These week, Institute staff worked hard to send loud and clear messages to members of the Indiana House of Representatives about the best (and worst) strategies to help struggling Hoosiers. Can you take three minutes TODAY to amplify the messages?

#REJECT SB 613

Indiana prides itself on being "business friendly," but that shouldn't extend to payday lenders who take advantage of financially distressed Hoosiers with 192% APR loans.

Senate Bill 613 throws the state's doors wide open to payday and subprime lenders. It guts our criminal loansharking statute, invites a 'new breed' of lender into our state, and raises the allowable costs and rates on many, many types of loans. It will put more Hoosiers at risk of default, bankruptcy, and foreclosure and strain the limited resources of neighborhoods, social service agencies, churches, and friends and family who ultimately support Hoosiers in financial crisis.

It has been called "the single most negative piece of consumer credit legislation" seen in Indiana in over forty years by a retired deputy director of the Indiana Department of Financial Institutions who now serves alongside the Institute as as an Indiana Assets and Opportunity Network steering committee member.

The Institute joined many other veterans' groups, faith leaders, social service agencies, and community groups at a press conference Monday to oppose the bill. You can read more about the press conference here, and see the media coverage to date on the Indiana Assets and Opportunity Network website. You can also watch Institute Senior Policy Analyst Erin Macey discuss SB 613 and the need for payday loan reform on WFYI's Indiana Lawmakers.

At the conclusion of the press conference, Tanya Bell, President and CEO of Indiana Black Expo, Inc. summed up SB 613 by saying, "Making loansharking legal under the guise of helping is absurd." We couldn't agree more.



AMPLIFY THE MESSAGE: Contact your House representative and tell them to vote no on SB 613. You can also contact Chairman Burton, who could single-handedly kill the bill by refusing to give it a hearing, at h58@iga.in.gov or 317-234-3827.

IT'S ABOUT TIME! SB 440 TRANSFORMS TANF.

Senate Bill 440, which would give TANF its first eligibility and cost of living adjustment since 1988, received a hearing on Tuesday. Jessica Fraser, Director of the Institute, testified in support, noting that the program offers struggling Hoosiers a very limited window of assistance - two years in a lifetime - to get on their feet and in family-sustaining employment. But with eligibility and benefit levels that have eroded to 16% of the federal poverty guidelines, next to no-one can qualify for or benefit from the program.


SB 440 also received support from Covering Kids and Families, Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and Feeding Indiana's Hungry. Chairman Frizzell held the bill to seek answers to lingering questions about the use of federal TANF dollars.

AMPLIFY THE MESSAGE: Join us in using social media to share photos or favorite memories from 1988 to illustrate the need for change. Use the hashtag #TransformTANF.

ALSO, PLEASE HEAR SB 210 and HB 1141.

These two bills would make it easier for Hoosiers with suspended licenses to get back on the road with a valid license. SB 210 temporarily reduces license reinstatement fees and HB 1141 creates a traffic amnesty program for fines and fees. 

AMPLIFY THE MESSAGE: Contact committee chairs to ask that these bills receive a hearing. SB 210 has been assigned to House Roads and Transportation, Chair Holli Sullivan, 800-382-9841. HB 1141 has been assigned to Senate Tax and Fiscal, Chair Travis Holdman, 800-382-9467.

AND THANK YOU!

Earlier this week, we sent an appeal for donations to support our advocacy. It is your generosity that enables us to bring our research to the statehouse and call for change.

THANK YOU for your support of our efforts! 

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This is Institute Director, Jessica Fraser, in 1988 at age 7.

"It’s not clear to me whether or not the proposal we have on the table today would meet the needs of the low-income Hoosiers who most need support as they start families, have medical needs, or must provide eldercare. However, I want to thank Senator Tallian and Senator Ruckelshaus for putting an idea on the table. Because it is clear to me that the status quo needs to change."

HB1216		FIRST STEPS PROGRAM (CLERE E) Provides that, for purposes of determining a family's income under the first steps program, a family is presumed to have an income that is not more than 250% of the federal income poverty level if the family is receiving benefits under Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. Makes an appropriation to the first steps program.
		Current Status:		2/5/2019 - House Ways and Means, (Bill Scheduled for Hearing); Time & Location: 10:30 AM, Rm. 404
		Recent Status:		1/15/2019 - added as coauthors Representatives Karickhoff, Behning, Hamilton 1/10/2019 - Referred to House Ways and Means
		State Bill Page:		HB1216
HB1350		ABLE ACCOUNT TAX CREDIT (CLERE E) Creates a stand-alone credit for contributions to Indiana ABLE accounts. Provides that a taxpayer is entitled to a credit against adjusted gross income tax equal to the least of: (1) 20% of the amount of the total contributions made by the taxpayer to an account or accounts of an Indiana ABLE 529A savings plan during the taxable year; (2) $1,000; or (3) the amount of the taxpayer's adjusted gross income tax for the taxable year, reduced by the sum of all allowable credits. Provides that a taxpayer is not entitled to a carryback, carryover, or refund of an unused credit. Provides that a taxpayer may not sell, assign, convey, or otherwise transfer the tax credit. Provides that an account owner of an Indiana ABLE 529A savings plan must repay all or a part of the credit in a taxable year in which any nonqualified withdrawal is made. Provides that a rollover of assets or transfer of assets to an Indiana ABLE 529A account is a qualified withdrawal from a college choice 529 education savings plan.
		Current Status:		2/5/2019 - House Ways and Means, (Bill Scheduled for Hearing); Time & Location: 10:30 AM, Rm. 404
		Recent Status:		1/28/2019 - added as coauthor Representative Heaton 1/14/2019 - Coauthored by Representatives Schaibley and Porter
		State Bill Page:		HB1350
HB1432		PARENTAL INCARCERATION (MACER K) Provides that a parent who is incarcerated must be allowed to participate in person in child in need of services (CHINS) proceedings regarding the parent's child. Provides that a CHINS case plan must include a description and discussion of: (1) the services and treatment available to an incarcerated parent at the facility at which the parent is incarcerated; and (2) how the parent and child will be afforded visitation opportunities, unless visitation with the parent is not in the best interests of the child. Requires a CHINS dispositional decree to provide a reasonable opportunity for a parent of the child who: (1) is incarcerated; and (2) has maintained a meaningful role in the child's life; to maintain a relationship with the child, subject to the safety of the community and best interests of the child. Provides factors a court may consider in deciding whether an incarcerated parent is maintaining a meaningful role in a child's life. Provides for circumstances under which a petition to terminate the parent-child relationship between a child and an incarcerated parent of the child may be dismissed.
		Current Status:		2/5/2019 - House Family, Children and Human Affairs, (Bill Scheduled for Hearing); Time & Location: 8:30 AM, Rm. 156-C
		Recent Status:		1/15/2019 - Referred to House Family, Children and Human Affairs 1/15/2019 - First Reading
		State Bill Page:		HB1432
HB1476		POST GRADUATION OUTCOME FUNDING METRICS (HUSTON T) Establishes the postgraduation performance funding pilot program (pilot program) to develop assessment metrics for assessing and rewarding school corporations with performance grants for positive outcomes, including higher education and career and technical education outcomes, for students at least six months after graduation from high school. Requires the governor to develop assessment metrics and performance grant amounts for the pilot program. Requires the governor to prepare and submit reports on the assessment metrics and performance grant amounts developed for the pilot program.
		Current Status:		2/5/2019 - House Ways and Means, (Bill Scheduled for Hearing); Time & Location: 10:30 AM, Rm. 404
		Recent Status:		1/15/2019 - Referred to House Ways and Means 1/15/2019 - First Reading
		State Bill Page:		HB1476
HB1495		REAL ESTATE LAND CONTRACTS (SUMMERS V) Defines "principal dwelling land contract" (contract) as a land contract for the sale of real property: (1) designed for the occupancy of one to four families; and (2) that will be occupied by the buyer as the buyer's principal dwelling. Provides that the seller under a contract must provide the buyer with an FHA appraisal of the property, a description of any liens encumbering the property, and make certain other disclosures to the buyer at least 10 days before the contract is executed. Requires a contract to provide for the payment of preexisting liens, and specifies that all preexisting liens must be satisfied by the end of the contract term. Prohibits penalties or additional charges for prepayment, and requires the buyer to record the contract within 30 days of execution. Requires the Indiana real estate commission (commission), in consultation with the department of financial institutions (DFI), to adopt a standard contract form and standard disclosure forms, and requires a seller to use these forms after December 31, 2019. Requires a contract to include a notice informing the buyer of certain protections for contract transactions under Indiana law, and requires a seller to provide a similar disclosure in the event of a default by the buyer. Specifies that the seller must provide the buyer with an annual statement of account. Establishes remedies for violations. Requires the commission, in consultation with the DFI, to adopt rules to implement the new provisions. Provides that a buyer who has completed the buyer's obligations under the contract is entitled to the homestead deduction regardless of whether the seller has conveyed title.
		Current Status:		2/5/2019 - House Financial Institutions, (Bill Scheduled for Hearing); Time & Location: 10:30 AM, Rm. 156-C
		Recent Status:		1/24/2019 - Coauthored by Representatives Clere and Fleming 1/24/2019 - Referred to House Financial Institutions
		State Bill Page:		HB1495
SB105		REDISTRICTING STANDARDS (WALKER G) Establishes redistricting standards for congressional and state legislative districts. Provides that the initial proposed plans for congressional and state legislative districts must comply with the redistricting standards. Allows the general assembly, during the process by which the initial proposed plans become effective by being enacted as a law, to consider and adopt modifications to the initial proposed plans that deviate from the redistricting standards as long as the reason or reasons for each deviation are publicly explained and documented.
		Current Status:		2/4/2019 - Senate Elections, (Bill Scheduled for Hearing); Time & Location: 10:00 AM, Rm. 431
		Recent Status:		1/31/2019 - added as coauthor Senator Ruckelshaus 1/3/2019 - Referred to Senate Elections
		State Bill Page:		SB105
SB171		REPEAL OF CERTAIN TAX INCENTIVES (HOLDMAN T) Repeals the coal conversion system property tax deduction, the coal combustion product property tax deduction, the recycled coal combustion byproduct personal property tax deduction, the aircraft property tax deduction, the intrastate aircraft property tax deduction, the Hoosier alternative fuel vehicle manufacturer investment income tax credit, and the local income tax option hiring incentive credit.
		Current Status:		2/5/2019 - Senate Tax and Fiscal Policy, (Bill Scheduled for Hearing); Time & Location: 10:00 AM, Rm. 431
		Recent Status:		1/3/2019 - Referred to Senate Tax and Fiscal Policy 1/3/2019 - First Reading
		State Bill Page:		SB171
SB289		REPORTING ON WORKER MISCLASSIFICATION (NIEZGODSKI D) Requires the department of state revenue, the state department of labor, the worker's compensation board of Indiana, and the department of workforce development to report before November 1 of each year for three years, beginning November 1, 2019, to the interim study committee on employment and labor for the immediately preceding state fiscal year: (1) the number of employers that each department or the board determined during the immediately preceding state fiscal year improperly classified at least one worker as an independent contractor; (2) the total number of improperly classified workers employed by those employers; (3) the department's or board's estimate of the revenue not collected or the additional costs to the state that the department or board attributes to the improperly classified workers; and (4) the amount of the penalties and interest assessed against those employers by each department or the board, and the amount of the penalties and interest assessed that has been collected. Requires that the reports include only information in the form of aggregate statistics and not include information that can be used to identify specific employers or workers.
		Current Status:		2/6/2019 - Senate Pensions and Labor, (Bill Scheduled for Hearing); Time & Location: 10:00 AM, Rm. 233
		Recent Status:		1/31/2019 - added as second author Senator Boots 1/7/2019 - Referred to Senate Pensions and Labor
		State Bill Page:		SB289
SB374		VETERANS EDUCATION BENEFITS (MRVAN F) Provides that a student who is eligible to receive a tuition and fee exemption because the student is a child of a veteran must maintain at least a cumulative grade point average that the eligible institution determines is satisfactory academic progress, which may not be less than a cumulative grade point average of 2.0 on a 4.0 grading scale or its equivalent as established by the eligible institution. (Current law requires the student to maintain at least a cumulative grade point average that the eligible institution determines is satisfactory academic progress.) Provides that if the Indiana department of veterans' affairs approves a request for a determination of eligibility for a person after the person initially enrolls in a state educational institution (institution) and while the person is attending the institution, the determination of eligibility shall be made retroactive to the date of submission to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs of the application to recognize the person's mother's or father's service related death or disability. Provides that the applicant may receive a refund equal to the amount of the tuition and fees paid to the institution by the applicant. Repeals a provision that limits the tuition exemption amount for a child of a veteran who served in the armed forces after June 30, 2011, based on the percentage of the parent's disability rating. Makes conforming amendments.
		Current Status:		2/5/2019 - Senate Veterans Affairs and The Military, (Bill Scheduled for Hearing); Time & Location: 9:00 AM, Rm. 233
		Recent Status:		1/8/2019 - Referred to Senate Veterans Affairs and The Military 1/8/2019 - First Reading
		State Bill Page:		SB374
SB407		STATE AGENCY MANAGEMENT (SPARTZ V) Establishes the economic and regulatory policy task force. Provides for members of the task force and duties of the task force. Requires the task force to prepare a report and recommendations.
		Current Status:		2/5/2019 - Senate Tax and Fiscal Policy, (Bill Scheduled for Hearing); Time & Location: 10:00 AM, Rm. 431
		Recent Status:		1/14/2019 - Referred to Senate Tax and Fiscal Policy 1/14/2019 - First Reading
		State Bill Page:		SB407