The Devolution Of Meet Your Legislators
By Julie Robinson, TSA President
On Saturday, Feb. 12 I attended Meet Your Legislators. As Republicans have taken over most of the local delegation. I went expecting to see a few bills discussed, including Indiana Bill 1041, an anti-transgender student bill. A bill that displays the General Assembly’s love of taking up issues that divide the public for election attention. It seems the students harmed by these bills are just collateral on their vile map of monetary gains… I mean political successes. As the Indiana republicans wade into the culture wars, they should expect to push back. I was able to discuss the bill but not before witnessing an actual political circus, covering a web of scattered topics.
State Rep. Cindy Ledbetter, a psychiatric nurse practitioner who provides counseling in the area, attempted to discuss Critical Race Theory multiple times. She implied the mere very basic facts on the USA’s history of enslavement would “make [white] kids feel bad about something that happened 400 years agoâ€. If she had pearls on, they would have been clutched.
State Senator Jim Tomes did his version of the filibuster to minimize the number of topics addressed & help fill the 1.5 hr event with his bizarre monologues.. He would go over his allotted time, not talking about the issues but rather giving a campaign speech, or rambling about nonrelated stories, & wrapping up with a “God Bless America†whenever he started to lose what little audience still hanging on by then. It is apparent he is trying to minimize his interactions with the public- especially with anyone in the public who might disagree with him.
State Senator Vaneta Becker was disappointing. I was able to speak to her about the bill that would discriminate against and harass transgender students. It was clear that she understood the ramifications of the passage of this bill, and how it would hurt at-risk students. I believe by the town hall, she had already decided to support the bill & for purely political reasons …to stave off being primaried by a more conservative republican. I wish she had shown an ounce of courage instead.
I thanked State Rep. Ryan Hatfield after. Why? This can unfortunately be a very difficult area of the state to work towards legislation that improves the quality of life for politically targeted vulnerable populations and against harmful ones. He also voted against the bill that discriminates against transgender students and as well as did an excellent job as the loan democrat legislator on this panel.
The format of Meet Your Legislators has changed to the point where the event is not nearly as effective as it was in past times. They have casually allowed the format to change- public comments to maybe get pulled out of a basket and rules to lack only when it benefits them, to further minimize dialogue and debate with the legislators.
Elected officials should be open to talking to people who disagree with them. And they should not fear the teaching of history. We deserve a better interaction with the legislators, and we need our tax-paid legislators to understand what representation means.
