 The Board of School Trustees of the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation will meet in executive session at 3:30 p.m. on Monday, May 17, 2021, at the EVSC Administration Building, 951 Walnut, IN 47713, Evansville, IN.
The session will be conducted according to Senate Enrolled Act 313, Section 1, I.C. 5-14-1.5-6.1, as amended. The purpose of the meeting is for collective bargaining, (2)(A).Â
This Article Was Sent To The City-County Observer by Senator Braun Media DirectorÂ
Indianapolis Star
May 13, 2021
https://www.indystar.com/story/opinion/2021/05/13/sen-mike-braun-tim-scott-justice-act-police-reform-bill/5064416001/
Over the past year, I have spent many hours listening to law enforcement officers and police groups, and as discussions of policing reform continue to dominate the news and threaten to upend the policing profession and the protections afforded to those who wear the badge, two things are very clear to me: No one does a more difficult job than our nation’s law enforcement, and the federal government is not where these discussions should be taking place.
Last year, I signed on to U.S. Sen. Tim Scott’s JUSTICE Act, a reform bill that had the support of many national and state law enforcement groups.
In June of last year, as violent riots broke out in our cities, Senate Democrats used the filibuster to kill that bill so they could exploit this issue for political gain at the ballot box in November.
Last year, the United States had a strongly pro-police administration in the White House. The dynamic of the debate in Washington has changed drastically in a year.
And now, those same Senate Democrats have returned to the negotiating table under threat of eliminating the filibuster that they used to shut down Republicans’ good faith efforts last year.
Though top Democrats in Congress have tried to replace the radical left’s rallying cry of “Defund the police†with bureaucratic baloney as much as they can – likely after discovering the vast majority of Americans know that defunding our police is as foolish as it sounds – their end goal is the same: to divert funds away from police, make our communities less safe and demonize those who protect and serve.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer last year blocked a resolution in opposition to defunding the police. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has spoken of “rebalancing†police budgets and directing funds away from law enforcement and into other priorities.
Vice President Kamala Harris has called for diverting police funds away from departments and “reimagining†police departments across the country.
What’s the difference between “defunding the police†and “rebalancing†and “reimagining†their budgets to include less resources for enforcing laws? Nothing but rhetoric.
No one wants to improve policing in this country more than law enforcement, and yet, in these negotiations, Democrats have continued to make sticking points out of issues law enforcement groups have deemed nonstarters.
While law enforcement has resoundingly rejected calls to modify or end qualified immunity, Democrats have continued to push for ending this protection. I oppose any reform to the current doctrine of qualified immunity, which I believe extends critical protections for law enforcement officers who are forced to act in split-second scenarios when lives are on the line.
Any federal reform package that cannot garner the support of law enforcement is not the right solution to me, and considering that 12,000 of America’s 18,000 police agencies are local departments, it raises the question why the federal government is the venue for these negotiations at all.
Because Republicans came to the table in good faith in 2020 with solutions and were rejected by Democrats whose end goal is the dissolution of law enforcement as we know it, I do not believe the federal government should be the source of reform measures for police departments.
Indiana on this issue has it right. In April of this year, Indiana’s state government unanimously passed a police bill that was signed into law by Gov. Eric Holcomb.
Rather than foolishly defunding the police or punishing all cops for the misconduct of a tiny handful of officers, Indiana’s law focused on empowering the Indiana Law Enforcement Training Board to decertify officers who are found to have abused their power and provided funds for repairs and updates to the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy’s training facility.
Indiana’s law includes de-escalation training requirements, prohibits chokeholds under certain circumstances, criminalizes an officer turning off their body camera to conceal criminal behavior, requires that police agencies request an officer’s employment record during the hiring process, and most importantly, earned the support of our state Fraternal Order of Police, the Indiana Association of Chiefs of Police, and the Indiana Sheriff’s Association.
That’s the kind of reform that works best: the kind that’s designed with the officers who serve our communities engaged and negotiated by local representatives who are most accountable to the communities these decisions will impact.
Federal reform that cannot garner the support of law enforcement will be ineffective and put us further down the path toward defunding the police that has already jeopardized those who protect and serve our communities so much.
Attorney General Todd Rokita has served civil investigative demands to eight additional individuals as part of his ongoing investigation into censorship practices by Big Tech companies, including Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Twitter.
The latest civil investigative demands apply specifically to Facebook. They are directed to people believed to have participated in an October 2019 meeting with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other Facebook executives. The eight individuals are not themselves targets of the investigation but rather are believed to have information that would be helpful to the larger probe.
Civil Investigative demands, like subpoenas and the discovery process in litigation, include the ability to ask interrogatories and request documents to further the investigation and determine whether or not to file a lawsuit. In this case, Attorney General Rokita aims to ascertain whether any of the five companies have potentially harmed Indiana consumers through business practices that are abusive, deceptive and/or unfair.
“In a free society, few assets are more important to consumers than access to information and the opportunity to express political viewpoints in meaningful forums,†said Attorney General Rokita. “Hoosiers deserve to have a robust and open debate on the issues we’re confronting – and Big Tech shouldn’t get in the way by acting as arbiters of truth. When that happens, it chips away at our individual liberties.â€
The Office of the Indiana Attorney General is examining whether these Big Tech companies have manipulated content in ways that violate the Indiana Deceptive Consumer Sales Act. It is potentially harmful and unfair for these companies to limit consumers’ access to certain content or restrict their ability to interact on platforms in ways the companies do not publicly disclose or that consumers don’t fully understand.
The eight individuals receiving the latest civil investigative demands are:
Also reportedly present at the October 2019 meeting with Facebook executives was attorney Vanita Gupta, who at the time led a civil rights organization. She now has become associate U.S. attorney general — the third-highest-ranking official at the U.S. Department of Justice.
At the meeting, Gupta and others urged Facebook to adopt “more rigorous rules and enforcement,†to use Gupta’s words as quoted in Time. Gupta, according to the Time article, stressed that it was important for social media platforms to be “tagging things and taking them down.â€
The Office of the Attorney General already served a civil investigative demand to Gupta at the same time it launched its investigation into the Big Tech companies in April. Like the eight other individuals, Gupta is not herself a target of this investigation.
Between our state forests, state parks, communities with unique stories, and many more sites and events, Indiana has so much to offer visitors. It is important to showcase all our state’s amenities by shining a light on the impact of the hospitality and leisure industry. This sector of our economy is huge for the state, with state tourism setting a record $13.7 billion in visitor spending in 2019. While the industry was hit hard in 2020, much like Hoosiers, this is an industry that is resilient and ready to make our state a destination for visitors once again.
Last year, COVID-19 quickly changed the impact on the entire industry. Nationally, total travel-supported jobs accounted for a staggering 65% of all U.S. jobs lost amid the pandemic. While Indiana was not immune to the pandemic, our tourism agency, the Indiana Destination Development Corp., was able to respond quickly. IDDC took a different approach to Visit Indiana Week in 2020 with a series of videos showing the love and passion of tourism. Hoosiers shared what tourism means to them and the effects the coronavirus pandemic, serving as a reminder that we are truly in this together.
The IDDC would go on to roll out its The 20 IN 20 campaign to feature articles about outdoor recreation and activities that included social distancing, and partner with the Indiana Restaurant Lodging Association (INRLA) to elevate the Hoosier Hospitality Promise, ensuring and encouraging a safe reopening of businesses. IDDC also partnered with the Indiana Arts Commission (IAC) to distribute relief funds to assist the industry. The Arts, Culture, and Destination Marketing Organization Grant distributed $10 million of the COVID Relief funds to 479 grantees.
As we approach another Hoosier summer, we know more people are getting outdoors. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) saw an estimated 21% increase in property usage in 2020 compared to 2019. To further encourage people to get outside and visit our natural resources, IDDC launched the Indiana State Nature Passport in partnership with DNR. The free “digital passport” helps us discover new places, some of them near our own homes that we may not have known were there.
Tourism is experiencing some other bright spots, too. Indiana landed the entire NCAA tournament. Through IDDC’s IN Crowd and Tourney Time campaigns, Indiana was in the national spotlight while showcasing what makes Indiana a great place to be. A number of Hoosier, near and far, shared their Hoosier pride, including homegrown star, David Letterman and Sage Steele.
IDDC is committed to instilling Hoosier pride in every Hoosier. Many people have experienced life outside Indiana, born and raised somewhere else but chose to call Indiana their forever home. These are our Hoosiers By Choice, and more and more are sharing their stories publicly each week. Their stories can be found by visiting HoosiersbyChoice.com.
There is also a new recovery grant available to help Indiana’s hospitality industry. The Indiana Hospitality & Entertainment Grant program is available to Hoosier hotels, entertainment venues and promoters impacted throughout the pandemic. For more information, go to backontrack.in.gov.
We are encouraged by these positive steps to safely reopen tourism throughout Indiana.
The industry remains committed to seeing familiar faces, first-time visitors and getting back to pre-pandemic numbers of 80 million visitors a year. Hoosiers are encouraged to tell their family and friends to consider making Indiana their next vacation or destination. Learn more about what we have to offer at VisitIndiana.com.
Despite the hardships of the last year, Indiana is ready and eager to welcome EVERYONE back safely.
WASHINGTON (May 13, 2021) — Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued an interim final rule to rescind the previous administration’s rule entitled “Increasing Consistency and Transparency in Considering Benefits and Costs in the Clean Air Act Rulemaking Process,†also known as the Benefit-Cost Rule. In response to President Biden’s Executive Order 13990, “Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science To Tackle the Climate Crisis,” EPA reviewed the Benefit-Cost Rule and found that it imposed procedural restrictions and requirements that would have limited EPA’s ability to use the best available science in developing Clean Air Act regulations, and would be inconsistent with economic best practices.
“EPA has critical authority under the Clean Air Act to protect the public from harmful air pollution, among other threats to our health. Revoking this unnecessary and misguided rule is proof positive of this Administration’s commitment to science,â€Â said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “We will continue to fix the wrongs of the past and move forward aggressively to deliver on President Biden’s clear commitment to protecting public health and the environment.â€
On January 20, 2021, President Biden signed Executive Order 13990 which directed the EPA to review all regulations and policies undertaken by the previous administration, and rescind or revise any that do not protect public health and the environment. Accordingly, the EPA conducted a comprehensive review of the Benefit-Cost Rule and concluded that the rule should be rescinded in its entirety for several reasons:
This interim final rule will become effective 30 days after publication in the Federal Register. EPA invites and will consider public comment on this rule, and intends to follow it with a final rule that responds to comments received during the public comment period, if any, and reflects any accompanying changes to the Agency’s approach.
For more on the rescission of the Benefit-Cost Rule, and how to comment, visit https://www.epa.gov/air-and-radiation/rescission-2020-benefit-cost-rule
 The Evansville Police Department would like to announce our participation in the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute (ICJI) Traffic Safety Grant Enforcement, Blitz 109. This grant which starts on May 17 and ends on June 6, provides extra patrol for seatbelt enforcement.Â
The focus of this grant involves seatbelt restraint use in the Evansville area. Officers will be concentrating their efforts in the high traffic accident intersections in the city.Â
The purpose of this grant is ultimately to reduce or eliminate injury and fatality motor vehicle accidentsÂ
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