Letters: Statehouse Republicans failed to do their jobs
The special state legislative session should have been unnecessary if the governor and supermajority in the legislature had done their jobs. The GOP controls all of the statewide offices plus top heavy majorities in both houses of the state legislature, yet they could not get their agenda passed and enacted.
They did nothing about gerrymandering reform. With a state that has one of the worst voting turnouts in the nation, they didn't pass letting voters cast an absentee ballot without an excuse. With a possibility of getting Amazon's HQ2, they set back light rail again. Hate crime legislation wasn't approved, leaving us as one of only five states without such protections in law.
They may have crippled the state's fast-growing solar industry, a source of jobs that can't be shipped overseas. Nothing like letting utilities rule over what could save residences, churches, schools and businesses money. Maybe it's time to give the other political team a chance; they can't do any worse!
Mike Boland
Fishers
Legislation will aid mental health, opioid treatment
While the Indiana General Assembly is a part-time legislature, certain groups meet diligently throughout the year to discuss issues facing the state.
One in particular is our Task Force on Substance Abuse and Mental Health for Children, which reports to the Commission on Improving the Status of Children and is made up of practitioners in mental health, social work, law enforcement, government and substance abuse rehabilitation fields around Indiana.
Our kids are our future, and it is important they grow up in a safe, healthy environment. To ensure this is the case, our task force meets to uncover issues facing Indiana children and find solutions to those problems.
Below are issues we wanted to address this year, along with the bills on those topics that passed this session.
Mental health: Right now, there is incomplete data on the gaps in services for medical, substance use and mental health in Indiana, which makes it difficult to know how to make improvements. To address this issue, Senate Enrolled Act 223 helps provide our state with more health workforce information by requiring some licensed health practitioners to provide information related to their work when renewing their licenses online.
Available counselors: When mental health counselors move to our state, they are required to complete hours of training prior to receiving an Indiana license, even if they have worked in their field for years in another state. This often deters them from settling in Indiana, reducing the number of counselors that could be available. To make it easier for these important counselors to obtain a license, Senate Enrolled Act 224 requires them to complete only 700 hours, rather than 1,000, in a counseling setting through a clinical practicum, internship or field experience. Plus, up to 50 percent of the supervised hours may be virtual supervision.
Opioid training: Opioid abuse continues to rise in Indiana. To ensure health care practitioners are armed with the most current information, Senate Enrolled Act 225 requires licensed health care practitioners to have completed two hours of continued opioid prescribing and opioid abuse education during the previous two years when they apply for registration or re-registration.
Suicide awareness: Too many Hoosiers, including children, lose their lives to suicide each year. To help reduce these terrible deaths, Senate Enrolled Act 230 adds language to improve a bill passed during the 2017 session, which essentially designated the Indiana Suicide Prevention Network Advisory Council to be the entity to work with the Indiana Department of Education and Division of Mental Health and Addiction to determine programs that are offered to schools and communities related to prevention and intervention.
The passage of these bills would not have been possible if not for the hard work and dedication of all of the task force members. We are thankful to our task force for their effort and support, and are hoping to see these bills positively impact our children and state.
State Sen. Randy Head
District 18
Co-chair, Task Force on Substance Abuse and Mental Health for Children
Board fighting for Palestinian rights disbands
It is with tremendous sadness that we, Christians for Peace and Justice in the Middle East (CPJME) Board members, announce the end of our efforts to fight for Palestinian rights as an organization.
In 200, CPJME brought the plight of the Palestinians to Indianapolis. This was the first real effort to present the ethnic cleansing and apartheid perpetrated on the Palestinian people. CPJME accomplished this by presenting programs featuring renowned author/professors like John Mearscheimer, Ilan Pappe, and Norman Finkelstein. We also presented movies and brought Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza to tell their stories of the brutal occupation.
The CPJME Board has recently experienced the loss of several members primarily through death and illness and we have not been able to find replacements. Therefore, we will all continue to promote the Palestinian cause individually and through other organizations who have now taken up this important cause. Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) and American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) are national and international organizations who fight for Palestinian rights and deserve our support.
Please support the organizations listed above in this important work.
Charlie McDonald
President, Christians for Peace and Justice in the Middle East
Oliver targeted Pence's extremist views
In his piece " 'Tolerant' left mocks Christians", Gary Varvel states that HBO host John Oliver loathes Vice President Mike Pence for saying that "marriage was ordained by God." Varvel misses the point. Oliver did indeed focus his wrath on Pence, but his focus was on a much larger point: Pence has made it clear that his goal is to convert his extreme religious positions into public policy.
Oliver's commentary was well documented, with a clip from Pence's radio show where he sneers at the concept of women in the military, or his call for the teaching of intelligent design in public schools, his well-known hostility to LGBT rights, his support of gay conversion therapy, and even a clip from Pence's excruciating TV interview with George Stephanaopolous when the fight over RFRA was raging. When a politician is unable to separate his personal religious beliefs from his job as a public servant, he leaves himself open to the kind of acerbic takedown Oliver is known for.
Mike Rabey
Indianapolis
Coal plant
Coal to diesel plant would increase CO2 output
The March 18 article on a proposed coal to diesel plant laid out risks due to uncompetitive diesel prices, cost overruns, a first of its kind plant and pollution. In addition to the 2.2 million tons of CO2 from production, the resultant fuel produces one-third more CO2 when used than petroleum diesel. So 2.8 million tons of additional CO2 would be emitted annually.
Science shows we’re headed down a dangerous path from increased CO2 that continues to worsen even with global trends slowing emissions. The Paris Agreement tries to hold global temperature rise below 2 degrees, but we’re on track for more than 3. These emissions play a big part in many adverse health effects and they’ll get worse for future generations. Asthma and spread of Zika and West Nile from seasonal changes. More extreme heat days and drought that stress people, agriculture and water companies. Increased likelihood and severity of wildfires, tornadoes, and hurricanes. These cause higher death rates, medical costs, insurance premiums, and even the national debt as we deal with emissions aftermath.
The spokesman says Indiana’s coal reserves are a reason for the plant. But we have lots of sun, wind and CO2 too. Wind and solar farms are going up all over with far less risk than the proposal. Spend money on these to displace CO2 from coal produced electricity to reduce their adverse effects. For new technology, there is direct CO2 capture from the air. Combined with hydrogen it makes synthetic diesel, which produces less emissions than diesel, not more. Use science to improve the economic and health aspects for Indiana instead of making them worse.
Greg Kempf
Avon
Congressional delegation should examine Red Line
IndyStar recently printed a letter about safety within the Red Line College Corridor design. The next day I received a text message from the office of Rep. Todd Rokita. That message was the first effort from any senator or congressional representative to delve into the Red Line's safety.
Our members of Congress have all been notified of the Red Line failures and their responsibility to cure them. They have all abdicated! I ask that they all join Todd Rokita and take on their responsibility! Hold the Red Line to federal safety requirements.
Charles G. Mack
Indianapolis