Blog
Sen. Deery Shares Updates
| To keep you well-informed, I believe one of the duties of a State Senator is to explain my views and answer questions. I do that through this newsletter, public events, email responses and also, through conversations with the media. In this week’s newsletter, I would like to share three news articles that you may have missed that cover issues I’ve worked on as your state senator. 1. Improving the Financial Security of Low-income Hoosiers As inflation continues to increase, Hoosiers are looking for ways to cover their basic needs. Sometimes, financial emergencies such as a broken vehicle or a medical procedure compel Hoosiers to turn to payday loans. While these loans can offer quick access to funds for Hoosiers with poor credit, they come with high interest rates and often don’t leave the individual better off. A recent opinion piece in the Indiana Capital Chronicle praised my work promoting an alternative known as non-profit loan centers. These centers are already established across the state and provide emergency loans to Hoosiers at lower rates because they are tied to payroll deduction and are coupled with financial counseling and credit building. In the last two sessions, I filed two bills that would have given state employees – at no cost to taxpayers – access to these loans through pay-roll deduction. This would benefit state employees directly and all Hoosiers indirectly by fostering the development of non-profit loans centers. While these bills received hearings and positive votes, they have not yet made it to the governor’s desk. I will continue to work on the legislation to bring these much-needed financial options to more Hoosiers. 2. Indiana’s Viewpoint Diversity and Tenure Reform Law gets Another Legal Victory The law I wrote and passed in 2024 in some ways was very simple. It said before giving near lifetime employment to faculty, the professors should be able to document ways that they value free expression on campus and viewpoint diversity in the classroom. They also should be able to demonstrate that they have not sought to politicize courses that are not about politics. Finally, the law prohibited universities from discriminating against someone because of their political views, research, or criticism of the university. I believe most Hoosiers consider these to be smart and reasonable reforms, but it’s been interesting to see the ways some have distorted and spread fear about what the law actually does. That led to two lawsuits from the ACLU against the law, but both have now been dismissed. In the most recent, the Indianapolis Star reported that the judge, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton, declared that while he understood some faculty had fear about the law, there was not evidence that those fears were well-founded and that academic freedom was actually chilled.This is another win for students who will benefit from more scholarly and robust debate on campus, and it’s another win for taxpayers who have the right to expect their tax dollars to go to education rather than politics or the suppression of thought and speech. 3. Indiana Department of Education set to Base School Grades on More Than a Single Assessment. Finally, I sponsored House Enrolled Act 1498 which required the State Board of Education to establish a new school grading system that will be based on comprehensive measures rather than a single test. Several recent media reports shared how the draft rule includes criteria such as soft skills, work-based learning and academic proficiency. The details of the new grading standards will evolve in the coming months as they are finalized, but so far I am very pleased. This is another win for parents, taxpayers and students that I am honored to have authored! |