Sunday, February 24, 2019
As the
legislature prepares to send over bills to the opposite chamber and the 2019
General Assembly session reaches its halfway point, the Indiana Institute for
Working Families has seen significant progress on a host of issues that affect
the economic well-being of working families in Indiana. However, there is still
work to be done and ways that you can support key issues like TANF
modernization and a 36% payday rate cap, and MOST IMPORTANTLY THIS
WEEK: help stop an aggressive predatory loan product expansion. The fate
of several bills will be decided Monday and Tuesday. On Monday, the House goes into
its session at 10 AM and the Senate goes in at 1:30 PM.
We are going to start with the most pressing news that needs your
advocacy urgently! The Institute is shocked by the passage of SB613 out of the Senate
Commerce and Technology committee on Thursday, February 21, 2019 with a vote of
8-2. Lawmakers stripped the bill and inserted a 69-page amendment that was only
made public at 4pm the night before the committee hearing. It has disastrous
consequences for Hoosier consumers. Senior Policy Analyst Erin Macey described for lawmakers what was in the bill, addressing the many issues and
answering questions from the committee with the knowledge base we have developed over years of research. Many coalition members testified in opposition to the bill as well. IIWF posted a blog earlier this weekend with a summary of the details of SB 613 as it passed out of committee. The bill could receive its final Senate vote and move
on to the House on TUESDAY, February 26, 2019. CALL YOUR SENATORS and
BEG THEM TO VOTE NO ON HIGHER COST BORROWING!
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Going back to
the beginning of the week, we started the week with some great news! On Monday,
February 18th, the Senate Family and Children Services committee unanimously
voted to move SB440 (TANF
Eligibility) to the Senate floor for debate as a statewide coalition comprised
of healthcare experts, workforce development advocates, and a representative
from the faith community stood together in support of the bill. SB440 will be
heard on Monday by the Senate.
The State of
Indiana currently has the fourth lowest TANF eligibility in the nation and has
not experienced a TANF increase since 1988. TANF was created to serve as a
lifeline to Hoosiers, and it has not been able to do so as Executive Director
Jessica Fraser stated in committee, “We set them to set dollar amounts and did
not include an indexing mechanism, meaning that value has eroded significantly.” Over the past 30 years, the minimum wage has increased four dollars, the cost
of fair market rent in cities throughout Indiana has more than doubled, and the
average median sale price of a new house has nearly tripled yet TANF has remained
stagnant. The time to pass TANF eligibility and benefit reform is long overdue,
and we need your support to ensure that SB440 moves over
to the House next week. If you would like to see TANF reform for the
first time in over 30 years, please CALL YOUR SENATOR and voice your support for SB440!
On Tuesday,
February 19th, the House Financial Institutions committee unanimously voted to
move HB1495 (Rent-to-own contract protections) to the House floor for the
debate. HB1495 could be
voted on in the house and will have the opportunity to move on to the Senate.
If passed, the bill would ensure that when Hoosiers engage in rent-to-own land
contracts that there will be a higher standard of accountability, transparency,
and consumer protection measures in place to prevent unnecessary forfeiture and
make the path to home ownership easier to navigate for working families. If you
would like to see this bill move on to the Senate, please
CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE!
On Wednesday,
February 20th, the Senate Insurance and Financial committee voted to move SB104 to the Senate floor,
which represents a major victory in coalition efforts to cap payday loans at
36% and put an end to predatory lending in the state of Indiana. Unfortunately, with the passage of SB613 out of committee as well, two bills
that are moving in two different directions in terms of consumer credit policy
for Indiana are heading for a showdown on the Senate floor.
Next week will mark the third reading deadlines in both chambers, a few days off from session and then we start right back up on Monday, March 4th with Senate bills in the House and vice versa.
Next week will mark the third reading deadlines in both chambers, a few days off from session and then we start right back up on Monday, March 4th with Senate bills in the House and vice versa.
