Ivy Tech Community College will host an event for adult learners who may be looking for a career change, or the opportunity to earn more money in today’s high-demand fields.Â
Ivy Tech’s Adult Learner Open House will be Jan. 23, from noon-2 p.m. at Ivy Tech’s main campus, 3501 N. First Avenue. Ivy Tech also has locations in Princeton and Tell City.
Next classes begin Monday, March 16. Questions? Email jbinkley10@ivytech.edu.
By Victoria Ratliff
TheStatehouseFile.com
INDIANAPOLIS- Senate Democrats tried and failed Tuesday to fund teacher pay and other needs, as Republicans insisted such issues should wait until a new budget is crafted next year.
The attempt is the latest by Democrats in the House and Senate to amend House Bill 1007, which allows six university construction projects to be paid in cash, rather than from borrowing money, using nearly $290 million of the state’s surplus.
Tuesday, Senate Democrats took three swings at the bill, seeking amendments that would boost teacher pay, fund maternal and newborn health needs and increase reimbursements for county jails that are housing state inmates. All were defeated on 40-10 party-line votes.
In the first of two amendments she offered, Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Ogden Dunes, sought to cut $100 million from a nearly $1 billion yearly payment towards a teacher pension fund and use it instead to increase teacher pay now, rather than waiting until next year as Gov. Eric Holcomb has proposed.
Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Portage, seeks to amend HB 1007 Tuesday in the Senate to boost teacher pay. Photo by Jesse Crebbe. TheStatehouseFile.com
“Our point is this: we have a lot of options, we could start this year with this teacher pay increase, and get our teachers started back to where they should be,†Tallian said.
She rebuffed Republican arguments that this would hurt pensions, saying it would only move back the date when the pre-1996 pension plan is fully funded by six years.
Senate Minority Leader Tim Lanane, D-Anderson, called Tallian’s proposal “the defining amendment of the session.â€
How teachers are treated in Indiana, he said, was the issue that brought 15,000 people in protest to the Statehouse on its November organizational day meeting. Teachers have complained of stagnant pay, and also having their evaluations and pay tied to student standardized test outcomes – an issue that is addressed in another bill, House Bill 1002 which is awaiting a hearing in the Senate.
Sen. Ryan Mishler, the Bremen Republican who is the chief sponsor of HB 1007 in the Senate, argued that now is not the time to address issues that impact the budget.
Sen. Ryan Mishler, R-Bremen, urges Senate to reject Democrat amendments to HB 1007., Photo by Jesse Crebbe. TheStatehouseFile.com
“The six projects in this bill were actually in the (2019) budget bill and I think this proposal should be part of the budget discussion next year,†Mishler said of the teacher pay amendment.
Sen. Jean Breaux, D-Indianapolis, proposed an amendment that would take $4 million from the state’s surplus in order to help communities provide prenatal and postpartum care.
Breaux said 33 counties in Indiana offer no maternity services, forcing mothers to travel to other counties to receive maternal care.
She noted Indiana has the seventh highest mortality rate for babies in the nation, and was the 48th worst state for maternal mortality rates.
Breaux, one of only four black state senators, said she felt personally affected because African-American babies are twice as likely to die than white babies, and African-American mothers are 243% more likely to die than white mothers.
Breaux said the amendment would also extend postpartum and prenatal care on Medicaid up to one year, instead of 60 days. This extension would ensure the health of babies and mothers.
But again, Mishler argued that these issues should be address next year in the budget debate, not now.
Tallian also sought an amendment aimed to raise county sheriff reimbursements for housing state inmates in county jails to $45 a day. Last year, Tallian’s proposal of the same reimbursement increase cleared the Senate, but was cut out of the final version of the budget.
Mishler, however, said that budget caps reimbursements at $30 million and that “no matter what the per diem is, they only have $30 million to spend with no augmentation.â€
Victoria Ratliff is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.
State Rep. Holli Sullivan’s (R-Evansville) bill that would prohibit holding a hand-held electronic device while driving passed out of the House Roads and Transportation Committee Wednesday.
Sullivan, who chairs the committee, said nine Americans are killed each day as a result of distracted driving. It is also one of the top killers of teenagers, responsible for more than 58 percent of teen crashes. She said while Indiana has a law that prohibits texting while driving, it is difficult to enforce and drivers continue to use their devices including scrolling through social media feeds and playing games.
“Studies show how dangerous distracted driving is, and it is time for Indiana to act to prevent drivers from endangering themselves and others,†Sullivan said. “This is a simple but effective way to strengthen the current law. It provides clarity for drivers, law enforcement and prosecutors.â€
Sullivan said 21 states have implemented “hands-free device driving laws.†If passed, Hoosier drivers could not hold their cell phone or electronic communication devices while driving.
“We need a cultural shift in order to stop crashes caused by distracted driving,†Sullivan said. “Indiana will be a safer place for everyone if people put their phones down and focus on driving.â€
According to Sullivan, there will be a comprehensive and statewide educational campaign to inform Hoosiers about this law if it is enacted.
House Bill 1070 now moves to the full House for further consideration. For more information about this proposal, visitiga.in.gov.
Attorney General Curtis Hill today hosted a crime prevention forum in Bloomington as part of a listening tour visiting 14 cities across the Hoosier state. The purpose of the tour is to facilitate conversations aimed at developing solutions to residents’ crime-related concerns.
“When we come together to listen, learn and understand the problems facing our communities, we can better address the issues facing our state,†Attorney General Hill said. “Not everyone can make their way to Indianapolis to talk with us about these issues so we are coming to them as we continue working to protect the rights, freedoms and safety of Hoosiers statewide.â€
The data from the first six crime prevention forums was presented at the 10th Annual Drug Abuse Symposium in October. The data from the rest of the forums will be collected and used at this year’s Drug Abuse Symposium.
Through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program (VITA), the University of Southern Indiana students in the Romain College of Business will provide free federal and state income tax preparation on Mondays, February 4 through March 16.
“We have 27 students enrolled in the program this year,†said Dr. Brett Bueltel, assistant professor of accounting. “Our students are excited for the opportunity to serve our community and gain real-world experience preparing tax returns.â€
In VITA programs, the Internal Revenue Service partners with national and local organizations to provide tax services to individuals with low-to-moderate income at no cost to the taxpayer. Accounting students will interview and prepare the taxes of those taxpayers who make an appointment for the service. VITA sites do not prepare Schedule C business forms or Schedule E rental forms. Federal and state tax returns are prepared at the time of the appointment, and all taxpayers must be available to sign their returns. The preparation of returns typically takes 90 minutes to complete.
The sessions will be held by appointment only in Room 1004 in the Business and Engineering Center on the following Mondays: February 3, 10, 17 and 24; and March 2 and 16. Appointments will be available at 5 p.m. and 6:45 p.m. The USI VITA site is closed March 9 for Spring Recess.
Individuals are required to bring their tax information, photo identification cards, and Social Security cards for themselves and any dependents. International students must bring their passports and visas as well. The IRS encourages electronic filing and returns will be filed electronically for those who are eligible.
Please bring copies of your prior year state and federal tax returns if they are available. Your tax returns from the prior year are very helpful in preparing correct and complete current year returns. Paper returns will be prepared for those taxpayers who do not qualify for electronic filing or prefer paper returns.
To make an appointment, call the Romain College of Business at 812-464-1718.
East Side School
BY Pat Sides
Members of the Evansville School Board gathered to break ground for the construction of a new school in 1949. The action was spurred by the return of soldiers after the Second World War, which created an urgent need for new schools and family-sized dwellings to serve the surging population.
During this era, the city’s East Side was annexed, boosting the city’s area from 11.5 square miles to nearly 20.Â
East Side School, built at a cost of $900,000, opened in the fall of 1949, even though it was not yet completed. In its second year of existence, it was renamed Dexter School so that it wouldn’t be confused with nearby Harper School, then being renovated from a one-room schoolhouse into a larger facility.
Designed for 500 pupils, Dexter’s first-year enrollment reached nearly 600, forcing classes to be held in the cafeteria and on the auditorium’s stage. A new wing containing eight classrooms was finally added in 1955.
Call him Ishmael. Some years ago – never mind how long precisely – he was wandering the streets as a stray, and a nice fellow brought him in to hopefully find him a home. He weighs 8 lbs. and is estimated to be pretty young, at about 3 years old. His adoption fee is $40 and includes his neuter, microchip, vaccines, and more. Contact Vanderburgh Humane at (812) 426-2563 for adoption details!
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