Latest news with #DiegoMorales'
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Indiana elections chief defends voting ban on ‘unsecured' student IDs after legal challenge
One of Secretary of State Diego Morales' booths at the Indiana State Fair, shown on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024. (Leslie Bonilla Muñiz/Indiana Capital Chronicle) Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales on Wednesday celebrated the state's forthcoming student ID voting ban — just two days after he and other Hoosier election officials were named in a lawsuit challenging the prohibition. Since Indiana enacted its photo ID law in 2005, it has allowed students to use IDs issued by public colleges or universities as proof of identification at the polls. A card must include the prospective voter's name, photo and a valid expiration term. That's changing under Senate Enrolled Act 10. Gov. Mike Braun signed it into law last month, but the ban goes into effect July 1. Elections bill would strike down student IDs as voting option A news release from Morales' office asserted that the law ends the use of 'unsecured' cards 'that do not meet uniform security standards' — and instead 'ensures that all forms of ID used at the polls are held to the same level of verification.' 'Voting is a sacred right, and it must be safeguarded through consistent and reliable security standards,' Morales said Wednesday. The law 'reinforces my promise that only eligible Hoosiers are voting in our state,' he continued. But a lawsuit, filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, called it a 'surgical attack on young voters.' Indiana University sophomore Josh Montagne — who is originally from Missouri — doesn't have any other form of ID. He said obtaining one would be 'burdensome' because his primary form of transportation is walking and he doesn't have access to a car. Count US IN and Women4Change Indiana, meanwhile, said the ban would hamper their get-out-the-vote efforts by requiring resource-intensive volunteer re-training and voter education campaigns. They anticipated needing to help students secure alternative forms of ID or provide on-site Election Day assistance so unaware students aren't disenfranchised. The trio of plaintiffs alleged that Senate Enrolled Act 10 'deliberately abridges young voters' right to vote,' in violation of the 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The plaintiffs further argued that the 'sever(e) burden' on such voters, done 'without any corresponding justification,' violates the 1st and 14th Amendments. They requested an injunction. An estimated two-thirds of students at Indiana University's flagship Bloomington campus used student IDs to vote at the in-campus polling place in the 2024 general election, according to the complaint. It cited Monroe County's election supervisor. The plaintiffs alleged the law's narrow exclusion of student IDs was unfair. 'Indiana law does not exclude any other category of ID in this way. In fact, in recent years, the legislature has amended the voter ID law to expand the scope of acceptable IDs, even allowing for the use of certain IDs that do not otherwise meet the statutory requirements,' the lawsuit reads. For example, documents issued by the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the Indiana National Guard, a federally recognized Native American tribe or other entities can be used even when they don't have expiration dates, or have indefinite expiration dates. Morales and lawmakers justified the ban as ensuring that only Indiana residents and U.S. citizens can vote in the state's elections. The plaintiffs, however, noted that Indiana's photo ID law isn't structured to confirm a voter's residence or citizenship — just that the person who shows up at the polls is who they claim. Proof of residency and citizenship are established during the voter registration process and 'should not be conflated' with proof of identity requirements, the state's guidebook reads. Other accepted federal forms of ID, like a passport or military-issued card, don't indicate where their subjects reside. 'While prohibiting the use of student IDs will not advance any of the legislators' purported rationales, it will make it harder for a specific group of people — young voters — to participate in Indiana's elections,' the complaint argues. Meanwhile, Morales and Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita are waging their own lawsuit to force federal citizenship verification for nearly 600,000 Hoosiers who registered without providing an Indiana driver's license number or a Social Security Number — or who live overseas. Some of those could include those who registered before those numbers were required. Morales also applauded the passage of legislation allowing county clerks to send a notice requesting proof of citizenship when someone registers to vote with a temporary credential ID. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Indianapolis Star
25-04-2025
- Business
- Indianapolis Star
Indiana lawmakers passed the state budget over night. Here are the biggest winners and losers
Show Caption It was an unusually topsy-turvy road to get there, but Indiana lawmakers finally gave final approval to the next two-year state budget shortly after 1 a.m. Friday morning. Just a week earlier, a dispiriting revenue forecast sent lawmakers back to the drawing board to find $2 billion to either cut or raise. They ended up finding a combination of both: a smattering of cuts to public health, higher education and public media, a little dip into reserves, and a hike in the cigarette tax. And, within only the last two days of session, lawmakers inserted new and substantive policy language impacting state universities. The House passed the budget 66-27; the Senate, 39-11. The bill is now heading to Gov. Mike Braun's desk ― his first budget as governor. In a budget year that was already predicted to be tight, not many parties will feel like winners. But here's our list of who wins and loses in this 2026-27 budget. Winners Indiana Chamber and the American Cancer Society They've been advocating to raise the cigarette tax for many sessions now, as a means of both raising revenue and discouraging smoking. They've gotten close a few times, with the House putting an increase in their budget proposal but the Senate rejecting it. It took a $2 billion revenue shortfall, but they got it: lawmakers raised the cigarette tax by $2 a pack. Wealthy private school attendees Families of four with an annual income of $220,000 currently qualify for publicly funded vouchers to attend private schools. It was a goal of the House's to eliminate that income limit so wealthier Hoosiers can qualify; the compromise in the final budget is universal school choice kicking in starting with the 2026-27 school year, the second year of the budget. Longterm care facilities Since the state transitioned to a "managed care" system for seniors, where three large insurance companies coordinate care for each person needing at-home or facility-based care, those longterm care providers have had issues receiving timely reimbursements from those three companies. Earlier on in session, a representative for longterm care providers (like nursing homes) said they had, collectively, $100 million in outstanding claims. This budget gives those managed care entities 21 to 30 days to pay the facilities, depending on how the claim was filed, and institutes a late penalty of $500 per claim per day. Transparency There's been lots of chatter about Secretary of State Diego Morales' mystery-funded trips abroad. Now, Morales, the governor, governor's cabinet and the other statewide elected officials ― comptroller, treasurer, attorney general and lieutenant governor ― will have to file annual reports to the state budget committee detailing where they've traveled, why and with what state funds. Losers Public media The $7.4 million line item for Indiana's 17 public broadcasting TV and radio stations ― local NPR and PBS affiliates ― is now zero. The state funding cut is on top of threats from the federal level to cut government funding. For some rural stations without deep individual donor pockets, state and federal funding can comprise almost half their budgets. Local health departments State lawmakers decided in 2023 to pump a historic investment of $225 million into county public health departments to do preventative health programming, like disease prevention and maternal health care. This year, lawmakers were prepared to pump another $200 million into this initiative. But since the revenue forecast, they decided to scale it back to $80 million, less than half the original plan. Secretary of State Diego Morales In addition to needing to file travel reports, Morales will also have less control over certain funds. There are a number of dedicated funds that the secretary of state's office administers ― pots of money that come from fines and fees ― that will now route through the General Assembly to decide how that money gets spent. State universities The latest version of the budget introduced new language asserting state control over multiple aspects of state universities' governance. One section gives Gov. Mike Braun the power to appoint all nine members of the Indiana University board of trustees, and to replace any of them. Another drastically redefines tenure at universities by subjecting tenured faculty to "productivity reviews" and probation, which could lead to firing, if they don't meet certain productivity benchmarks. Another makes faculty governance organizations "advisory" only. Yet another requires all faculty to post their syllabi online. Women's and Native American commissions The Indiana Commission for Women and the Native American Indian Affairs Commission, both of which had roughly $100,000 budgets, are gone entirely from this budget. There's no word on whether that means the commissions themselves will be dissolved ― the governor's office has not responded to requests for comment on that question. "I think it's done and I really resent it," Sen. Vaneta Becker, R-Evansville, said of the axing of the women's commission. People on waitlists More than 11,000 Hoosiers in need of home or community based care are on waitlists for the Medicaid waiver as a result of the $1 billion shortfall discovered in 2023. In a separate issue also related to a dearth of funding, the Family and Social Services Administration has also brought back the waitlist for child care vouchers for low-income families. This budget doesn't chip away at either of those waitlists. It does dedicate some money toward the child care vouchers to ensure that all families currently receiving vouchers will not be booted to the waitlist. Tossup Gov. Mike Braun Braun gained some power in this budget over the state's flagship research school, Indiana University. But a number of his tax credit suggestions didn't make the cut, including tax credits for capital investments in rural areas, employers who provide "upskilling" training for their workforce, and young farmers starting out in the business. Win some, lose some.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
It's late at the Statehouse and best practices are out the door
Christmas is hands-down my favorite time of the year. And the end of session is hands-down my least favorite. That's because for months, the General Assembly has chugged along at a reasonable pace, hearing bills, listening to Hoosiers, making changes, passing measures — even compromising a time or two. And then we hit the final few weeks, and all best practices go out the door. I'm going to lay out three examples we have seen in recent days that don't bode well for a transparent and accountable legislature. It's also why trust in public service continues to erode. Senate Bill 1 was 46 pages when introduced as Gov. Mike Braun's reset plan to help homeowners. It grew under Senate Republicans to 91 pages. And after House Republicans made another amendment, it is a stunning 355 pages. The GOP folded in tangentially related and even unrelated bills, possibly to harvest votes. And it made the product so endlessly complicated that even someone who has covered Indiana's property tax system since its court-ordered redesign is struggling to grasp it all. It now includes a bill that was moving just fine on its own – Senate Bill 518 – and looked like an easy win for the GOP. It provides property tax sharing in some local school districts for public charter schools. It's a perfectly good debate to have on its own but now the measure is in this bill, which means Democrats didn't support it. Opinion: Republicans question Diego Morales' spending: 'It looks like a campaign sign' An amended version also had a long-sought business tax break via a phaseout of the business personal property tax. This came even though the purpose of the bill was long said to be giving homeowners relief from massive assessment and bill spikes. Cooler heads prevailed on second reading, though, and the elimination was removed. Oh yeah, and the bill dissolves a school corporation in Randolph County that has almost all virtual students — which has nothing to do with the original intent. Heck, the bill isn't even titled property tax relief anymore. It's now local government finance. In the first half of session, House Bill 1662 had robust hearings, passed out of committee and then died on the calendar because it didn't have the votes. The bill has been labeled by critics as criminalizing homelessness but proponents say it's about squatters. Now, at this late hour, it was suddenly put into Senate Bill 197 through an amendment. No one following the issue had notice of the amendment, so there was no public testimony. And it is likely headed back to the Senate to see if lawmakers there accept that change. Mind you, senators haven't heard one iota of testimony on the concept. We're in the fourth month, but are still introducing language that has never passed a committee. Several bills filed at the outset were bans on advertising marijuana. None of them had a committee vote in the first half. Briggs: Micah Beckwith and his Indiana DOGE bros are livin' large Instead, a Republican lawmaker added it to a Bureau of Motor Vehicles bill he authored while it was in a Senate committee. The agency was none too pleased, and the language was removed the next week. But never fear, it was added again – this time to Senate Bill 73 on utility trailer sales. The language hasn't passed a single chamber, and most lawmakers have heard no testimony on the pros and cons of such a move. But it could very well become law anyway. Yes, the session isn't over yet. And every day counts. But leaders can't be happy with some of the shenanigans that are just considered to be ho-hum legislating. For the majority of session, decorum prevails. But when the end nears, everyone suddenly forgets that how a law is passed matters just as much as what is passed. And that's why the end of session will always be the worst time of year. Niki Kelly is editor-in-chief of the Indiana Capital Chronicle, where this column first appeared. She has covered the Indiana Statehouse since 1999. This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana General Assembly's final weeks mean compromise | Opinion
