ICYMI: Indiana Chamber of Commerce opposes House Bill 1001, INGOP’s partisan effort to discredit the COVID-19 vaccine and harm state’s business community
INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Democratic Party, the organization that advocates for the future of Indiana and its families, today criticized the Indiana Republican Party for disregarding Hoosier lives in favor of unnecessary culture wars in the upcoming 2022 legislative session. This week begins the Indiana General Assembly’s 2022 session, and Republicans are expected to make discrediting the COVID-19 vaccine their top priority from the state’s governing body. They plan to do this by forcing through House Bill 1001 and Senate Bill 114 at the start of session.
Indiana Republicans’ 2021 effort to taint the life-saving vaccine comes as hospitals are on the brink of collapse due to the worst surge of the entire pandemic. Vaccination rates in the Hoosier State are one of the worst in the nation and hospitalizations are at levels not seen in over a year. Because of the GOP’s extreme partisanship, Indiana is the most dangerous state to call home during COVID-19.
“Indiana Republicans have one objective for the session this year: endorse misinformation and conspiracy theories just to try to win elections. The worst part: the INGOP will ignore the truth and wishes of hard-working Hoosiers to get it done, including key stakeholders like the Indiana Chamber of Commerce and the Indiana State Police,” said Mike Schmuhl, Chairman of the Indiana Democratic Party. “Democrats have been the party of common sense by getting real opportunities across the finish line, like the American Rescue Plan’s READI program and the boost to last year’s biennial budget. We look forward to campaigning on this record as well as the INGOP’s irrational behavior throughout the critical 2022 elections.”
The Republicans’ partisan agenda does not stop with COVID-19 as the rest of the 2022 legislative session will be about fulfilling a partisan wish list rooted in misinformation and cooked up by the national Republican Party. This agenda includes criminalizing women’s access to reproductive health care (in all cases), installing so-called “constitutional carry” (opposed by the Indiana State Police), and making school board elections partisan — right when people want less politics in schools.
Here’s a look at the Indiana Republican Party’s culture war agenda for the 2022 legislative session:
COVID-19
House Bill 1001/Senate Bill 114: These bills are an effort to discredit the COVID-19 vaccine, force businesses to pay for testing, or endanger Hoosiers at the workplace.
NOTE: The Indiana Chamber of Commerce expressed vocal opposition to House Bill 1001.
Education
House Bill 1040/Senate Bill 167: These bills are to capitalize on the GOP’s national strategy to push misinformation and conspiracy theories around so-called Critical Race Theory.
NOTE: Critical Race Theory is not taught in K-12 schools across Indiana.
Also, Indiana Republicans have expressed their intentions to politicize school board elections across the state – fitting another national GOP strategy.
Abortion
Indiana Republicans are looking to join the national GOP strategy to endanger women’s lives across Indiana by banning reproductive health care access.
Here’s what State Senator Liz Brown told the Associated Press last year: “Brown, who is an attorney, said she believed the provision allowing private citizens to sue abortion providers and others was ‘appropriate.’”
NOTE: More than 56-percent of Hoosiers were opposed to the Mike Pence’s extreme anti-abortion legislation in 2016.
Transgender Minors
Indiana Republicans are choosing to target and demonize innocent children who just want to go to class and play the sports they love. The INGOP is joining a national political strategy and using conspiracy theories about the transgender community to create a solution for a problem that does not exist.
NOTE: Scientists and professionals agree: Trans athletes do not have an unfair advantage against cisgender athletes.
Guns
The Indiana GOP is so irrational about firearms that they want to pass so-called “constitutional carry”, which would give guns to bad actors across Indiana. They failed to pass this legislation last session and will try to force it through in 2022.
NOTE: The Indiana State Police and other law enforcement have announced their opposition to the “constitutional carry” laws.
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