Latest news with #IndianaDemocraticParty
Axios
11-07-2025
- Business
- Axios
What the "big, beautiful bill" will mean for Indiana
President Trump's massive tax and spending bill could have a dire impact on food and health benefits for low-income Hoosiers. Why it matters: It's a historic cut to the social safety net, which Republicans claim will weed out waste, fraud and abuse. But others warn the move could leave more people hungry and uninsured. The big picture: The "big, beautiful bill," signed July 4, includes cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, commonly known as food stamps) and health benefits for the poorest Americans. State of play: Indiana may need hundreds of millions of dollars to keep SNAP benefits intact in the next fiscal year for the 600,000 Hoosiers who rely on it. State Democrats estimate the changes to SNAP will cost Indiana at least an extra $190 million, says Sen. Shelli Yoder on behalf of the Senate Democratic Caucus. "Passage of the budget reconciliation is undisputedly the most damaging federal policy targeting hungry Hoosiers that modern America has ever seen," said Emily Bryant, executive director of Feeding Indiana's Hungry. Context: In addition to funding cuts, Trump's plan adjusts work requirements for SNAP. To keep their benefits, parents of children age 14 or older would have to meet new requirements. The bill also bumps the work requirement age up to 64. Currently, SNAP's work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents apply to those age 18 to 54. Threat level: The bill slashes over $1 trillion from Medicaid, putting coverage for 650,000 Hoosiers on the state's Medicaid expansion plan at risk. There are also concerns for nearly a dozen rural hospitals at risk of closure, including facilities in Rensselaer, Portland, Sullivan, Washington, Bremen, Winchester, North Vernon, Brazil, Salem, Decatur and Corydon, according to state Democrats. "People will die," Indiana Democratic Party chair Karen Tallian said in a statement. "Hundreds of thousands of Hoosiers are now at risk because they will lose access to food and health care."
Chicago Tribune
22-06-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Democratic leaders share vision for party's future in Valparaiso town hall
State and Porter County leaders discussed the future of the state and national Democratic Party during a town hall Saturday at the Laborers' Local 81 in Valparaiso. The town hall was led by Indiana Democratic Party Chairwoman Karen Tallian, State Sen. Rodney Pol, D-Chesterton, State Rep. Chuck Moseley, D-Portage, and Center Township Trustee Jesse Harper. About 45 people attended the meeting, and a handful of them submitted questions on note cards about the future of the Democratic Party in the upcoming midterm elections, voter turnout, party messaging and engaging younger people to run for office. While a lot of people are mad about the current national political landscape, Harper said an equal amount of people are mad at the Democratic Party. 'They are angry and mad at the Democratic Party. We have to take responsibility for our losses. We have to figure out what happened,' Harper said. 'Everything you're concerned about, I'm going to tell you right now it doesn't mean a damn thing. The reason it doesn't mean a damn thing is because we can't do anything about it because we don't have the votes. The only way we get those votes is by getting Democrats elected.' For the midterm elections, Tallian said the state party has been reaching out to all the county chairs, holding town hall meetings and creating a program to focus on candidate recruitment. 'This year, we're in an off year, we need to build and to recruit candidates,' Tallian said. 'We've got 92 counties, and every one of them has down ballot elections. We have township advisory boards, we have county councils, and now we have school boards. All of these down ballot positions need to get filled.' Every precinct committee person also needs to help with voter registration and canvassing, Tallian said. In 2024, 330,000 Hoosiers registered as Democrats but did not vote, she said. 'One of the things we're trying to do this year is to canvas neighborhoods for those people and find out why,' Tallian said. 'We need to get that done this year so that people can be ready for the elections in 2026.' For Democrats to win in Center Township, Porter County and in Indiana, Harper said Democratic candidates need to secure Republican votes. 'It's not this elusive Independent vote … you've got to get Republican votes,' Harper said. 'The way to do that is you are the adult in the room and you talk about issues that people are scared about.' For example, Harper said health care cuts impact the elderly, children and people with disabilities, which is 'a bipartisan issue' that also allows Democrats to be 'the adults in the room.' One of the questions raised concerns about 'watering down' Democratic values to get Republican votes versus 'doubling down' on Democratic issues to encourage more Democrats to vote. If the party were to double down on Democratic issues, 'there aren't enough Democrats' in Indiana to vote on those issues, Harper said. 'It's a question of mathematics,' Harper said. 'We have to decide what our Democratic messaging is, when we use it and how we use it. I think we can have a strong Democratic message.' When it comes to messaging, Moseley said property taxes, future economic stability and health care are major issues that the Democratic Party can focus on. 'People want to vote for something, not just always against something,' Moseley said. Another important issue in Northwest Indiana is the environment, as it's located near Lake Michigan and environmental protections are rolled back, Pol said. Pol said public education is also an important issue the party could focus on because public education in Indiana has been experiencing a 'death by 1,000 cuts' with each passing legislative session. The state's voucher program allows wealthy families to receive a discount for sending their children to private schools, while public education has been eroding through various pieces of legislation, he said. 'It's the funding of defunding public education, is what it is. We'll give you money to send your kids to a private school, so you don't send your money to a public school,' Pol said. As she talks to people at town halls throughout the state, Tallian said the themes she's heard people should focus on are the economy, 'Big Brother' and stability. Under 'Big Brother,' Tallian said Republican Party leaders 'at the state and federal level are telling us what to think, they're telling us what our universities can do and they're cutting who can go to which schools.' 'The 'Big Brother' aspect of what's going on in this country is, to me, one of the scariest things going on right now,' Tallian said. When it comes to stability, Tallian described the constant switch between tariffs being on and off and chaos caused by the deportation methods under President Donald Trump's administration. 'Things keep moving every day in Washington and you can't keep track of anything,' Tallian said. 'We want to have stability.' When it comes to engaging younger people, Tallian, a former state senator, said Pol took over her seat and he's younger than her youngest child. The party needs to 'build a bench,' Tallian said. 'The bench can't just be people who want to burn everything down and start over. We've seen the burn down, start over (with) DOGE,' Tallian said, referencing Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. Indiana's Democratic Party leaders at the county level range in age from 22 to 82, Tallian said, and she wouldn't 'throw out anyone' because they are either too young or too old. 'But building the bench is something that we absolutely need to do, and I'm encouraging that every single place I can,' Tallian said. Pol said when he first joined the Senate he was 37 years old and he was the youngest senator at the time. Pol said he's now 41 years old and he's still the youngest Senator. 'I think that's criminal because there are younger people who are much smarter than I. There are younger people who have a voice that needs to be heard,' Pol said. Pol encouraged young people to get involved in political groups and organizations to have their voices heard and engage in the process. Moseley said anyone coming to town halls or other political events should bring a younger person they know to the event to educate them on the process. 'It's up to us to let them know, 'Hey, you are welcome,'' Moseley said. Tallian has come under fire after an IndyStar opinion piece written by Elise Shrock, sharing her story of being dragged out by sheriff's deputies from an Indianapolis City-County Council meeting earlier this month for seeking accountability for survivors of sexual assault. Shrock shared her disappointment with the state Democratic Party's silence on the issue. In response to a question about the situation Saturday, Tallian said it's 'partially an Indianapolis problem.' Referencing her written statement issued after the op-ed was published, Tallian said just days apart, she saw U.S. Senator Alex Padilla from California shoved to the ground and handcuffed at a news conference in Los Angeles, and in Indianapolis, multiple women were shoved out of a public meeting. 'Forcibly removing people from a public meeting is not the way that we fix our problems in this country,' Tallian said.
Indianapolis Star
17-06-2025
- Politics
- Indianapolis Star
I was dragged out by sheriff's deputies. Indiana Democrats stayed silent.
I have spent my entire adult life working to advance the ideals of the Indiana Democratic Party. I've poured my time, expertise, reputation, and heart into electing Democrats. I've defended policies I believed in. I've protected the people who proclaim to protect the rest of us. I helped build campaigns from the ground up, mentored staffers, trained interns, and gave everything I had to the belief that this party could be a force for justice. At the June 9 City-County Council meeting, in the very chamber where I have sat as a professional, policy advisor, and believer in public service, I was dragged out and groped by law enforcement at the direction of those very Democrats I once helped into office. All of them watched. Some turned away. Others remained silent. None of them intervened. It wasn't because I had harmed someone, disrupted democracy, or posed a threat to anyone's safety. It was because I had the audacity to demand accountability for survivors of sexual assault harmed within our own party's infrastructure and city hall. Survivors who put their trust in us, in me, because we told them we were the party of women's rights that believed in bodily autonomy. Because we said we were different. I worked for the Senate Democratic Caucus for nearly a decade. I fought like hell for their policies, districts, and image. I was not just politically or professionally invested in the people who watched me in person and online, be removed. I had been to their weddings. Their baby showers. I've shown up at their doors when they lost loved ones. I've mentored their children. I've contributed to their campaigns. I've canvassed their districts, written speeches, edited press releases, and gone on television to defend their records, often sacrificing my own time in the process. And now, when I've needed them most, hardly any of those officials have picked up the phone to check my well-being. When my image — my body — was plastered all over the news, groped by law enforcement's hands, there was overwhelming silence. Not even the Chair of the Indiana Democratic Party, a woman I once called a mentor. A woman I believed, deeply, shared my commitment to safe, accountable, inclusive workplaces. A woman who has publicly acknowledged that workplace harassment in politics is no surprise. Briggs: Hogsett's texts to women show Indianapolis mayor embodied toxic culture The emotional weight has been crushing. The physical toll is real. And the psychological harm — to me, to the survivors I support, and to my partner and family — continues to deepen. I would say that the silence from our party's leadership is deafening. But it's worse. The continued chatter to impugn my motives and treat me like a troublemaker is worse. But who did reach out to inquire about my well-being? The workers. The staffers. The volunteers. The people with the least power and the most to lose. They wrote to me, called me, whispered encouragement when they thought no one else would hear. The only entity within the state party that has come out alongside survivors is the Howard County Democratic Party. A county party, which understands the message we send as a state party, and from our capital city, is never neutral. They've all asked me to keep going — not because they don't see what this is costing me, but because they know the truth: If someone like me — who's spent two decades building relationships, delivering results, and holding confidences — can be tossed aside for daring to speak up… what does that say to every survivor working quietly within our systems? What does that say to our neighbors living at the margins, without titles, connections or political capital? What does that say about who we are? Imagine that it wasn't me that night — someone who benefits from whiteness, who is straight and cisgender — but a queer Black woman. A trans organizer. An undocumented survivor. Instead of being a white Hispanic woman, a brown woman. Or someone with no media presence, connections, or political history to soften the blow. I know for a fact there were people of color prepared to testify that night. They saw what happened to me and stayed silent — because they knew it would be worse for them. That is what is at stake right now. This is about the soul of the Indiana Democratic Party. Who we really are when it counts. Whether our commitments to justice, safety, and dignity are real, or just slogans we dust off every two years for a campaign. Opinion: Indianapolis makes construction too slow, expensive and exhausting I haven't written this easily. I am grieving many losses– of relationships and expectations. But I still believe in accountability. I still believe in the people who whisper to me that they want to do better, but feel trapped in a system that punishes truth-telling. To those people and everyone watching: now is the time to choose. Will we protect survivors, or protect those with perceived power? Will we lead with courage, or cower in silence? Will we be the party we claim to be — or something else entirely? The Indiana Democratic Party cannot afford to look away any longer. Mayor Joe Hogsett has lost the moral clarity to lead and must resign. There are others who can do that job far better, and to the degree the people of Indianapolis deserve. The truth is here. And so am I. Even now — especially now — I'm still fighting for what's right.
Axios
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Indiana Democrats draw crowds for "empty chair" town halls
About 75 people packed into a windowless room inside the Greenwood Fieldhouse for a raucous Friday night last week. Driving the news: It wasn't sports or music bringing people together — it was politics. The Indiana Democratic Party hosted a town hall in the state's 6th Congressional District, a seat held by Republican U.S. Rep. Jefferson Shreve. The freshman congressman has hosted a small-business roundtable and visited sites around his district but has yet to host a public forum like a town hall. He was invited to Friday night's event but did not attend. The big picture: Earlier this year, GOP leadership urged House Republicans to stop doing in-person town halls. In-person events were being "hijacked" by Democratic activists and liberal groups trying to bait lawmakers into confrontational moments, sources told Axios, so leadership encouraged members to switch to virtual events. Since then, most GOP lawmakers have complied, and Democrats and other groups have stepped in to host their own out-of-district or " empty chair" town halls. Zoom in: The Indiana Democratic Party has hosted seven "People's Town Hall" events so far, with plans to hold at least one in every GOP-held district in the state. Attendees in Greenwood wanted to know what the party was doing to push back against President Trump's policies that threaten Medicaid and SNAP benefits, how to get heard by their representatives, what can be done to reach out to get more minorities involved in the party, and how to make a difference in the next election cycle. What they're saying:"Our first People's Town Halls in Bloomington, Lafayette, Terre Haute, Culver and New Albany showed the anger and frustration Hoosiers are feeling," spokesperson Sam Barloga said in a statement. "They want to be heard, and their Republican representatives are hiding from them. "Rep. Shreve has pressing questions he still has not answered from Hoosiers — including his millions of dollars in personal stock trades as Trump announced tariffs last month. If Rep. Shreve refuses to hold a public, in-person town hall and answer to Hoosiers' pressing concerns, voters will look to leaders who will." Shreve told Axios met with "thousands of constituents" since being elected. "I'm on the ground, traveling across all eleven counties — and consistently hearing from our hardworking Hoosiers," he said. The other side: Rep. Victoria Spartz, a Republican representing Indiana's 5th Congressional District, didn't heed warnings from national GOP leaders and held several public town halls this year, and she was met with protests, booing and jeering. Republican Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith has also held several public events, including a town hall in Ellettsville last night. Indiana Democratic Party chair Karen Tallian, elected by the state central committee in March, told Axios that people statewide are frustrated by the current political situation at the national and state levels and are looking for change.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Clinton Mayor Jack Gilfoy Jr. dies over the weekend
Clinton Mayor Jack Gilfoy Jr. died over the weekend, according to the city's Facebook page. 'It is with deep regret and sadness, per the notification of Mayor Jack Gilfoy Jr.'s wife, that we are informing our community that Mayor Gilfoy passed away today [Saturday] at 2:10 p.m.,' the city's post said. 'We ask that you please respect the wishes of his wife and give them privacy during this difficult time. We appreciate your prayers and positive thoughts. Thank you.' Gilfoy was first elected mayor in 2011. 'A good mayor and a good man taken too soon. He was always focused on making Clinton a better a better place,' said Dave Crooks, Eighth District chairman for the Indiana Democratic Party. Terre Haute Mayor Brandon Sakbun also offered his condolences. 'Jack was a veteran and a true leader in west central Indiana. His impact will not be forgotten. On behalf of our community, I offer heartfelt condolences and prayers to our neighbors in Clinton during this difficult time,' Sakbun said. A graduate of Clinton High School and a Vietnam War veteran, he also oversaw the family-owned business, Model Cleaners, according to his biography on the city's website. Arrangements had not been announced Monday afternoon.
