College tuition freezes.

Diego Morales defiant at the budget committee.

Plus, a significant improvement in infant mortality and more.

From the television studios at WFYI, it's Indiana Week in Review for the week ending June 20th, 2025.

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

This week, Ball State University is freezing tuition and fees for the next two years after a strong recommendation to do so from state officials.

As Indiana Public Broadcasting's Stephanie Wickman reports, students will see a small increase in room and board costs.

Tuition and mandatory student fees will both be frozen at the current level, which is in line with a first of its kind recommendation from the Indiana Commission for Higher Education.

That's despite state public colleges losing 5% in state support and being required to hold back an additional 5%.

Ball State President Jeffrey Byrne says April's dismal state revenue forecast forced many quick changes.

And the change between what we were predicting on April 15th to what we found out by May 15th was a $20 million swing to the negative.

Ball States state revenue cut is about $14 million per year.

And that if we had simply raised tuition next year to the rate of inflation of about 3%, that's another $6 million in revenue.

What is increasing are room and board fees for students who live and eat on campus.

Will these tuition freezes placate state lawmakers?

It's the first question for our Indiana Week in Review panel.

Democrat Ann DeLaney.

Republican Chris Mitchem.

Oseye Boyd, editor in chief of Mirror Indy.

and Niki Kelly, editor in chief of the Indiana Capitol Chronicle.

I'm Indiana Public Broadcasting Statehouse bureau chief Brandon Smith.

Chris, USI, IU, Ivy tech, Vincennes have also announced tuition freezes.

Purdue.

I think they've been going for about a decade of tuition freezes.

They're going to continue that for the next couple of years for in-state students.

Will that satisfy lawmakers who've been grumbling for a while also about the cost of higher education?

I actually think it will go a long way.

I mean, Purdue's calling card for the last decade has been their tuition freeze, right?

So I know, you know, state lawmakers like to mention that as an example.

So now, I think, you know, under Governor Braun and Republican leadership, that mindset spread to other campuses.

And that's objectively, I think, a good thing.

But I do think you have to take into account the full picture.

I like to say you have to look out for the F word, which I consider fees.

I think my last college tuition, I had a service fee, I had a convenience fee, and then I had a convenience fee for the service fee.

You know, so, there's a lot and I think there will be a lot more increased scrutiny and accountability around that, and rightfully so.

But I do think the notable thing here is with the secretary of higher or excuse me, the Higher Commission.

Higher commission.

Yeah.

Thank you.

they if ever really recommend institution freezes, they typically recommend incremental increases based on inflation.

so the fact that, you know, they are matching what Governor Brown wanted when it came to tightening your belts along with other agencies, and to and higher education institutions have bought in.

I think that's credit to both sides.

Right.

And I think again a lot of credit has to go to Governor Brown and the Republican leadership for that.

Chris just mentioned this part of the way that Purdue has been able to keep tuition flat as they've been increasing those fees for years.

The other institutions that are, doing these tuition freezes, a lot of those are raising the fees or room and board fees or whatever.

is that going to incur the wrath of lawmakers to or is this an acknowledgment of we're trying to meet what you've been asking us for?

This is an acknowledgment that they're trying to help the Republicans cover the fact that they're not properly funding higher education.

That's all this is.

Okay.

They want the freeze.

There so they can point to that and ignore the fact that education funding at the state level is gone down.

The problem with this, you know, great to, tuition has been frozen to Purdue.

They also have a huge number of grants, a huge number of foreign students and an endowment, which is something missing from Ball State, Ivy tech and the other institutions that are requiring the freeze.

And on top of that, in Indiana, which also has the same advantages, Purdue has only 20% of their funding comes from state money.

So a 5% cut means their overall spending has to go down 1%, which they can tap their endowment for that it is not available to institutions like Ball State, who rely almost 50% of their funding comes from state money.

So there is much more substantial to them.

And when we hear the the Republicans talk about the fact we don't have enough college graduates and we don't have enough trained workforce, and we cut Ivy tech and, you know, and and Vince ends when we're there doing exactly what the Republicans say that we need to grow economically.

It is so shortsighted.

And it's all done and same, as, you know, cutting preschool, it's all done in the name of giving voucher money to people who don't need it, and cutting taxes to people who don't have to have them cut.

And that is so shortsighted.

But it's going to it's going to impact institutions like Ball State and Ivy Tech and Vincent's much more heavily than IU and Purdue.

When we talk about, I mean, lawmakers for years have been grumbling about increasing tuition, increasing tuition, increasing tuition, and to the point Chris made pointing to Purdue, who's who hadn't done it.

But was this the year to for the commission for IRA to go?

Don't raise your tuition.

Also you're going to get cut.

Yeah.

That's the irony is for years lawmakers have been giving them additional money and they've been raising tuition.

This year they cut it.

And now they're also not raising tuition, which is kind of kind of odd.

I do want to make point.

One thing.

A lot of these tuition freezes, while most of the tuition freezes, they they don't affect international students.

So a lot of these universities have large contingents of international students, and they're the ones who are going to pay.

Well, maybe, maybe, maybe they have them now that they have to have put out their entire social media for a.

Get if they can get visas to come and study here.

At the end of the day, though, ultimately, is this good news for students who want to attend these places?

Is and isn't that really what matters?

Yes, it does matter, but I don't know if it's really good news.

If you're going to see an increase in fees because you're just really kicking the can down the road or just trading off one for the other, because if tuition is freezing, but I have to pay more in these fees.

And I think we're, we're like looking at $300 for, for, your meal plan.

That's an increase and then other fees.

To your point, there's so many fees.

I have a I have a kid in college now, part of the thing, though, is there's no transparency on what these fees and what these things go for.

I think that's part of the reason why lawmakers have been for years saying we need to reduce tuition, we need to find out what's really going on.

And it looks like a lot of it is making the campus pretty.

People often point to that.

We are doing more building.

I look at my alma mater and it's much prettier than it was when I was there.

but I wonder how much goes to the building.

I think I think schools need to do a better job of being transparent about where the money goes to help them, in the future, to not be so shortsighted with where things are going.

Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales was defiant in the face of questions about his overseas travel and spending within his office.

Morales appeared before the state budget committee this week to request additional funds for his office.

Morales has faced scrutiny for spot bonuses for employees hiring his brother in law to a six figure job.

Missing a legislative hearing for his agency while traveling overseas, purchasing a $90,000 vehicle for his office, and giving no bid contracts to companies linked to campaign contributions.

Democratic Senator Fady Qaddora says he's disappointed in Morales leadership.

Those issues, when you put them together, it becomes extremely clear that your office is not being led transparently with accountability.

Or professionalism.

Morales dismissed those concerns, saying they're part of him going above and beyond the call of duty in his job.

So I will not apologize to anyone because my work ethic is unmatched.

Lawmakers Wednesday approved more than $10 million in increased funding for Morales office.

Morales requested the funds for technology upgrades, the offices, security's division and election support.

Ann DeLaney, we heard from Fady Qaddora in the piece, but it wasn't just Democrats.

It was Republicans also asking these questions of Morales this week.

So is this sort of, you know, defiance from from Diego Morales, the smart stance.

Was somebody actually saying he was Mark.

I'm asking the question okay.

All right.

Well, you know, when he was running for this office, he misrepresented his his military service.

He misrepresented where he lived.

Did you some did the Republicans somehow think that after he was elected, he'd developed some kind of a moral compass and and know what was right and what was wrong, and that you don't hire your brother in law at that salary and you don't, you know, spend $90,000 on a car and go to India and all.

And no, I mean, it clearly thinks that this is a grab bag for him.

And, you know, he gets this money, even if it's subject to approval.

I just wonder how many others relatives are going to be on the payrolls in the future.

He is not the kind of secretary of State we need.

The Republicans should have recognized that and rejected him in the convention, which they didn't do.

So I think he's going to be reelected if he winds up having 3 or 4 opponents in the conviction and convention, he's going to win that.

He's going to win the convention.

We'll see if he wins the election.

Increasingly, it seems in politics, defiance is not a bad strategy to these sorts of, you know, this sort of scrutiny and questions.

It's it works for a lot of people.

Is this going to work for Diego Morales in front of a convention crowd?

Yeah, because I think that's not only is that the good option, I think that's his only option.

I think with everything and just mentioned.

And then you saw the Republican led legislature respond with legislation that was passed this last session.

You yet Senate bill five, that was you have to have all competitive bid projects that a lot of people thought that was in response to.

Diego.

the stuff about.

The budget and the only reason why he even appeared there was because you have to now have permission from the secretary or from the budget agency for the secretary of State to actually spend money.

So I think that might be his only option.

Now.

I think he's probably dug his hole a little too deep to try and kind of start saying, I'm sorry to the legislature, to the Republican establishment.

I think now him being defiant and saying, you know, similar to, you know, Ty Rokita saying that, you know, I'm in a fight, I'm fighting for you.

And he will tell you that he does travel to all 92 counties a lot.

And I think for a convention race, that's what you have to do.

A lot of the people that you visit at those times.

Faster than anyone else in history has done it.

That's what he told me.

Does he see the speed limit?

I don't, I hope not.

although in the $90,000 vehicle, you probably can go pretty fast.

that is is to Chris's point is defiance at this point.

His only strategy.

It seems like it is.

It seems like, is work for other people.

And it seems like I do think it's too.

Is too.

He's too far gone to come back and apologize, because then it looks like I'm weak, you know, and you don't want to ever appear weak.

So I think it defines is where he where he lives.

And, it's going to it's going to be interesting to watch what happens if he keeps digging in to that because he, he does work harder, goes above and beyond, anyone else?

So, According to.

Him.

According to him, yeah.

The problem, though, is the above and beyond part, you know, like he was trying to defend his international travel is why you're going above and beyond.

You're not here.

Doing your duties here.

And and we.

Even saw Governor Braun say that about that trip is like, that doesn't seem to be in the responsibilities of his his office.

So like, he's going above and beyond a good thing.

And yet all the statewide office holders travel to the the regions.

But, you know, the question is how does that help taxpayers?

It doesn't.

It actually helps them because those are those people.

Those local government officials are the ones who are the delegates in those conventions.

And so that's why they do it, not because.

I'm sure that.

All the.

I'm sure that there's.

Anything to help Indiana.

And, I mean, you have all of the controversy around that, but also, his office had a pretty good session when it came to election bills, whether you like them or not.

They also did.

The state Budget Committee just approved more funding for him.

So if you follow.

The money, they'll see whether that improves the voter turnout.

We're we're still at the bottom of the list of 50 states thanks to the Republicans.

Time now for viewer feedback.

Each week we post an unscientific online poll question, and this week's question is should Secretary of State Diego Morales be reelected in 2026?

A yes or B no.

Last week, we asked you whether Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett should resign.

57% of you say yes, 43% say no.

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

Well, Indiana's infant mortality rate improved again in 2024, according to new preliminary data from the state.

Indiana Public Broadcasting's Abigail Ruhman reports.

The Indiana Department of Health says the rate is at a historic low since recordkeeping began in 1900.

The agency says for every 1000 live births last year, there were 6.3 deaths, which is a slight decrease from the previous year.

In 2023, the rate was 6.5, according to the centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is the lowest it's been since 2019.

Eid says it expects a more in-depth analysis of the provisional data to be available in the coming months, once the data is finalized.

A number of factors can increase the risk of infant mortality, such as access to adequate prenatal care, stress during pregnancy, and preexisting conditions.

The national infant mortality rate was 5.6.

In 2023.

Oseye, while this is obviously, unquestionably good news.

With the cuts coming to state and particularly local health spending and the new budget.

Can Indiana keep up with this momentum?

It's going to be very difficult.

because we're at, what, 6.3 from 6.6 and we're still above the national average.

so I've written about this several times.

And, the last time I wrote about it, there was this data that stuck with me.

So it was about five years ago when the five year average, Indiana was 2800 infants, I believe it was.

And that was enough to fill 39 school busses.

So when you put that into perspective, that is just how important, this this is.

And as we're making cuts and we're talking about how important it is for women to have babies, but we're actually cutting health care programs.

We're cutting access.

We're talking about women need to get prenatal visits, but they live in deserts.

You live in rural Indiana.

You live in, you live in, obstetric deserts, lack of hospitals.

So there's a lot of things there's a lot of things in play that will help reduce this number.

And we really have not, if we're cutting things, we're really making it difficult to reduce the number even more.

it doesn't sound like 6.3 per 1000 births is a lot.

But when you think about that's the 30 school busses, when you put it in that kind of context, that's a lot of babies.

This is something that's been the I mean, I can remember going back to Mike pence, and Jerome Adams, who was the Secretary of health back then making this one of the top priorities, creating a lot of programs.

This is the result of all of that focus.

It takes a long time to make these numbers go down.

It doesn't take a long time to make them go back up.

Is that what we're in?

Yeah.

I mean, some of these programs are, you know, 4 or 5 years in, they, you know, have different programs.

But the idea has done maternal navigators.

And then on top of that, we, you know, increased funding to local health departments.

And they on their own had had some infant mortality programs.

Those are the ones that are really in jeopardy now with the big cuts to that fund in the last budget.

And so, you know, hopefully we won't see an immediate reversal because there are still state programs out there.

But it's a big concern.

And the thing the great thing about these local programs too, and that was part of the design of the local health program that was created a couple of years ago, was it's these local health departments who create these programs to cater to the communities they.

Need to live in.

Yeah.

So again, are we really at risk of undoing some of this momentum clearly.

I mean, clearly.

And then the same thing with preschool and the same thing with higher ed.

I mean, it's a question of priority.

And if your priority is birth, which it is for the Republicans, but not life and not the quality of life and not what everybody can attain through education, then you're going to have these cuts every time there's a down cycle, when maybe even when there's an up cycle it because the priorities are always cutting taxes and, giving vouchers and giving things to people who don't need the help and taking it from people who do need the help.

And if you if you're concerned about life, which I think everybody ought to be concerned about, then these programs that provide health care to pregnant women should be at the top of the priority, not cuts.

If we do see, and we hope we don't, but if we do see these numbers start to turn around in the wake of the cuts that have been made because of the dire financial situation, is that maybe going to help long term and that it will really show lawmakers listen, you spent this money, this helped this thing.

You didn't spend this money.

And the numbers started to go the opposite direction.

Is that going to reinforce the message that so many have been trying to preach?

I think so, and I think no matter who you talk to, people will say, you know, you're not going to see an improvement in the maternal mortality rate from a one time increase the year before, right?

Like this increase wasn't just because we started funding local health departments last year, right?

It's very long term.

I think a lot of credit has to go to Governor Pence, like you mentioned.

Governor Holcomb as well.

I remember one of his goals was to have Indiana have the lowest infant mortality rate in the Midwest by 2024.

Obviously, that didn't happen, but I think he set the tone to really start trying to improve this.

There was legislation that followed as well.

So I think it's a little shortsighted that, you know, the local health, department programs, for example, which we're still funding $80 million over the biennium.

you know, just saying that we cut that, which means there's going to be a decrease in or there's a worsening of the infant mortality rate.

I think that's a little shortsighted, just because everybody, most people will tell you that the money that's still there will still be able to fund the existing programs.

I think a lot of the concern around that was trying to expand those programs.

So when it comes to the momentum you've been seeing right now on the infant mortality rate, I think it will still be pretty positive.

But yet what you're saying is we won't go back negatively, but we're not going to get close to the national average either with that kind of thing.

I mean, we were.

Our lowest since 1900, so that's.

Pretty pointing in the right direction.

Just shows how poor we were by 1900, doesn't it?

Indiana US Senator Todd Young says access to mental health services is vital for K-12 students well-being and academic success, and young is backing legislation that tries to drive more people into school, mental health care, jobs.

Experts recommend a ratio of one school psychologist for every 500 students.

Young says there's work to be done to hit that goal.

Nationwide, the average is one per 1200 students.

And in Indiana, it's roughly one per 1700 students.

Young's legislation would help pay for graduate degrees in certain programs, including school psychology, school counseling, and school social work.

Young says he understands it's currently a tough environment to spend federal dollars.

Those of us who stand for constitutionally limited good government, need to defend the essential services of government, and and ensure that people maintain faith in them.

The bill has bipartisan co-sponsors in both the US House and U.S. Senate.

Niki, we've seen over the last several years, state lawmakers in Indiana struggled to improve mental health access in schools because of pushback from some conservative groups who worry about parents rights and things like that.

So is he going to face blowback for this legislation?

I don't know.

I mean, I think that's sort of the second question.

The first question is, do we have any mental health counselors?

Then maybe we can focus on how those services get to the students and whether it's through parental permission or not.

But if they're not there in the first place, we're we're in deep trouble.

And, and I know a lot of the parent concerns have have revolved around LGBTQ issues.

But the fact is, kids need this help for so many other issues for bullying, for poverty, for abuse.

You know, from Paris, things like that.

So, I think the key is to get more people into the program so that those people can be in the schools to help the kids.

Then we can address how they're helping the kids and sort of the mechanism on that end.

One of the things I asked Todd Young about in this interview I did with him was, you know, if you look at the design of the bill, it's working with the higher ed institutions who have these programs to help pay some of the freight for the post-grad work.

that's great.

That gets more people literally into the professions.

And then I ask them, okay, now how do we make sure that once they go into the profession, they're going to the schools where they're the most needed and not just the schools that will pay them the most money and be wealthier areas of the state.

And he said, that's a piece that needs to happen with local leaders to to a partnerships that have to happen between the federal government, the schools and then local leaders to say, okay, this is where these people need to go.

Are you confident if this thing goes through this legislation?

Are you confident that last step will happen?

So we're making sure that we're getting the access where it needs to be.

You ask tough questions.

No, I'm not confident.

No, I'm not confident.

But I'm hopeful.

I'm hopeful because we are in a place now where we talk about mental health.

It's not as taboo as it once was.

People see the need.

People are seeing the need for children to talk to someone.

Like you mentioned bullying, there's a lot of things that, kids can talk to someone, another trusted adult, about, that they may not be able to talk to their parents about.

They may not have parents to talk to.

So I think we are moving into a space where we is moving away from taboo, and we're realizing the need for it.

Now, one thing I was struck by those two data that I think, one mental health counselor for 500.

Children, that's that's the.

Right.

That did not seem like enough.

I think that that's still aspirational.

Yes.

Yeah, very.

Much would be overwhelmed.

And that still will mean a lot of children will not have access.

Yeah.

I want to ask about the politics of this a little bit, which is right now we're seeing that the growing you know, Todd Young isn't up for election for a few more years, but clearly there's a movement to to primary him afoot.

And the the point of attack is he's not conservative enough.

He's not a real conservative.

Is something like this adding fuel to that fire?

I sure hope not, because I actually think he's doing what this say Indiana legislatures in the state of Indiana are wanting to do.

Because I think whenever you see these mental health bills in the state House, a lot of it revolves around like, what is the actual material being given to students?

Is it just a random survey about how you feel today?

And they try to mask that as like a mental health kind of thing?

I think Indiana does really well at prioritizing actually clinically trained master's level social workers going into schools.

I'm familiar with an organization out of Evansville called, Youth First that's actually been able to grow exponentially over the past six years, harnessing state money through public private partnerships, getting buy in from schools, getting buy in from businesses like you said, to put these trained professionals into schools.

And I think they've been able to touch over 20,000 students and they continue to grow.

I think that's the kind of, you know, the technique or the philosophy that Todd Young is trying to adopt at the at the federal level as well.

That's really awesome program.

I asked that question about, are you worried about blowback from a wing of your party?

And he said he doesn't think about that.

He tries to do the right thing, and then he goes and explains why he did it.

Do you think that's the way he's governed?

I think that's what he's trying to do.

I mean, the Chips Bill, for example, is a perfect example of that.

And he knows, unlike banks and the rest of these people, that the people of Indiana elected him because they wanted him to represent them, to make the state a little bit better, to live in, to make their lives a little bit better.

And he's trying to do that.

Unlike some of the Republican crazies.

All right, finally, the Indiana Pacers beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 191, in game six of the NBA finals.

That brings the game to a decisive of the series to a decisive game seven on Sunday.

I'm guessing you all want the Pacers to win.

Do you think, Chris, that they can pull it off?

I think harnessing the power of friendship and Rick Carlisle I think we do it.

I think we do it.

Can do it in Oklahoma.

It's the same team plays in Oklahoma City that played last night.

The answer is yes.

The problem for the Pacers this whole postseason has been consistency.

Do you think they pull it out on Sunday?

God I hope so.

It would be so exciting for the city.

And I really want to go to another championship parade.

That's been it's been a little long.

It's been a while.

It's been a.

Little while since we've had a championship parade around here.

Do you think they can do it.

If they play to and when they play, if they play last night.

Yes.

Yeah.

Yes.

I overall it's just I'm just happy this has been such.

A great day.

It's been so much fun.

So you're you're conceding also what you're doing.

I, I.

You're conceding I think.

You're conceding.

Oh shame on you.

You and all the national experts.

Yeah I that's Indiana Week in Review for this week.

Our panel is Democrat Ann DeLaney.

Republican Chris Mitchem.

Oshae Boyd of Mirror Indy.

and Niki Kelly of the Indiana Chronicle.

You can find Indiana Weekend reviews podcasts and episodes at wfyi.org/iwir or on the PBS app.

I'm Brandon Smith of Indiana Public Broadcasting.

Join us next time, because a lot can happen in an Indiana week.

The views expressed are solely those of the panelists.

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