By Lesley Weidenbener
TheStatehouseFile.com            

Democratic Rep. Kreg Battles of Vincennes announced last week that he won’t be seeking reelection and is actually resigning his seat now.

Analysis button in JPGThe decision means the House minority caucus is losing one of its best and most accessible spokesmen. But it’s also a sign of what’s to come if Democrats can’t win back more seats – and soon.

Battles, a teacher, came to the General Assembly eight years ago. I should acknowledge that he was one of my teachers. I was in his chemistry class at Lincoln High School and he also served as the advisor to the student council when I was a member. So I’ve known Battles for years.

He said Friday he’s giving up the seat to spend more time with his family and called being a legislator “a very selfish endeavor that forces a person’s family to take a back seat sometimes.”

“With five grandsons becoming more active, I need to have the time to attend their activities.,” he said. “I don’t want them to ever feel that they have taken a back seat to anything. I want them to know they are my first and most important priority.”

The problem for Democrats is that Battles is an outstanding spokesman for the party’s causes – a guy who can be persuasive at the microphone or in a committee meeting.

He’s also a lawmaker who can talk to the media intelligently and directly about almost any issue. He knows how to produce a sound bite while still offering context and depth.

I have gone to Battles countless times seeking a comment on stories, whether they be about politics or public policy. And I’ve sent the reporters who work for me to him time and again because he’s so good at explaining complex issues in ways that folks new to an issue can understand.

And I’m not alone. My colleagues in the Statehouse press corps also quote Battles regularly on education, utilities and other key issues.

Of course, Battles isn’t the Democratic caucus’ only good spokesman. House Minority Leader Scott Pelath of Michigan City, Rep. Linda Lawson of Hammond, Rep. Charlie Brown of Gary and Rep. Steve Stemler of Jeffersonville are among the Democrats whom I go to regularly for comments.

But Battles’ decision to leave might be the harbinger of things to come for Democrats.

Although he stressed family issues in his explanation for leaving the legislature, Battles has also been frustrated serving in what’s called a “super minority,” which occurred after the last election. It means Democrats have so few members that they can’t even deny the Republicans a quorum. GOP members could hold a session without them present and never break a single rule doing it.

For Battles, that’s been demoralizing and drained some of the enthusiasm that’s needed to be an effective legislator. And I’d guess that lack of power makes it a whole lot tougher to leave your family behind for months to be in Indianapolis during the session.

So Battles probably isn’t alone in his frustration.

To keep other members from following his lead, Democratic leaders need to figure out how to pick more seats in November so they can at least regain some of the power they’ve lost in recent years.

Battles did do his Democratic colleagues a favor. By resigning after the primary, he gives local Democrats the opportunity to pick the new legislator for District 45, a process that involves a vote by the precinct committeemen in the district.

Then Democrats – if they choose – can put that same candidate on the ballot for November, replacing Battles. That gives his successor time to serve on summer study committees and build up some record he or she can use to run as an incumbent.

But there’s no guarantee a Democrat will win the seat again. And unless Democrats can pick up other seats too, more of their members might find that it’s just easier to go back home and try to make a difference locally.

Lesley Weidenbener is the executive editor of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

By Dan Carpenter
TheStatehouseFile.com

Knocking out yet another newspaper story on the school prayer issue a number of years ago, I interviewed an Indianapolis rabbi who recounted his anguish as a child being left behind alone in a public school classroom while his peers skipped off to Bible lessons.

Dan Carpenter is a columnist for TheStatehouseFile.com and the author of “Indiana Out Loud.”
Dan Carpenter is a columnist for TheStatehouseFile.com and the author of “Indiana Out Loud.”
This was prior to the 1962 U.S. Supreme Court decision outlawing institutionally organized prayer in the tax-supported schools, an event still known by many Americans as the banishment of Almighty God Himself to the wilderness by a mere mortal named Madalyn Murray O’Hare.

Such awesome power in such a reviled lady. And such a ripe occasion for that now-familiar joke, that prayer will never be gone from the schools as long as they have math tests.

Commentary button in JPG – no shadowYes, assuming God is, then God is wherever God chooses to be. Invoking the Higher Power in formal ways speaks to the relationships of humans, not to the divine, but to one another.

In that regard, memory serves up regret for me.

Regret that the tyranny of the majority is alive and well and indeed rejuvenated after all these decades. And regret that my interviewing back in the day stopped with members of the non-Christian minority.

The majority – and there are many therein who agree with me – are the natural leaders of secularism in government in a society supposedly founded on freedom of religion and not domination by anyone’s religion.

It is the Protestants – and today, the once-second-class Catholics – who should be standing up for pluralism and rejecting reactionary court rulings and legislation that affirm old pecking orders and incite archaic prejudices.

It is the individual, it is the child suffering needlessly and the citizen left in the cold, to whom the larger society must bend if it is to live its highest ideals, the rabbi reminded me. And that’s precisely why the high court ruling in the Greece, N.Y., case, and the acclamation for it from so many so-called conservatives, grieve me so.

(Naturally, Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller’s office filed an amicus brief on behalf of allowing sectarian prayer in government settings. A federal judge rejected that practice by our legislature back in 2005, but an appeals court ruled the plaintiffs – mainly liberal religious leaders – had no standing to sue. So the lawmakers pray when they’re in session – as do many of us, when they’re in session.)

Except for its three Jewish members and one of its two liberal Catholics, the high court was pretty much fine with whatever discomfort, and whatever ramifications, sprang from the town council’s virtually entirely Christian invocations. Defenders of this endorsement of state religion have dismissed objectors as thin-skinned troublemakers who need to practice the “tolerance” they preach. This twisting of tolerance, this bizarre prostitution of the virtues of openness and sacrifice into acquiescence to the whims of power, is a sign of our times, and an apocalyptic one if you ask me.

The O’Hare and Greece matters are not identical. But permit this non-lawyer a broad inference. The court majority in each case represented society’s majority. The difference is, the societal majority in the prior case was not melting away and threatened. That left room for magnanimity, a luxury for which the Roberts court has no time.

“When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.”

That’s Jesus, via Matthew 6:5-6. It’s the precedent that belongs to the guys in charge. Why don’t they use it? Or is it the earthly reward in full they’re after?

Dan Carpenter is a freelance writer, a contributor to The Indianapolis Business Journal and the author of “Indiana Out Loud.”

By Lesley Weidenbener
TheStatehouseFile.com

Thousands of Hoosiers will now be able to text 911 for help and be connected to their local emergency centers – although the service is not yet available in all areas or through all mobile carriers.

This map from the Statewide 911 Board shows counties participating in the text-to-911 program. Those in orange have the program implemented now.
This map from the Statewide 911 Board shows counties participating in the text-to-911 program. Those in orange have the program implemented now.
State officials say the new 911 texting service will be especially helpful for people who are deaf or can’t speak – or for anyone who is in a dicey situation that makes talking dangerous.

But law enforcement officials said most people should continue to call 911 whenever possible. It’s faster, emergency responders can better pinpoint a location and calls are more reliable.

Barry Ritter, executive director of the Statewide 911 Board, said the texting service is “a major step forward for public safety.”

“Indiana has one of the most successful 911 programs in the U.S. and this project is the largest scale rollout of text-to-911 in our nation,” he said.

For now, the service is available for customers of Verizon Wireless in 66 of the state’s 92 counties. AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint are expected to go live with the program in the next several weeks.

In addition, state officials say they expect more counties will soon join the program, which is voluntary and free to local emergency agencies.

Tippecanoe County is among those who have gone live with the service. Sheriff Tracy Brown, who serves on the state 911 board, said that’s important because the thousands of Purdue University use their mobile phones and texting as their primary communications tools.

“Their cell phone is their connection to the rest of the world,” he said. “For this generation – and many others – text messaging is the reason the cell phone was created.”

Already, about 85 percent to 90 percent of all 911 calls come from mobile phones. Updates over the past decade in technology mean that those calls quickly reach emergency dispatchers, who can nearly pinpoint the location of the caller.

But texting technology has not caught up. State officials say there is a 20 to 30 second delay between when someone texts 911 and the message reaches dispatchers.

Diane Hazel of Indianapolis served as a sign language interpreter Wednesday at the Statehouse as Barry Ritter, executive director of the Statewide 911 Board, announced that thousands of Hoosiers will now be able to text 911 for help. The service is expected to be most helpful to people who are deaf or unable to speak clearly. Photo by Lesley Weidenbener, TheStatehouseFile.com
Diane Hazel of Indianapolis served as a sign language interpreter Wednesday at the Statehouse as Barry Ritter, executive director of the Statewide 911 Board, announced that thousands of Hoosiers will now be able to text 911 for help. The service is expected to be most helpful to people who are deaf or unable to speak clearly. Photo by Lesley Weidenbener, TheStatehouseFile.com
Also, emergency workers can’t locate the caller from a text message; it only narrows the area.

That’s why state officials have launched an information campaign – with the slogan “B 4 U TXT, 911 VOICE is best” – urging Hoosiers to text only when calling is not an option.

“We all know text messaging can sometimes be delayed and sometimes text messages aren’t clear,” said Indiana State Police Capt. Dave Bursten. “Autocorrect can change ‘my house is on fire’ to ‘my horse is on fire.’”