By Victoria Arthur, Statehouse Correspondent for Indiana’s Catholic Newspapers
Universal school choice for Indiana is within reach as the 2025 legislative session moves into its second half, while an effort to abolish the death penalty in the state will have to wait another year.
The Indiana Catholic Conference (ICC) and other advocates continue to monitor key legislation that made it through crossover — the midway point of the General Assembly when bills that are still active move from one legislative chamber to the other. This is a long session of the state legislature, held every other year and culminating in the passage of Indiana’s two-year budget.
House Bill 1001 — the proposed state budget — includes a provision removing the income cap on Indiana’s current Choice Scholarship Program, more commonly known as the voucher program. The measure passed the Indiana House of Representatives Feb. 20 on a 66-28 vote and now awaits further action in the Senate.
“We are pleased to have support for universal vouchers from both Gov. (Mike) Braun and the Indiana House of Representatives,” said John Elcesser, executive director of the Indiana Non-Public Education Association, which represents the state’s more than 400 non-public schools, including Indiana’s 175 Catholic schools. “We do anticipate a more challenging road for its passage in the Senate, but with the passionate engagement of our non-public school stakeholders, universal choice is definitely achievable in the 2025 legislative session.”
Under House Bill 1001, every Indiana family regardless of income would be able to take the portion of the state’s budget allotted for their children to attend their local public school and apply it to tuition at a non-public school if they choose.
“Support for universal school choice has long been part of the ICC’s mission,” said Alexander Mingus, ICC executive director, the public policy voice of the Catholic Church in Indiana. “We believe that all parents should have the ability to choose the school or educational route that they believe is best for their children.”
Another measure strongly supported by the ICC did not advance at the Statehouse. House Bill 1030, which called for an end to the death penalty in Indiana following the first execution in the state in 15 years, never received a committee hearing.
“As with every legislative session, there are setbacks and disappointments,” Mingus said. “We will continue to advocate for a consistent ethic of life, which includes acknowledging that the state need not seek the death penalty.”
The ICC is among the advocates speaking out against House Bill 1531, which gives additional tools to the Indiana Attorney General regarding the enforcement of sanctuary city bans, as well as penalties for employers who intentionally hire undocumented immigrants.
“In evaluating this and other immigration bills this year, our primary concern is that we as a society and as a country do not have adequate humanitarian and family unity safeguards in place when enforcing immigration law,” Mingus told members of the House Judiciary Committee on Feb. 17. “Enforcement of immigration law, while necessary for the common good, should be targeted, proportionate and humane.”
Despite the concerns raised by the ICC as well as other faith leaders and educators, the measure passed the House on a 64-26 vote. In a recent ICC podcast, Mingus clarified that the Catholic Church does not advocate for open borders but for “the safe, orderly flow of immigration,” noting that the U.S. bishops have called for immigration reform for several decades.
Church teaching on human dignity forms the basis for the ICC’s concerns about another measure advancing at the Statehouse. House Bill 1044, authored by a lawmaker who spent 40 years as a funeral director in Indiana, proposes an alternative to traditional cremation known as alkaline hydrolysis.
This method, which is currently offered in 28 states, involves dissolution of a deceased body by water instead of fire. At a recent House committee hearing, Mingus presented the Catholic Church’s views on proper reverence and respect for the deceased and explained that alkaline hydrolysis, like other recent alternatives to traditional cremation, does not meet the Church’s criteria.
“The major difference between these newer practices and cremation is found in what is left over at the conclusion of the process,” Mingus told lawmakers considering House Bill 1044. “After the traditional fire cremation process, all the human remains are gathered together and reserved for disposition. The bone fragments, reduced to powder, can be placed in an urn and interred in a sacred place.
“After the alkaline hydrolysis process, there are also remnants of bone that can be pulverized and placed in an urn,” Mingus continued. “But that’s not all that remains, however.”
Mingus then explained the Church’s objection to this practice: the potentially hundreds of gallons of brown liquid into which the greater part of the body has been dissolved — liquid that is then treated as wastewater.
“Alkaline hydrolysis fails to meet the Catholic faith’s criterion that due respect be shown to the bodily remains of the deceased in a way that gives visible witness to our faith and hope in the resurrection of the body,” Mingus said.
Despite the ICC’s objections, House Bill 1044 passed the House of Representatives on a 70-17 vote and now awaits further action in the Senate.
Another major concern for the ICC is the latest effort to expand the practice of predatory lending in Indiana. House Bill 1174, which narrowly passed the House on a 51-46 vote, would allow payday lenders to issue loans at rates as high as 149 percent — more than double the 72 percent rate considered felony loansharking under current Indiana law.
To follow priority legislation of the ICC, visit www.indianacc.org.