Spring Project Blitz Begins!

As the winter cold begins to break, we are inviting volunteers, small groups, churches, business, and donors to support a Spring Project Blitz, with a goal of completing 20 home repair projects and completing our whole-hose rehab at 501 E Riverside Drive by June 1.
Volunteers can participate through:
• Direct project involvement
• Project Coaching (coordinating)
• Financial donations
• Help with Fundraising
• Volunteering within the organization

If you’d like to include yourself, your small group, church, business or organization in a spring project, please email me or call at (812) 250-6888.

Getting Started as a Volunteer

Our website is the hub of our work, where projects are posted and volunteers browse to find ways to serve. The very first step in volunteering is to go to our website and register as a volunteer. You’ll then be able to login, browse projects and volunteer with a mouse-click.
Repair Project Update

Catalyst Church Assists Homeowners With House Clean-out
Members of Catalyst Church recently skipped Sunday worship services to go out and serve in the community, including a Community One project to serve a family that had experienced a house fire. Church members pitched in to gut the house so that rehab could follow.
Our thanks to Pastor Dave Whitmore, Project Coaches Eddie and Kristy Greene and to all the volunteers that helped with the project—well done!

New Fundraiser: Give Away A Garage Sale
Clean Out Your House & Support a Great Cause
Need to spring clean? Time for a garage sale? We invite you to give your garage sale away! Rally some friends or neighbors or your small group to help. We’ll provide you yard signs to help people locate your sale, and information about Community One to share with customers.
In return, we simply ask that you donate some or all of your garage sale proceeds to Community One for housing restoration work in our community.
This is a super-easy way to support a great cause! For details email Donna Myers or phone at (812) 5New Fundraiser: iPhones For Homes

Donate your Unused, Used or Broken Apple Products
Let us put your unused, used or broken (yes broken!) Apple iPhone (including iPod or iPad) to work in housing restoration!
Donate an Apple iPhone (including iPod or iPad) to Community One and we’ll recycle the item and use the proceeds to fund housing restoration projects. There is no need for you to erase the information on your device; our recycler will wipe all stored data from your device as soon as it is received.

This collection is for Apple products only please. Here is a visual reminder of the Apple iPhone product line:
18-1424.

Works to include Indiana as example for Medicaid reform

(Washington, DC) –Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H. Con. Res 25, a responsible, balanced budget for Fiscal Year 2014. The budget passed the House, 221 – 207.

Representative Bucshon (IN-08) released the following statement regarding the House budget proposal:

“Today, the House passed yet another budget that follows through on our commitment to cut spending, balance the budget, and grow the economy. Our budget cuts wasteful spending, reforms the broken tax code, and strengthens our priorities like Medicare, Medicaid, and national security.

“The House budget also uses Indiana as an example of what states can achieve if the federal government allows them to innovate. I am proud to have worked with Chairman Ryan and his staff to ensure the Healthy Indiana Plan was included in the budget as a blueprint for states to implement Medicaid reforms when given the necessary flexibility.

“Today we voted to ease the burden on hardworking Hoosiers, expand opportunity, and pay down our debt. I hoped the Senate would follow this lead and present a budget that offers real spending reduction, yet their first budget proposal in over four years includes over $1 trillion in new taxes and never fully balances. At the same time, the President’s budget is still absent.

“Hoosiers deserve a balanced budget from Washington, DC that strengthens our priorities and creates more opportunity, not a plan that takes more of their paycheck to fund more federal spending.”

BACKGROUND:

To access full text of the House FY 2014 Budget, click here.

Congressman Bucshon worked with Congressman Paul Ryan, Chairman of the Budget Committee, and his staff to ensure the Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP) was included in the house budget. “It [HIP] was included after U.S. Rep. Larry Bucshon, a Newburgh Republican, urged Ryan to look at Indiana’s plan one that was launched under former Gov. Mitch Daniels and approved by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through a Medicaid waiver”(Evansville Courier & Press; 3/13/13).

According to The Hill, President Obama is unlikely to balance the budget when he releases his budget blueprint next month” (The Hill, 3/11/13).

In the same article, White House Press Secretary, Jay Carney admits that he does not know when the President’s budget will be released. “On Monday, Carney again reiterated that the White House did not ‘have a date-certain’ for release of the president’s budget”(The Hill, 3/11/13).

The Senate Budget will increase taxes and not end deficits. “They have signaled that their budget will do more to raise revenue than to cut spending and that it will not end deficits” (The Hill, 3/11/13).

Outreach Ministries is set to hold a first-of-its-kind fundraiser in the Tri-State, “Cheesecake for Charity: a night of entertainment, wine, and food to benefit the working poor through Outreach Ministries”, on Friday, May 3rd from 7:00 – 9:30 p.m. at Vectren Headquarters in Downtown Evansville.
​“Cheesecake for Charity” will feature samples of a variety of cheesecakes – from basic New York style to unique flavors like peanut butter and jelly. There will also be hors d’oeuvres, wine, live music by Monte Skelton, and an auction.
The cost is just $25 per person or $40 per couple. Sponsorship opportunities are also available. For more information or to reserve your tickets call (812) 464-3098.
As a partner of United Way of Southwestern Indiana, Outreach Ministries provides emergency financial assistance for those who need help with rent, utilities, eye exams, some prescriptions, and transportation. In 2012, we provided emergency financial assistance to 3,644 households – a total of 12,754 people.

We are continuing to make great strides in the House of Representatives this session, passing legislation to create a promising future for the people of Indiana. Hoosier safety has been a priority as I have authored legislation to create safety initiatives for our police force and establish protections for the mentally ill.

House Bill (HB) 1151 creates a Blue Alert program to notify the public when a law enforcement officer is killed, seriously injured or missing in the line of duty. Upon activation of the system, participating radio broadcasters and electronic billboard operators will repeatedly broadcast up-to-date information to the general public.

The system would utilize the same technology as that of Indiana’s Amber Alert and Silver Alert systems. By rapidly reporting if an officer is injured, missing or killed, local law enforcement and citizens will be properly alerted and encouraged to act accordingly. The system acts as a safeguard for citizens in the event that a suspect is still at large who could do harm to innocent Hoosiers.

Safety remains the focus in another bill, HB 1111. The bill allows an individual to practice tactical emergency medicine if the individual is an emergency medical technician (EMT), an advanced emergency medical technician or a paramedic employed by a law enforcement agency or an emergency medical services agency. This is helpful in providing retrieval and field medical treatment to victims of violent confrontations.

While many of our SWAT units across the state have received special training to perform tactical emergency medicine, they cannot properly utilize their skills under current Indiana law. If a SWAT team member is injured in the line of duty, precious time is wasted extraditing them to a secure area for EMT’s to treat the wounds. This bill allows for immediate treatment for our Hoosier servicemen.

The Legislature also wants to ensure the safety of Hoosiers, including those who might be disabled or mentally ill. HB 1130 provides that if an individual is gravely disabled or has a mental illness and needs to be hospitalized, they may be detained by a law enforcement officer and transported to the nearest appropriate facility. Ultimately, this legislation aims to ensure the protection of gravely disabled Hoosiers and allows for law enforcement to get them the help they need.

The price of the safety of our children and our community can never be measured. As we progress further through the legislative session, I promise to continue to look out for the best interests of Hoosiers everywhere. As always, if you have questions, comments or concerns you can feel free to contact me at 1-800-382-9841 or at h75@in.gov.

INDIANAPOLIS – As you may have heard, Indiana’s unemployment rate has gone up to 8.6 percent.

For those who continually trumpet that Indiana is a job creation machine, this news is “very confusing,” in the words of our state’s commissioner of Workforce Development.

Gov. Mike Pence responded in this fashion: “Our state’s unemployment rate is too high…we have no choice but to remain bold in our efforts to strengthen the economy and put Hoosiers back to work.”

Actually, there’s no reason to be confused about this. From the start of this session, the majorities that control state government haven’t done enough to empower the middle class and put Hoosiers back to work. Three months have gone by and there still hasn’t been a substantial proposal put forth that could provide good-paying jobs for Hoosiers right now.

But there isn’t any need for a bold solution to this problem. There’s an easy one right in front of us.

Just bringing the Affordable Care Act to Indiana is expected to create as many as 30,000 jobs in our state and extend affordable health care to 400,000 additional Hoosiers.

If there hasn’t been much of an effort this session to help improve the lives of Hoosiers, it hasn’t been for a lack of trying by House Democrats.

Here are a few of the proposals that have come from members of our caucus in recent days:
•Increasing the state’s minimum wage. (amendment offered to Senate Bill [SB] 213)
•Restoring transparency and public accountability to utility regulation in Indiana. (amendment offered to SB 560)
•Making the head of the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission an elected position. (amendment offered to SB 560)
•Curbing utility companies from using the trackers that raise your rates without any kind of public review. (amendment offered to SB 560)
•Ensuring that governors follow the same ethics rules as other state employees when they leave office. (amendment offered to SB 350)
•Using Indiana steel to build Indiana wind turbines. (amendment offered to SB 529)
•Giving older Hoosiers additional relief from property taxes. (amendment offered to SB 275)

These ideas share one common theme: all were rejected by the House Republicans.

But there have been some successes in recent weeks as well. Thanks to House Democrats, we have legislation alive that:
•Places a freeze on tuition and rates for Hoosier veterans attending college. (SB 177)
•Makes sure children of disabled Hoosier veterans can attend college for free. (SB 177)
•Creates jobs by making all state-funded building projects more energy-efficient. (SB 586)

In the time we have left before the end of this session, I hope we can see more proposals like these become law. They offer more hope for Hoosiers than what we have seen from those in charge.

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As always, please contact me if you have any questions, comments or concerns related to our state government. Here is how you can stay in touch: call my office toll-free at 1-800-382-9842; write to me in care of the Indiana House of Representatives, 200 W. Washington St., Indianapolis, IN 46204; or email me at h77@iga.in.gov.

State Representative Gail Riecken
Indiana House District 77

The Cookin’ Dutchmen will be at the Family Furniture and Matress store at 871 S. Greenriver Rd on March 23rd to help the Schroer family.They will be delivering pre-ordered smoked pork butts from 4pm-7pm.
If you did not pre-order, you can still stop by and pick up a pork butt sandwich. They will also be taking donations for the Schroer family.
For full details, view this message on the web.

EPD 3rd Shift shaved their heads as a show of support for EPD Detective Nathan Schroer!!
“Shaving for Schroer” will be tonight at the Evansville IceMen game. There will be many others who have raised money for Nathan’s family and will have their heads shaved tonight at the Ford Center.
There will be Team Nathan T-Shirts and Wrist-Bands for sale in the entry lobby. Shirts are $20 and Wrist-Bands are $5. Every penny raised goes to the Schrer family to help cover expenses associated with his Luekemia battle. Please come out and help someone who has helped so many.
For full details, view this message on the web.