HoosLeft This Week - August 17, 2025

Indiana Stories * Around the Corn (Quick Headlines) * Planned Parenthood at risk in Indiana * Citing a SCOTUS decision from last month that allows South Carolina to exclude Planned Parenthood from its Medicaid program, Attorney General Todd Rokita’s office wants to vacate a 12-year-old injunction on an abortion provider state funding ban in Indiana- potentially cutting off the organization - which also provides birth control, cancer screenings, HIV prevention, sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment, vaccinations and wellness exams - from any state money. * Appeals Court Upholds Abortion Ban * The Indiana Court of Appeals on Monday affirmed a ruling by a trial court judge upholding the state’s near-total abortion ban, specifically provisions relating to medical providers and potential exemptions. * The underlying case initially centered on the risk to the health of the mother and the rights of providers, delaying the implementation of Indiana’s ban by roughly one year. After an Indiana Supreme Court ruling in favor of the state’s ban — though left the door open for future challenges — plaintiffs, represented by [ACLU Indiana], amended their complaint to narrow their focus. * That amended version is the one that the Indiana Court of Appeals weighed on Monday. * Another challenge, regarding whether Indiana’s ban violates its religious freedom law, is ongoing. * Another Appeals Court Sides w/ Mothers in Attendant Care Case * A federal appeals court affirmed a lower court’s preliminary injunction Wednesday, allowing two Hoosier mothers to continue providing state-reimbursed caregiving services to their medically fragile children. * Responding to a nearly $1 billion projected Medicaid shortfall, state leaders with the Family and Social Services Administration made several changes in 2024 and halted a program that paid parents to be caregivers to their children with medically complex conditions. The attendant care program for Legally Responsible Individuals paid parents an hourly, livable wage but roughly 1,600 families were transitioned to another service that paid a per diem stipend at a far lower rate. * Two mothers sued and were eventually granted a preliminary injunction, which the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed this week. * Indy reverses course on Fountain Square homeless camp, will house residents before shutdown * After weeks of sharp criticism, Indianapolis leaders have again changed their approach to a prominent Fountain Square homeless camp and will allow residents to remain at the site until they are offered housing. * The Office of Public Health and Safety announced Aug. 15 that residents who still live at or recently left the homeless camp along Leonard Street will be housed through Streets to Home Indy, a new city-backed initiative to place more than 300 people known to be living on the streets into apartments by next June. At each camp, the process is expected to take four to six weeks. * With the decision, Merkley is in effect doing what critics urged him to do during a contentious town hall held days after his July 25 decision to close the camp by Aug. 11. Instead of pushing people from one tent encampment to another, advocates for people who are homeless say service providers should offer people stable housing and case management. * Change of Republican council leadership in Indianapolis * Republicans on the Indianapolis City-County Council have chosen new leadership. Councilor Michael-Paul Hart was in the position for less than a year. During a caucus meeting this week, fellow Republicans voted to remove him as minority leader. * Hart represents a southeast side district. He said fellow councilors told him that he was doing too much, too fast. * Republican councilors voted to reinstate Brian Mowery as minority leader. Mowery held the minority position for the past four years. * EPA cuts funding for lower-income solar program, including more than $117 million for Indiana * The federal government canceled grant funding to help lower-income and disadvantaged communities afford solar panels. That includes more than $117 million for projects in Indiana. * The $7 billion Solar For All program set up under the Biden administration aimed to lower residents' energy bills and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. * Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin made the announcement on X Thursday. He said the agency plans to follow the intent of the "One Big Beautiful Bill." * "EPA no longer has the authority to administer the program or the appropriated funds to keep this boondoggle alive," Zeldin said. * Lower-income Hoosiers are more likely to live in older, less energy-efficient homes that use more power. Advocates said putting solar on these homes not only lowers their energy bills, but also reduces the need for more power plants — which all electric utility customers pay for. * The funding cut comes at a time when the average Indiana resident's bill has gone up by $28 a month since last year. * IDEM sends letter, halts some work over Amazon's construction impact on wetlands * The Indiana Department of Environmental Management halted some work at the new Amazon data center near New Carlisle. * They sent a letter to Amazon and Walbridge Construction, the company building the facility, so they can resubmit their plans. * The letter also stated that Amazon had an incomplete application that would affect over nine acres of wetlands. * The unauthorized impact on the wetlands violated two Indiana codes: Prohibiting discharge, emission or allowance of contaminants or waste causing pollution and prohibits the disposal of inorganic or organic matter into Indiana's waters. * Amazon has 30 days to resubmit plans for approval or risk denial of their application. * Indiana third grade reading scores improve at record-breaking rate, reach pre-pandemic levels * Statewide, 87.3% of third graders scored proficient on the state test, the IREAD, up nearly 5 percentage points from the 82.5% proficiency rate in 2024. The jump represents the largest single-year increase since the assessment began in 2013, according to state data presented Wednesday. And it breaks the improvement record set last year, when scores increased less than one percentage point from 2023 to 2024. * The increase comes after concerted efforts in elementary schools to help students pass the IREAD and thereby avoid mandatory retention in third grade under a law that went into effect for the 2025-26 school year. * The trend for IREAD scores is notably different than for ILEARN results, which came out last month and showed that English language arts scores have remained essentially unchanged across the state even as math scores have improved. * Vote Centers - Allen, Hamilton Counties weighing switch * Nearly 73% – 67 of Indiana’s 92 counties – use vote centers on Election Day, according to Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales’ website. Marion County, which includes Indianapolis, made the switch in 2018. * Voters urge Allen County Election Board to reconsider plan for 39 vote centers * Election officials said Friday they are confident 39 universal polling places would be enough to handle Allen County, but voters urged board members to consider more locations if they decide to switch to vote centers. * The Allen County Election Board has proposed replacing 110 polling places on Election Day with less than 40 vote centers that would accept all registered Allen County voters instead of only those who live in a specified geographic area. * People who shared their thoughts Friday on the proposed vote centers don’t oppose having places where people can vote, regardless of precinct, they said. They are concerned that 39 vote centers will not be enough to allow full accessibility with minimal barriers. * Some people, including Allen County Democratic Party Chairman Chad Wierzbinski, asked the board to slow down the process of deciding on a change. Indianapolis reduced its number of polling places by less than 1% when it switched to vote centers. The local board has proposed cutting about 64% … This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.projectnextindiana.com