Each year, Hoosiers have come to rely on Citizens Action Coalition to monitor Indiana legislation pertaining to energy, environment, and utilities. As always, we are watching closely to protect consumers, our democracy, our environment, our natural resources, and vulnerable populations during each session of the Indiana General Assembly.  

During the regular session of the Indiana General Assembly, redistricting reform took center stage in Indiana. Though the Indiana Senate took historic strides in passing reform, the House decided to kill the issue. Now Hoosiers will have to wait for Indiana lawmakers to take action on redistricting reform.

As a reminder, redistricting is the process of re-drawing district maps after the census to equalize the populations of congressional and legislative districts. Since legislators draw the district maps, politicians gerrymander districts to choose voters they already know will vote for them and exclude those who will vote against them. 

The Indiana Coalition for Independent Redistricting (All IN for Democracy) put forth a proposal that merged the best features from redistricting laws across the country. This proposal was SB159, sponsored by Senators Ruckelshaus, Bohacek and Ford.

Unfortunately SB159 did not move at the Indiana State House.  Instead, Senator Walker, Chair of Senate Elections, introduced SB326: Redistricting Standards. SB326 was a good start and included much of the criteria contained within SB159.  CAC wanted to see SB326 strengthened to include: 

• The creation of an independent redistricting commission.
• Language stating that no map can be drawn to advantage or disadvantage any political party or individual.
• An open and transparent process to allow for public participation, which would include public access to the map drawing software and the tools used to draw the district boundaries.

However, the chair of the House Elections Committee, Rep. Milo Smith, decided again this year to refuse to hold a vote on SB326, killing the legislation for 2018.

For a deeper discussion of redistricting, visit our redistricting campaign page here.

Below are the legislation lists of the bills that CAC followed during the 2018 Indiana General Assembly:

2018 Energy & Utility Bill Watch List 

2018 Environment & Natural Resources Bill Watch List 

2018 Good Government Bill Watch List

2018 Miscellaneous Bill Watch List

Below are our weekly reports regarding the goings-on at the Indiana State House:

2018 Indiana General Assembly Report, Week 1

2018 Indiana General Assembly Report, Week 2

2018 Indiana General Assembly Report, Week 3

2018 Indiana General Assembly Report, Week 4

2018 Indiana General Assembly Report, Week 5

2018 Indiana General Assembly Report, Week 6

2018 Indiana General Assembly Report, Week 7

2018 Indiana General Assembly Report, Week 8

2018 Indiana General Assembly Report, Week 9