial Literacy Curriculum*, SB438: Work Sharing Unemployment Benefit, SB461: Vocational Arts Education, SB482: Drug Testing of Public Assistance Recipients, SB488: Tax Credit for Hiring Certain Individuals, SB502: Preschool Education Pilot Program, SB533: Ineligibility for TANF Assistance for Truancy, SB540: Implementation of Federal Affordable Care Act, SB541: Unemployment Insurance Bonds, SB551: Federal Health Care Reform, SB556: SNAP and TANF, SB568: Income Tax Sales Factor, SB584: Individual Income Tax Rate, SB592: Property Tax Exemptions, HB1008: Redistricting Commission, HB1023: Partial Unemployment Benefit, HB1024: Private Sector Impacts of Administrative Rules, HB1039: State Administration, HB1047: Employment Training Priority for Military, HB1048: LIFE Postsecondary Education Scholarships, HB1060: Work Sharing Unemployment Benefit, HB1066: Local Government Reorganization, HB1073: Credit Scoring, HB1097: Right to Work, HB1103: Scholarship Granting Organizations, HB1155: Mortgage Recording Fee, HB1208: Study of Free and Reduced Lunch, HB1216: Tax Credit for Hiring Offenders, HB1218: Bonding At Risk Job Seekers, HB1232: Tuition at State Educational Institutions, HB1247: Waiver of Unemployment Benefit Overpayments, HB1288: Work Sharing Unemployment Benefit, HB1308: Mortgage Foreclosure Counseling and Education Fee, HB1329: Charging of Employer Unemployment Experience Accounts, HB1360: Education and Workforce Roundtable, HB1388: Limitation of Home Rule Power, HB1415: Ineligibility for TANF Assistance for Truancy, HB1416: Tax Credits for Family Caregivers, HB1418: Income Tax Rate Reduction, HB1431: Partial Unemployment Benefit, HB1437: Income Tax Credit for Student Loan Borrowers, HB1439: Affordable Care Study Committee, HB1456: New Employee tax Credit, HB1479: Administration of County Income Taxes, HB1483: Drug Testing on Recipients of Assistance, HB1489: Grants for Green Industry Jobs, HB1521: Tax Increment Funds, HB1541: Various Tax Matters, HB1542: Inheritance Tax, HB1547: Indiana College Graduate Employment Credit, HB1548: Kindergarten Readiness, HB1553: Tax Incentives for New Employees.

*Some items may have been amended into legislation that did pass, the ones that are certain have been marked with an asterisk. Items in which the concept but not the exact details were amended into other legislation are not marked. 

Our Mothers Deserve Better

By Derek Thomas

For Mother's Day, let's start honoring Hoosier moms (and their children) by supporting public policies that not only provide them with the tools necessary for economic mobility, but also reflect our appreciation for their role in promoting strong families. The 21st century has exponentially increased demands on working mothers, yet lawmakers are moving like snails to keep up. So, from the perspective of a public policy institute (that's us), here are some gifts we'd like to give our moms: the ability to balance work, family, and professional responsibilities; time to care for a newborn child; equal pay for equal work; living wages; and healthcare coverage. 

Public Polices For Mothers

Smooth Out the Cliff Effect: A recent report by the Institute looked at the "cliff effect" phenomenon. This occurs when even a $0.50 increase in hourly wages leads to the complete termination of a benefit, and a dramatic net loss of resources. This leads to a situation in which the parent or guardian is working harder, but is financially worse off -  acting as a disincentive towards economic mobility,  The most devastating cliff is the loss of childcare subsidies - where a $0.50 increase in hourly wages leads to a loss of up to $8,500. In Indiana, a number of public policy recommendations in the report could help to smooth out this cliff, thereby rewarding hard work and giving Hoosier families a fair shake at achieving and maintaining economic self-sufficiency. Here's a video highlighting the impact that the Cliff Effect has on "Sarah" - a single mother with two children.  

Poverty among single mothers in Indiana is 35.2% - more than all neighbor states, excluding Kentucky. Moreover, it's rising - Indiana was 1 of 17 states to see increases from 2010 to 2011.

Provide Paid Family Leave: The United States is the only industrialized nation that does not guarantee working mothers paid time off to care for a new child. According to a report released by the Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR): “The evidence is clear: paid parental leave is good for children, for mothers, and for fathers,” said Barbara Gault, Ph.D., Vice President and Executive Director at IWPR. “The absence of paid parental leave is particularly pernicious for low-waged families, hurting both the current and next generation.” In fact, as we noted in our paid family leave policy brief, 25 percent of poverty spells begin with the birth of a child. Here's a fact sheet on the Healthy Families Act currently in Congress.

Raise the Minimum Wage: Indiana is one of eight states in which an increase in the minimum wage to $10.10 would affect the parents of more than a quarter of children. Of those eight states, only four had child poverty rates of more than 25 percent - Indiana being one. In addition, raising the minimum wage would also help close the pay gap - women in Indiana earn 75 cents for every dollar a man makes. Moreover, leisure and hospitality are dominating industry growth in Indiana In fact, the Hoosier state ranks 4th in the nation for states with the highest concentration of food preparation and serving workers, including fast food - an industry that typically employees more women. The Paycheck Fairness Act is another legislative option to reward equal work with equal pay.

Expand Medicaid: A recent report by Save the Children ranked the U.S. as 30th of 176 nations in  the industrialized world for "best places to be a mom."  The report says that the U.S. has the  highest first-day death rate in the industrialized world. An estimated 11,300 newborn babies die each year - 50 percent more first-day deaths than all other industrialized countries combined. In Indiana, infant mortality stands at 7.6 of every 1000 births - tied for 5th highest in U.S. Among leading causes, the report cites high adolescent births, lack of education, and calls for greater investments in healthcare.  Jesse Cross-Call at the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities posted a blog on the benefits of medicaid expansion for mothers, saying that up to 6 million women between the ages of 19 and 44 may become eligible if all states were to expand Medicaid. Unfortunately, in Indiana, lawmakers chose to fund a billion dollar tax cut package with negligible benefits for working families - as opposed to investing $54 million annually over the next decade in Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) for 400,000-ish Hoosiers. The Sergeant Shriver National Center on Poverty Law lists a few ways the ACA is currently helping women:

• Right now, the ACA mandates that most companies provide nursing mothers time and a private place to express milk, allowing mothers to return to work and still ensure their children enjoy the benefits of breast milk. While the benefits to the baby are numerous,mothers also benefit from breastfeeding, with decreased sick days and lower incidences of postpartum depression, obesity, and breast and ovarian cancers.        
• Children up to age 26 can now be covered on their parents’ insurance plans, creating peace of mind for parents of young adults. 
• Currently, free preventative services, like mammograms and cervical cancer screenings, help moms stay healthy for their families. Pregnant women can now also receive a screening for gestational diabetes. 

Contact your federal and state legislators and tell them that you support your mothers and families. Ask them to do the same!

The Painful and Irresponsible Sequester in Indiana

By: Claire Linnemeier and Derek Thomas

Sequestration is a package of automatic spending cuts enacted under the Budget Control Act (BCA) of 2011. Due to disagreements over fiscal policy during the 2011 federal budget showdown, the automatic triggers – equal to $85.3 billion – were proposed by President Obama and supported by a majority of both parties in Congress to incentivize an agreement. 

  

Below are details of the effects that budget cuts have had on the State of Indiana thus far. We’ll continue updating this list as the news comes in (for comparison, here are the White House estimates of the sequester effects on Indiana, and a press release from Governor Pence on the state's proposed attempts at mitigating the effects).

• Head Start programs in Franklin and Columbus have resorted to a lottery system to determine which students would be cut from the program, and other agencies are reporting a likely termination of summer programs and staff, including Bloomington. Being only 1 of only 11 states that do not have state-funded pre-kindergarten programs, and high rates of child poverty,      Indiana’s federal and state lawmakers should act swiftly to ensure the protection our of most vulnerable Hoosier children.

• The National Institutes of Health estimated that the $1.5 billion in federal funding for medical research will not only result in direct and indirect job loss, but will have a  "disproportionate impact on our academic medical center and our ability to care for our sickest and most vulnerable patients, both now and in the future."

• Vulnerable seniors in rural Indiana that depend on the Meals on Wheels program for food delivery will have to find alternative methods of food delivery  as a result of the 10% cut to the program.

• The Indianapolis Housing Agency has declared a nine-day furlough of its employees and is freezing hiring and capital expenditures. 

• On March 21^st, the FAA announced that it would be closing two airport control towers in the Gary and Columbus airports.  On April 15^th, a handful of flights were cancelled or delayed as a result of the FAA furloughing 47,000 employees.
• Update: Just Plane Crazy: Congress Protects FAA, Not Kids.

• Federally extended unemployment benefits have been cut for the long-term unemployed by 10.7%. Of the 8.7% of unemployed Hoosiers, 33.5% have been unemployed for more than 26 weeks – defined as long-term unemployed.

• The Fort Wayne Housing Authority has some serious concerns and states that the funds they get for their program are currently running at only 64% of what they were and could result in cuts to low-income housing vouchers.

• The Wall St. Journal reported today that “defense spending tumbled by 33.2%, possibly reflecting spending cuts known as the sequester” – signaling a likely continuation of the activity listed below:

• The South Shore Air Show in Hammond, Indiana is still debating whether or not to schedule their show in lieu of the sequestration.
• For the Indianapolis 500, there will not be any scheduled federally funded flyovers during the race or any active duty military parades. 
• In Crane, Indiana employees at the Crane Naval base protested the eventual long-term pay freeze and furlough resulting in a 20% cut in pay.
• One thousand full-time guard staffers from Indiana National Guard are preparing for furloughs - resulting in a 20% pay reduction for 14 weeks.

Congress’ inability to come to an agreement will  have a disproportionate effect on low-income Hoosier families. These reckless and widespread cuts, along with a failure by state and federal lawmakers to prioritize our most vulnerable working families, children and seniors, will only further exacerbate the declining status of Hoosier families. This is especially true at a time when Indiana is in the company of just a few states where both unemployment and poverty are still on the rise - the unemployment rate is a full percentage point above the national rate, more than 1 million in poverty, and 2.24 million below levels of economic self-sufficiency.

New Tax Cut Proposal - Same Regressive Story

By: Derek Thomas

Last week, the Indiana Senate Appropriations Committee approved a 3% reduction in the states personal income tax  (from 3.4% to 3.3%), for a total cost of $150 million annually. 

Equal to the Governor's proposal in its regressive distribution, more than half (55%) of the 3% cut would flow to the best-off 20% of Indiana residents, while the bottom 60% would see 23% of the cuts, and the poorest 20% would receive just 2% of the cut. Currently, Indiana ranks as the 9th most regressive tax system in the nation (with the 7th highest taxes on the poor). Combining all of the state and local income, property, sales and excise taxes, the average overall effective tax rates for Hoosiers, by income group are:

• 12.3 percent for the bottom 20 percent
• 10.8 percent for the middle 20 percent
• 5.4 percent for the top one percent 

According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, if the 3% cut had been in effect in 2012: the poorest 20% of Hoosiers would see an average tax cut of just $6 per year; the middle 20% of Hoosiers would receive a tax cut of $33 annually and; the top 1% of taxpayers would see cuts averaging over $694 per year. 

At a time when poverty is still rising in Indiana, Hoosiers cannot afford a tax policy that shifts the responsibility of funding government services toward middle and low-income Hoosiers.  To reflect the realities of struggling working-poor families, and to help more Hoosiers close the gap between stagnant wages and the cost of the most basic needs, the state should seek to provide relief to those with the largest burdens. 

ACTION ALERT: Family Asset-Building Program at Risk

The Issue: The Indiana House of Representatives has proposed a state budget that slashes funding for the successful Individual Development Account (IDA) program in half. Despite tough economic times, until now Indiana has protected this important tool for Hoosier families by providing the minimum $1 million needed to meet the mission of the program. However, the proposed budget would cut that funding by half to $500,000. Compounding the problem, while Indiana currently receives $1 million from the federal Assets to Independence Demonstration Program, continued receipt of this grant requires a dollar-for-dollar match with state funds. In addition to lost state support, Hoosier families would lose access to the federal grant if the state does not do its part to match $1 million in state appropriations for    the IDA program.

IDA programs consist of matched savings accounts that enable low-income families to save, build assets, and enter the financial mainstream. Savers are matched $3 for each $1 of earned income deposited by qualifying individuals, up to $400 matched annually each year, for a maximum of four years. Additional matching beyond the $3 to $1 is provided as resources permit. Currently, IDAs can be used to purchase one of three economic assets including: purchasing or rehabilitating a home, pursuing post-secondary education, or opening a small business. In order to purchase these assets, savers must successfully complete a financial literacy program which teaches skills to successfully manage their asset, and also builds financial skills with benefits that promote economic stability extending far beyond the matching period. Despite the downturn in the national and state economies, over 93 percent of Indiana’s IDA participants fully met their savings requirement in each of the past five years. 

What You Can Do: Ask your state representative to support a 2nd amendment reading amendment to appropriate no less than $1 million a year for the state's IDA program. Call 800-382-9842 or email NOW!

If you do not know who your representative is, look up your representative at www.in.gov/apps/sos/legislator/search/

Announcing 'Assets and Opportunities Network': An Initiative of IIWF, LISC and IACED

WHO?     Working alongside the Indiana Association for Community Economic Development (IACED), and the Local Initiative's Support Corporation (LISC) the Institute is pleased to announce the Indiana Assets & Opportunity Network (Network).

WHAT?

The mission of the Network is to increase asset acquisition for low-wealth families and to strengthen local economies. The Network will deliver on its mission through policy advocacy and capacity building with local asset-building organizations and coalitions. The Network believes in financial education, access to mainstream financial services, and policies that provide income supports and asset acquisition.

WHY?
Prosperity in the 21st Century is based on creating and maintaining a sustainable standard of living and a high quality of life for all Hoosiers  To meet this challenge  comprehensive strategies are required. These strategies recognize the investment potential of the three sectors - public, private, and social sector. Comprehensiveness also recognizes the interdependence of family success, community prosperity, and economic competitiveness  Collaborative work across sectors creates conditions for economic growth and employment generation.  Currently, Indiana ranks 36th in the U.S. across 53 measures of the ability of its residents to achieve financial security. Here's a snapshot of Indiana data:

You can see the full 2012 Scorecard here.

Note: The 2013 Scorecard will be released on January 30th. To register for the release, please click here.

WHAT (can you do)?

Stay informed by visiting our website here. be sure to sign up for email alerts!

For  local asset-building organizations interested in partnering with the Asset and Opportunity network of Indiana, please click here.

WHAT (can Indiana do)?

1. Increase Incomes and Encourage Savings: To address high income and asset poverty rates and boost net worth, Indiana should expand its Earned Income Tax Credit to maximize income for low-wage workers, and remove the disincentive for low-income families to save by lifting asset limits in public benefit programs.
2. Protect Homeowners and Stabilize Communities: To address the high foreclosure and delinquent mortgage loan rates, Indiana should strengthen its policies around foreclosure prevention and protections.
3. Create Jobs through Self-Employment: To help address unemployment and underemployment, Indiana should support microenterprises to create jobs through self-employment.

Additional policies are available on the Scorecard, here.