The governor calls a special session.

A freeze on new child care vouchers gets extended, and the lieutenant governor takes sides in a local school referendum.

From the television studios at WFYI Public media.

It's Indiana Week in Review for the week ending October 31st, 2025.

Indiana Week In Review is produced by WFYI in association with Indiana Public Broadcasting Stations.

Governor Mike Braun this week called a special legislative session aimed at encouraging Hoosier lawmakers to redraw Indiana's congressional districts.

The governor's order specified a start date of Monday, November 3rd, but legislative leaders say they won't be ready by then.

They'll have 40 calendar days to conduct their business.

Ben Thorpe has more.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle quickly responded to the governor's call for a special session.

House Democratic Leader Phil GiaQuinta says people want legislators to work on real fixes for issues impacting their lives.

That's the cost of living.

the worry about health care costs.

We've got issues coming down the pike there are utility bills are too high.

I mean, there's all kinds of things that I, when I. When I talk about hearing from constituents, those are the things that I hear about.

Numerous Republicans echoed Governor Braun's reason for calling the session, in that he wants, to quote, protect Hoosiers from efforts in other states that seek to diminish their voice.

Redistricting typically happens once a decade after the US census.

President Donald Trump is pushing Indiana and other states to change maps now to ensure GOP seats for future elections.

Republicans in Indiana currently hold seven of the state's nine congressional seats.

Now that a special session is a certainty, what outcome can we expect?

It's the first question for our Indiana Week and review panel.

Democrat Ann DeLaney.

Republican Mike O'Brien.

Ebony Chapell, director of brand and community strategy at Free Press Indiana.

And Jill Sheridan, managing editor at WFYI Public Media.

I'm Jon Schwantes host of Indiana lawmakers and interim host of Indiana Week in Review.

Mike, how do you see this special session unfolding?

I wrote hopes quickly, but I don't think that's what we're going to get.

Okay.

Plan B the end, if that's all.

we're entering the calendar period where we're starting the next session anyway, November 18th 18th, the organization day, which is kind of the ceremonial start.

The official start of the short session that reconvenes in 2020 and early 2026.

The thought just from a calendar perspective, is that, you know, they spent this week kind of gathering availability from lawmakers.

See what who's got trips planned, what's the rest of the year look like?

Who can actually even be here?

We have some retirements.

Some guys aren't planning to come back at all.

you know, and so just just the logistics of trying to figure this out, but but, you know, it was theoretical for like two and a half months, and now it's not.

So, you know, we had the Senate meet in private caucus and take a private vote against this.

Governor Braun had no choice but to call him back.

I can't imagine who had to go deliver the news to President Trump that the Indiana Senate took a secret vote that was anonymous against his plan to plan to re districts.

And it's like time to get dressed and I'll see you on the Senate floor.

I'll take the governor had any choice other than to call him back, whether they want to vote it down or not.

we talked to a lot of members this week.

there's still a lot that are pretty stridently opposed to it.

there's going to be a lot of pressure brought to bear on them, that they're not they're probably not used to, coming out of DC.

I need a better argument than somehow in Indiana, we're going to go police the actions of other states redistricting or Democrat states redistricting, if they could put a policy objective or some reason that people can grab onto and say, we're doing entitlement reform and the Democrats aren't going to be for us.

So we need to make sure that we elect as many Republicans as we can next November.

Something give me, give me, give me something more than, you know, DC power grab.

Because that just isn't fitting with lawmakers right now.

Even the ones that are like, yeah, I'm going to vote for it just so I don't want the headache aren't for it.

and.

There are more Republicans states, I think, seeking to change their maps.

Three already have, in fact.

Right.

than there are Democratic states.

So the argument that we are just trying to keep up with the Joneses or combat the joke is maybe rings hollow.

And what's are we keeping track of this?

Like, you believe a Democratic state.

Go to redistricting.

We're like, all right, we got to go pick up to somewhere else.

Indiana.

You're up like none of that.

None of that's happened.

I think it's fueling what lawmakers already don't want to do this mostly.

and like I said, the ones who are yeses are like, just get me out of here.

You know?

And you say the reason it has to be now is because these maps have to be in place before the next.

You're also putting registration date.

And dynamic here quickly is like you're putting the congressional delegation, three of whom are freshmen, in a pretty rough spot.

You're going to give them with no time, maybe a primary opponent between now and like the first week of February, when the filing deadline is final, you're giving them a new parts of a new district, and places they've never represented before.

And you're giving them really no time to do it.

And so I think that part's becoming real for the delegation to where they're like, oh, we're going to go out and like, we got I wonder if this is changing.

You know, what is not anymore?

Well, the governor seems to be hanging his hat on momentum.

The governors.

Every coach who's behind at halftime talks about momentum.

But he said in an interview, you know, we used to have only four people on the record supporting this in the Senate.

Now we have 14 and maybe eight, who seemed quietly supportive.

That's still not the necessary numbers.

Does this go anywhere?

This is not first of all, let's call it what it is.

It's not redistricting, it's gerrymandering.

And when he's talking about depriving Hoosiers of their voice, what are you saying to the 40 to 45% of the Democrats in the state of Indiana, that you shouldn't have any representation by your party in the Congress?

So let's talk about Disenfranchizing.

He's disenfranchizing a substantial part of the population of the state by trying to redistrict this for nine safe seats.

There are Republican senators who think that the process stinks, okay, that it's theft.

Well, they're also on record saying it's these are great maps, some of the best in the country.

So it's kind of hard to go back and change.

Of course they gerrymandered.

They were since.

They weren't then they.

Were there.

They were a. Greater than the no.

Also.

The difficulty with this is when you push in in one district, you pull out another and do another.

And we do have a statute that says that the amount of population in each district has got to be within a range of it.

I think it's 1% okay.

But we're going to we're going to just touch two districts and maybe a little.

Well, they don't have to be contiguous.

I mean, theoretically you could have a little bit of I mean, you might just put gerrymandering right over the map.

Well, I think that there are, I think that there are principled Republicans who realize that you're starting to play with fire.

And if you do this now, it can happen.

It can happen when the tables turn on a whim and it shouldn't happen.

The fact that the Trump is worried about his reelection or the reelection, and in 2026 is a function of the fact that his policies are bad for Americans.

We have inflation.

We have.

We can't even feed the children.

We have all kinds of problems that he is directly responsible for.

And that's why his poll numbers are so bad.

Jill, does it matter how ugly the maps are and how many little splotches and islands are are?

Or do we even get to that point if the Republicans don't have the votes?

if I should say, if the governor and the president don't have the votes they want, do we even see an attempt at a map?

I mean, let me see the Picasso.

That I've seen, just, you know, obvious like people speculating, you know, there there's some wild looking maps out there.

But, I mean, I think, you know, what I see is, as we all knew, this was going to happen.

I mean, we all knew we were going to be here.

I think it's pretty obvious.

It's just how it happens.

sometimes I think people get very frustrated with and you're hearing one story that, you know, the maps are perfect, they're great.

And we'll only do this if everybody wants to do it.

And then people say they don't want to do it, and the public says we're not in favor of it.

And, you know, even, you I mean, it's just obvious that, people aren't all supportive, but to see it move forward anyway, I think it's frustrating.

And I guess, you know, sometimes why people become disillusioned, become distrustful.

Well, I mean, a lot of strong feelings on both sides.

And we see activists who are doing everything from releasing cell phone numbers, ostensibly private cell phone numbers, and encouraging people to say, call these people and tell them how you feel.

And I'm sure, that happens to be on the pro redistricting side, but I'm sure there are similar, heated tactics going on on the other side.

Does that matter, or have lawmakers made up their mind at this point, do you think?

I think the fact that our governor has decided to go ahead and call this special session can lead us to believe that this is inevitable.

there are choices that have been made, all the points that have been made so far.

Logistically, this doesn't make sense.

Voters have said, you know, overwhelmingly that this is something that they are disinterested in.

I think given Bron's record when it comes to mandates that come down from the federal level, I think that we can expect that he is going to do everything in his power to make this happen.

What it means for voters.

I think it means that a lot of people's voices are being disenfranchized and supporting, this thought around protecting Hoosier voices, it makes me wonder, who does Governor Ron consider a Hoosier?

Because we have Hoosiers right here in central Indiana and in northwest Indiana, who have elected Democrats to represent them in Congress.

With this redistricting, we're going to end up the goal is to end up in a situation where we no longer have that representation.

So I think that, it definitely increases disillusionment, disenfranchisement.

We already have abysmal voting records for a lot of different reasons, one of them being that people have a huge mistrust in the system.

but it also creates an opportunity where if Republicans continue to be so unpopular, maybe it will encourage people to do something radically different when we're, up for reelection.

Again, I. Want to move on, but but real quick here.

You talked about the inevitability of the governor doing this, even if he looked.

He's a smart politician.

If he looked at the numbers and saw that they weren't there, he knows he doesn't want to be the face on the dartboard in the white, in the Oval Office.

It's my fault if he doesn't call the special session.

If he calls a special session and it goes nowhere and it's voted down, at least he did his part.

Is that an oversimplification, or is that a fair assessment?

It's like, well, I think I think it's there's some fairness to it, but I think the vote on the Senate floor on TV is different than a vote behind closed doors in private.

I mean, the considerations just different.

You can make the decision on a policy basis in a vacuum when you're sitting, sitting in a closed room with your colleagues and say, I don't really like this.

So this is.

Where the arm twisting goes.

So what we exactly right.

He he did what he could do to call it.

He said in the beginning he wasn't going to call it unless there was an agreement that it was going to happen.

Well, we throw that one out the window.

Either either was lying or he's changed his mind to curry favor with King Trump.

And one thing there will be agreement on, I suppose, is the tax changes that need to be made.

That's part of the special session as well.

Because of the big beautiful bill that changed.

It's changed some things.

We follow the US tax code and if we don't change a few things, we're going to be confused come right April 5th.

But there are other issues.

I mean, we're not feeding children now, okay?

And we're not providing daycare.

We're providing vouchers to people who don't need them.

And that's okay when the money's tight but not the others.

We did it right in our mind.

We did vote.

14 times to reopen the government.

We're going to talk about some of these people.

Hey, hey, hey, I don't have a referendum on that.

Oh well.

Time now for viewer feedback.

Each week we pose an unscientific online poll question.

This week's question Do Indiana's congressional maps need to be redrawn?

Yes or no?

Simple as always.

Last week's question are data centers bad for Indiana communities?

76% of you said yes, 24% said no.

If you would like to take part in the poll, go to wfyi.org/iwir and look for the poll.

Speaking of childcare vouchers, Indiana stopped issuing new childcare vouchers last year amid a funding shortfall.

Now, state officials say the freeze is likely to continue at least through the end of 2026.

Dylan Peers McCoy reports.

Nearly 31,000 children are on the waitlist for childcare vouchers for low income working families.

Indiana officials say they had no choice but to freeze enrollment because the state used temporary federal pandemic aid to expand the program, and that money is gone.

Adam Allison is director of the Office of Early Childhood and Out-of-School learning.

He says the state is not going to issue new vouchers unless it can afford to fund them long term.

We are going to make sure that every voucher that we as an office.

Enroll in the.

Future, that we can fund for as long as that family needs that voucher.

Allison says.

It'll be more than a year before the state reopens.

Enrollment Indiana daycares are already feeling the impact.

Some are cutting staff and reducing the number of children they care for.

Ann, what will this mean for Hoosier families?

Well, this is devastating for for working families.

It is absolutely devastating.

We want all these people to work and we're not providing assistance.

It's going closed.

Daycare, facilities.

So in the future, even if we go back to providing them, they're not going to be available.

It is an absolute disaster.

And the idea, as I said before, that we are providing voucher money to people who don't need it.

At the same time that people are desperate for adequate and and good daycare for their children.

And we're saying, no, it's absolutely it shows you the Republican priorities and they've got it exactly backwards.

They're not helping working families.

They're not helping families that that that have kids want to work and can't afford childcare.

Childcare without these vouchers is prohibitive for many people.

If you're making working for the state of Indiana and you're making $40,000 a year, you can't afford to eat, have a place to live, and send your child to that daycare.

Dollars a week in childcare costs.

I've seen some of this more than in-state tuition at a college or university, so it is pricey.

Counter what she just said.

All states all over the country are dealing with this because all this Covid money is has gone away.

So it's you're either.

I read a story in the New York Times about the state of New York, where you have to make $334,000 a year for average child care in the state of New York.

and their money and there's their their voucher for going away.

they have 61,000 kids on the waiting list.

We got 31,000. they need another billion dollars a year.

We need some about half of that.

So just to put context just a. Little bit, just to keep not.

Even 9000 I think.

Keep going.

What's, what's currently going and.

How much are vouchers costing.

It goes to show you like we'd like to think in Indiana that we took all this federal money during during Covid and we didn't use to expand the government that we're now going to have to contract or figure out a way to go pay for it.

at a time when there's less money for everything.

and so it's a real challenge for childcare.

I mean, I live this, you know, that not on Medicaid, but it's hard for everybody, whether you're on Medicare, whether you're on state vouchers or not.

and we've the legislature started to take steps to expand this conversation on what are we going to do about childcare?

but it's not fast enough because it because it's the barrier.

It's like the barrier to work having two working parents and, and this is.

A classic issue where you the need is not the concern and the.

Standard of living because it it's not just two parents choosing to work it.

These both parents have to work in order to provide the bare essentials.

But if we stopped the vouchers, we would have that happen anyway.

Let me ask you the same.

The argument here that you we won't do any kind of minor additional support now because we can't support it long term.

Is that sort of like the the boat captain on the life raft saying, I've got one loaf of bread, but I'm not going to give it to anybody.

Any of the survivors, because we don't have long term rations.

I mean, does that sell with Hoosiers?

No, it does not.

It is not just this week we had childcare providers down at the state House asking questions.

The director is not being clear enough.

He's saying, I'm not going to move until we can fund this long term and sustainable.

Well, what does it take to make that sustainability happen?

In the meantime, we are in a crisis and that crisis will persist because not only do we live in a state where people cannot afford their rent, they cannot afford other costs of living.

Wages are not increasing.

We have also told people, if you well, for some people.

not by the rate of inflation.

Yes.

No, they are not.

And we are looking at unemployment increasing as well.

So you have all of that.

And then you also have a state that has told people that become pregnant, you have no options, you have no choices.

So then what do we do?

Indiana Crab Capital Chronicle, released a picture this week where a woman's wearing a shirt that says we are the work force behind the work force, meaning the people, the childcare providers.

They make it possible for people to go out and work.

So if we're not supporting them, if we are not making it more accessible for families, what exactly are we setting people up for.

A freeze in new vouchers?

And we've seen reductions in the reimbursements that are being made.

We've already seen, as many of the childcare providers had predicted closures of facilities.

I think the number is 23.

Locations have closed just since this summer.

How does this play out?

I mean, not well for low income working families like everyone has mentioned, you know, the consequences are going to be that less people are going to be able to work.

They're going to have to make those super hard decisions about whether or not to stay home and not work, because they literally cannot afford childcare.

It's so unaffordable.

I was when I was doing this and I was part time, I had family support, I had resources.

People with such limited resources are not going to be able to make this and meets.

And so the consequences they will be out, the divide will be even larger.

And to see, you know, I understand these federal benefits.

are the reason that, you know, we're in this place.

but to see childhood poverty reduce, even for the briefest moment, was nice.

And now, Is.

Now not president.

Now, that's why it's.

Cliche as it is.

We'll see more on this story, I'm sure, in the future.

guaranteed.

Indiana's lieutenant governor has stepped into the fight over a property tax referendum that will appear on the ballot next week in one suburban Indianapolis school district.

The move spotlights a broader debate over how school districts should pay teachers and fund programs in the face of what they view as inadequate to state support.

Here's Eric Weddle with more.

Lieutenant Governor Micah Beckwith was knocking on doors in Avon Saturday, urging voters to reject the school district's operating referendum.

He says schools should tighten budgets and educate students better before asking for more funds.

Avon schools is asking to renew a property tax rate to raise about $14 million a year for eight years.

That rate is lower than what voters previously approved.

District leaders say the money would keep classes smaller and sustain competitive pay.

They also say Beckwith comment undercut a decision for the community.

Five other districts are also asking voters to approve tax levies.

The election is Tuesday, November 4th.

Ebony this is, to say the least, unusual.

What what do you make of Micah Beckwith voluntarily jumping into this local dispute?

I want to underscore what you just said.

This is unusual.

I want people listening and watching to understand that this is unusual.

I am certain that our lieutenant governor has bigger fish to fry.

We've seen the news.

He has other things to attend to.

I find it extremely disheartening.

The state made their choice when they decided to cap how property taxes handle, and what money school districts have access to for their operations.

The state made their choice.

Referendums are in place so that communities can do what they need to do for their communities.

I don't know if I'm missing something, but I don't believe that.

Lieutenant Governor Beckwith has run a school district before.

I don't believe he has expertise in that area.

So I think he is stepping out of his place.

And I know that it's hard for people in his party to do right now, but it is unacceptable that they go and unnecessarily interfere with what a local group has decided to do with their school district.

I mean, how about that?

He only went door to door in Avon, I believe, last weekend, but he said I'm against all six.

I want to see these defeated all across the board.

These operating for referendum.

What do you make of that?

another take here.

Sort of mystifying.

First of all, I think, a lot of Hoosiers were blissfully unaware that there's elections next week.

So.

Sorry, but, him being in these neighborhoods and these.

This is a highly local issue.

If people in Avon want to vote to, you know, pass this referendum to have money for the schools that are going to be facing backlash from property tax cuts, then that's what they should do.

And and I agree, he probably has other places he could be.

Well, this is this is exactly part of his Christian nationalist agenda that the internet, the infrared, the.

Well, no.

You know why I don't think this is about the school referendum.

I think he's going door to door.

They're recruiting candidates to run in the Partizan school board elections.

That's what I think.

He's doing school board because he wants to have the Christian nationalist as the as the Indiana Citizen told us, he they are coming for public education.

He's going door to door, probably in all of those districts, coming back and saying, you don't like this, come on, let's run first.

Let's run for the school board.

Let's teach them a lesson.

That's what this is all about.

You think?

And that's what he's about.

You think about the weight that his office carries.

Your average citizen just at home, you know, and the lieutenant governor comes and knocks on your door.

What are you supposed to do at that point?

Well, is there is there more below the surface, or is this is this simple?

Is, you know, there's $744 million by most estimates that aren't going to go to Hoosier school districts and property taxes that they would have, would have had, would have had.

But for the reform in this past session, is that what's driving this, or is there something more lurking below the surface?

This is what's driving Avon.

Well, what's driving the lieutenant Governor Beckwith?

Oh, I think he's just opposing stuff.

but look, I mean, this one's a bizarre one to pick off because it changes nothing.

Literally nothing.

It just extends the existing referendum that's been in place for eight years, except the existing tax rate.

It's no new money.

It just keeps them from going back to pre 2018 levels.

I was Hendricks County chairman when this passed.

I lived and I lived in Avon at the time.

my kids are still in Avon schools and it was like noticeably different.

The class sizes went from 35 to 25.

The teachers rank.

We're making more money and look evens out.

I don't know if you've ever been to Avon, but it's not exactly a resort destination.

It is a community with a school district and that is why everybody's there.

Like, so my argument when I was county chairman was, if you don't pass those referenda and that school starts, school district starts slipping a little, the doom spiral in Avon gets real pretty fast.

And it's housing value.

it's quality of life.

It's all of it.

Because the only reason, Avon, you know, to their credit, because it's a great place for kids to grow up and go to school, and it's.

And it has a good reputation as a school.

Youth sports is like in the fabric of the, you know, in the fabric of the community.

But but that is what is driving that community.

And so if you take if you start taking shots at the school district, the quality of life in that community deteriorates pretty fast.

And that's true in a lot of these suburbs.

And Ebony alluded to this, the, the we found out this week, a grand jury is looking into some issues with the lieutenant governor's office.

We ran out of time now, but safe to say, yet another issue that I'm guessing we will be talking about in the future.

And, we approve it.

But I got to get to this topic, because if I don't, you know, you'll understand why.

Finally, an announcement today coming from us here at Indiana Week in Review, which is Jill Sheridan.

There she is will be the next host of the program.

Jill has been part of Indianapolis media landscape for nearly 20 years.

She's a mere pup, and she brings experience covering local and state policy.

Speech, speech.

Well, I did get in broadcasting, you know, quite a few years ago.

And everybody said, you know, you can always transition from radio to TV.

I haven't found that to be exactly true, but it's is something I've always wanted to do.

And for this opportunity to come up now, at this moment, you know, it's just really exciting.

And I'm super excited to, you know, connect with the new audience, connect with the panel.

Are we all fired or do you think we're good?

I think you should stick here.

Okay.

You are.

We should point out, for those who keep track of such things, the first woman to host, the show, I believe.

Yeah.

I think there's only.

Fourth host ever.

Yeah, there's, quite a quite a, like.

Put that on the tombstone.

All right, well, you got to go.

that's it for Indiana Week in Review for this week.

Our panel has been Democrat Ann DeLaney.

Republican Mike O'Brien, Ebony Chapell of Free Press Indiana.

And Jill Sheridan, managing editor of WFYI Public Media.

I'm Jon Schwantes, host of Indiana Lawmakers.

Join us next time because as you've seen, a lot can happen in an Indiana week.

The views expressed are solely those of the panelists.

Indiana Week in Review is produced by WFYI in association with Indiana Public Broadcasting Stations.