WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
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For today’s feature, we hear from State Representative Matt Pierce from a hotel in Urbana, Illinois. Last Tuesday House democrats left the state in an effort to stall education and labor-related legislation . The house has not been able to conduct business since because they lack the numbers needed for a quorum. The bills democrats wish to stall or amend include, among others, HB 1486, which limits collective bargaining rights for labor unions and HB 1003, which would allow Indiana students the use vouchers to attend private schools. The bill would also set limits for those vouchers based on income and grade level. Also of other major concern to the caucus is HB 1479, which gives the state the right to turn a school into a “turnaround academy” if they remain in low performance categories for 5 years. These turnaround academies would be run by a state-selected management team until the state believes that they have improved enough to become an independent school corporation. In today’s feature, News Director January Jones spoke with Pierce over the phone to give us a detailed update on the on-going stalemate in the statehouse in this WFHB exclusive.
