Various Legislative Issues; Vaccine Passports?

I thought as a nation we rejected the horrors of experimental surgeries in prisons and asylums way back in the 1930s.

The bill does not address this, but it begs a question that has been backed by numerous news stories of rapes and sexual assaults. Should anatomical males who identify as females be in a women’s prison? (What if that offender has been convicted of rape?) If people care about women’s safety more than catering to a politically charged psychological disorder, the answer is “NO.”

Informing Voters

This morning the House Elections Committee is taking testimony on House Bill 1428 (Prescott). This bill requires school board candidates to run like all other candidates, including with a party identification based on the candidate’s voting record.

Passing this bill is a good idea based on transparency and it helps voters know a little bit more about the views of a potential school board member. However, what I think a great many Hoosiers really want is legislation to remove a lot of the “woke” junk being taught to their children in so many public schools.

Is Election Security a Concern?

There are three bills that are worth mentioning for those concerned about election integrity and security. With only two weeks left for committee hearings, I do not know if any will see action, but you can certainly call your legislators about any of these.

House Bill 1505 (Speedy) – This bill prohibits the expansion of voting by mail; and changing the time, place, or manner of voting. It also includes various absentee ballot verification protocols.

Senate Bill 262 (Jon Ford) – This bill requires a routine forensic audit of our elections by the Secretary of State.

Senate Bill 370 (Jon Ford) – This bill is rather bold, but worth contemplating. It would eliminate electronic voting machines in Indiana by 2027 and (I assume) a return to paper ballots except for voters with disabilities where an electronic machine would be easier.

More Children are Living with their Parents

The COVID-19 pandemic caused many disruptions in American family life, many of them negative. But among all these disruptions, one positive trend has continued, and may even have been amplified by COVID: more kids are living with their own two married parents.

Since a low ebb around 2014, the share of kids living with their parents has risen by about 1.5 percentage points. While not a huge increase, that’s nothing to sneeze at.

Over the last decade or two, birth rates of unmarried women have fallen very rapidly, while marital birth rates have been more stable. As a result, the share of births to unmarried mothers has been stable or even declined a bit in recent years, even as there has been a rise in marriage rates for single moms. In other words, fertility rates are falling faster than marriage rates, especially among unmarried women, and as a result, the children who are born are more likely to live with two married parents.

Vaccine Passports?

There is a bill that was scheduled for a vote today in the Senate Health Committee that has some activists concerned. (It was pulled yesterday afternoon.) Senate Bill 47 appears to simply provide a phone-scannable QR Code to access a person’s vaccination record. This could be useful for a parent, for example, in some circumstances. Yet, I agree with some who have suggested that the bill be amended to specifically say that such codes cannot be used to deny services, access, or entry to public places in Indiana.

Politicizing the Military

A new survey of active U.S. military members finds that 68% have witnessed some or a significant level of politicization in the military. A large majority (65%) of those polled say that this is a concern. Of all the issues polled, policies that allow unrestricted military service by transgender individuals were of greatest concern for active military members, with 80% saying that it decreased their trust in the military somewhat or a great deal. A large majority (68%) of active military members say that this politicization would impact their decision to encourage their children to join the military.

Biden’s Bad Poll Numbers

While the media often reports polling numbers for presidential approval, such stories often ignore other the results of those polls that cast a more negative shadow on President Biden. For example, a new NBC Poll asked about the mental and physical health of President Biden. Only 28% of respondents believe that he is up to the job. Concern surrounding Biden’s mental and physical health of the 80-year-old President is shown by only 31% of respondents saying they think Biden is competent and effective (31%).

Some of Biden’s worse scores concern whether respondents believe Biden to be honest and trustworthy (34%). Only 23% of those surveyed believe that Biden is uniting the country.

Protecting Parental Rights

There is a very important bill being heard Thursday in the House Committee on Family, Children and Human Affairs. House Bill 1407 (Devon) could use your support.

Indiana Ranks High in Gun Sales

A new review of the instant background check on firearms sales finds that Indiana is the fourth highest per capita in gun sales among the states. Indiana had 256 criminal background firearm checks per 1,000 residents. The states with the lowest sales include New York, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Maryland, and California.

AFA of IN Survey

As I mentioned last week, we are surveying our supporters to see how we are doing as an organization. If you support AFA-IN and would like to take the survey, click here:

https://secure.lglforms.com/form_engine/s/-2N4_k9KDaCzLRLQItak7Q

In Their Own Words:

“The height of intolerance is not disagreement, but rather removing from the public square an opportunity for people to disagree.” – Jonathan Morrow