The League of Women Voters of Bloomington-Monroe County has invited state legislators representing any parts of Monroe, Brown, and Johnson counties to provide the public with an online legislative update.

The event, co-sponsored by the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce, the League of Women Voters of Brown County, and the League of Women Voters of Johnson County, will be 9:30-11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 27, on Zoom.

State legislators will report on their work and priorities for the current session of the Indiana General Assembly. They will first give brief updates on the workings of the Indiana legislative session to date and will then take questions from attendees.

To sign up for the Zoom meeting, go to https://lwv-bmc.org/legis-updates.

This is the first of three planned legislative updates sponsored by the Leagues and the Chamber on Zoom. Subsequent updates are set for Feb. 17 and March 2. All legislative updates are free and open to the public. Community Access Television Services through the Monroe County Public Library has been invited to record the events, with the video available on the CATS website shortly after each update.
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​The work of the Indiana General Assembly can be followed on its website, http://iga.in.gov, which provides a wealth of information and offers the possibility to track the progress of individual bills.

At the helm of a city with an unhoused population mired in mental health and substance abuse issues, Kerry Thomson asked a panel of state lawmakers last week what they will do about the statewide crisis.

“It cannot be addressed just at the local level,” the Bloomington mayor's written query stated.

There was discussion of the challenges, but no answers offered when Thomson suggested the state lead the way toward healthcare and recovery instead of the criminal justice system for vulnerable people not receiving care.
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Last year, state lawmakers passed bills to boost funding for mental health services across the state. One increases funding to local mental health centers and another directs $100 million to mental health services.

More than 100 people were assembled at The Mill at midday on Friday for the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce Legislative Preview.

This year’s session of the Indiana legislature started on Jan. 8 and will wrap up by mid-March.
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Friday’s crowd got to hear four Indiana state legislators answer a question posed by Bloomington’s new mayor Kerry Thomson—about mental health.

​Thomson’s question, which she had written out on one of the cards distributed for that purpose, was read aloud by the Bloomington Chamber’s CEO, Eric Spoonmore: