GPHC shorts

A good tool in the wrong hands may become a dangerous weapon.

Deciphering legislation and public policy can seem daunting.
Without all the pieces it may not make sense.
Worse yet, it can be deceiving.

We strive to make sense of the Indiana Legislature pertaining to Medical Liberty. Our hope is that the resources below will break down the barriers to becoming an active participant in your government.

What you will find on this page:

Latest update
Introduction Video
Downloadable update to share
Links contained in the download
Videos: 1.5-3 minute clips from the June 30th, 2021 Governor's Public Health Commission, & bill hearings.

Latest Update

This section will be updated as needed. Entries that were here will be moved to the bottom of the page.

June 7th, 2023

Read this blog and use the download to take action as soon as possible.

Then update us:

I contacted my elect.

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If City or County Elect, list the county or city. *

What comments or statements did the elected official make? *

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Introductory Video

Topics to consider:

Core Public Health Services are being expanded, and the discussion during video 4 are playing out in these bills.
If opting-in, how much will our county be responsible to contribute? How does this compare to our current budget? Will we have to raise taxes?
Is our county prepared to be dependent on State Funding?
What kind of rules changes will be implemented by the Indiana Department of Health (IDOH)?
How much will it cost to hire the full-time RN, full-time school liaison, and part-time preparedness employee?
If state funding stops how will our county pay for the additional employees?
Are there additional strings that come with employing the part-time preparedness employee? Is this part of a federal grant?
Counties "opting out" will continue to receive the same amount as they had in the past, is there anything that accounts for population changes or inflation?

Download:

UPDATED: Download the letter one of our members created addressing the many issues with SB4 as it entered into the house.

Sharable sheet on the Governor's Public Health Commission, why it is a threat, what the legislature is doing about it, and how you can help!

*****THE FILE BELOW IS OUTDATED*****
We are only leaving it because some of the resources are still valuable. Please see the blog for most recent update.

Public Health Legislative Update
File Size:	170 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

VIDEO 1

During the June 30th Meeting former Senator Kenley states that counties who don't participate will not get funding from the IDOH. Using this method is how you "get buy-in." He mentions some patients may loose services if counties don't participate, but that is a motivator for counties to opt-in. He also states that the program will work to eliminate push-back related to mandates coming from the state or governor. When the counties agree to participate they agree to the terms that the state and governor put forth. During this meeting he explains the commissions plans to coerce participation and ensure there is no deviation from the Governor's mandates.

VIDEO 2

June 30th Former Senator Kenley explains how the commissions plans are complete and comprehensive public health measures and there is no room for independent thought. He references so-called "Home rule" law you all passed ensuring that the counties could reject mandates coming from the state and how this might create a "legal friction point." He continues stating that he feels this issue can be overcome and the legislature will agree to this plan because the counties "opt-in." The Opt-in removes the right to argue that they are being forced into mandates or directives.

Video 3

In the June 30th meeting you can hear the committee discuss funding being "tied to metrics they all agree are necessary." Throughout the meeting they mention the failed COVID mandates. Are those the metrics, they agree on?

Then, County Commissioner Mark Bardsley shares how counties who want to be autonomous will fail to provide legally required public health services if they do not opt in to the program. The committee erupts in laughter about this.

Are they intentionally setting counties up to break the law? Mr. Bardsley, who is supposed to represent the county commissioners, can be quoted saying "There will be autonomous groups that say we are in charge and we aren't going to do this, and we need to lovingly support them through their misdirection." After his statement the commission laughs again, then agrees that counties may take a vote at a later time and opt-in.

Hoosiers are watching, we will decide who is "misdirected."

Video 4

In the June 30th meeting you can hear Dr. Dean Halverson explain to the commission that he does not feel that current required public health services are enough to create financial strain on counties and force them into participation. He suggest revising the county services and expanding them in order to be effective coercion. The commission discusses revising the list of core services and states that this would potentially be a goal for the future. Sen. Kenley reports that they can add the information into the report. He further suggest that the Governor & the legislature may decide to push these changes to core services through faster. Hoosiers are watching. Passing this bill and the recommendations of the public health commission will send a clear message that the Indiana legislature is comfortable with government coercion.

Video 5

In the June 30th meeting you can hear Sen. Brooks talk about how resistant county commissioners or councils should be Quote: "subject to public education so they are really fully aware of all the ramifications." She continues, stating that she likes the flexibility of the program providing a method for counties to opt in at a later date after quote "re-educating themselves and changing their minds. I think they should be fully informed about what they are missing out on if they choose to opt out." End Quote. Senator Kenley agrees adding in that the state should "make a visit" with them to help "take a little bit of the edge off the brutality of it if you don't sign up." This commission seems to be using this as a battering ram to push the centralization on counties.

SB4 passes through committee

Listen as the Senate Health & Provider Services Committee feels the need to explain why they are voting for this bad bill. Legislators should be voting based on what they campaigned on and what their constituents are asking for.

House testimony:

After 22 hours notice Hoosiers showed up and testified against this bill in the house. Here are a few highlights from the testimony. You can watch the full hearing here. Those in opposition start at 2:09.

House 3rd Reading 4/17/2023

Listen as Rep Brad Barrett discusses the expansion of required Core Public Health Services.

4/17/2023

The House of Representatives voted on SB4 today.

It was clear that the author felt the pressure of H4ML activist. He spoke directly to many of our talking points and continued to insist on the presence of "local control" and "feedback mechanisms."

In fact, he started his rhetoric about "local control" with a direct statement "For those of you who have received negative feedback" and proceeded to explain that this is a different bill than when it came over.

That "negative feedback" was coming from YOU!

Great work Hoosiers!!!

At the end of the day, SB4 passed.

SB4 is a BAD BILL.

Make sure you are notifying your reps of your dissatisfaction.

The legislature will try to convince you that this bill is so much better, lets look at the changes.

1. Health Powers Review Task Force

6 members appointed by each, the Senate & House leadership.
For 12 total members "at the pleasure of the appointing authority."
Runs until Jan 1, 2025 to
1. Review the legal authority used by state agencies & local gov't during the pandemic.
2. Determine whether those legal authorities were used properly, excessively, or not to the extent able.
3. Recommend any legislation the task force considers appropriate.

There is no guaranteed action other than observation and analysis. To add insult to injury the members of this committee are appointed by the Republican Leadership and may be dismissed by them.

How likely do you believe these appointees will be fighting against the results of the pandemic? The legislature presented bills to call themselves back into session in the event of a public health emergency. They acknowledged a long time ago that the Governor was abusing his power. Why are they choosing to drag things out, spend more tax money and kick the can down the road?

BECAUSE IT IS EASY. These words sound nice, but they mean nothing.

The primary goal of this amendment was to appease voters (& potentially some legislators) so they would go along with SB4.

2. Doubles "core public health services."

Currently the increase only impacts those that opt in to receive additional funding. However it is a significant increase in expected services.

Services are broad and counties will not know the metrics they are opting in to until after the county council takes a vote to accept. Counties opting in will perpetually be enrolled in the program as long as they are submitting financial reports because there is not an end date for the program.

Rep. Brad Barrett, sponsor of the bill stated

"After a vigorous caucus discussion we came to the conclusion that we wanted to try to keep things as tight as we could for the onset of this program, and then allow it to pick up services as we move through the system."

Later, he adds, "We have narrowed our list, narrowed our focus, and certainly willing to expand that in the future as seen fit."
(The video is listed on this page under

Discussion:
Manipulation... Barrett admits that the caucus is keeping things "tight" and then increase the core public health services later. The Core Public Health Services are what were cited during the June 30th Governor's Public Health Committee meeting as a coercive tool to force counties into participation, as seen in video #4 below.

The intent in the June 30th meeting was clear, and now we have Barrett echoing that these required services will expand. This battle will continue to for decades.

With these statements we can see that the house republican caucus* is paying close attention. They know that this bill is radioactive and that Hoosiers do not want this. They are working to make constituents feel as comfortable as possible while still pushing this terrible plan through. Barrett himself states that they will continue to expand these "REQUIRED core public health services."
*caucus defined: private club for the republican establishment to bully the members.

If your county accepts this funding you can expect an ever bloating budget and continued expansion of public health services.

Earlier in the 4/17/2023 hearing Barrett compared the spending of this program to that of Medicaid, and how this was just a fraction of that spending.

What was the motivation behind that statement?
What are the implications?
Are there more plans we don't know about?
Could this be a clue to some of our concerns with socialized medicine?

More to be added soon... Review recent blogs for more detailed information.

SB4 Conference Committee Update.

The legislature is rumored to be call conference committee the "WILD WEST" because, anything can happen.

Looks like we got a first hand glimpse of that.
It appears that all the deals were made behind closed doors and the committee was to embarrassed to show their work.

I can hardly blame them. Over the past four months the legislature has received thousands of phone calls about SB4. They have faced fierce opposition from those who's opinions matter the most.

The CITIZENS.

This might be a difficult lesson for the legislature to learn, but politics is no place for "the easy way out."

The decisions the legislature makes impact Hoosiers for years to come.

That won't change because they cowered and hid from public view.

Does the legislature really believe that making changes behind closed doors will shield them from accountability?

Do they actually think that accountability is achieved by phone calls throughout the legislative session?

We all know better.

Accountability happens during election season.

Be sure to continue to communicate with your legislators by making the calls above, but also preparing for the future.

We cannot let our frustration get the best of us.

They tried to prevent Hoosiers from effectively communicating about the issues with SB4, but failed to realize that Hoosiers will use this to elect those who will work to enacting policies representing HOOSIER VALUES.

May 2023 Update:

SB4 has passed and you can read the details of what the bill did and what you need to do next on this download.
We must not stop now. We have done some amazing work, but there is much to be done.

Hoosiers, you should be proud of the work you did in the 2023 session. It is hard to believe that this is our 3rd year working towards Medical Liberty and we have had 3 years of VICTORY!

While SB4 passed, we walked the bill back significantly. The bill no longer contains outright regionalization and they included basic funding for counties who do not opt into additional funding. These were two major victories.

We cannot afford to stop now. There is much to be done and it starts with you. Make sure you download the sheet above, make contact with your elected county officials and let us know you are meeting with them!