.

Hello, welcome to PrimeTime this Friday evening.

I am not Bruce Haines.

I'm sorry to disappoint.

He is off this weekend so I'm filling in for him.

I have the pleasure of doing that so I appreciate it.

He'll be back next Friday if you are new to this show tonight our topic is going to be legislative so we have three lawmakers state lawmakers joining us this evening which is great.

You can ask them questions if you want during the program.

We have a whole bills and issues that are going to be discussed but please feel free to call in any time.

So we're going to keep that phone number at the bottom of the screen up until just about eight o'clock it's (969) 27 two zero if you're outside of Fort Wayne, it's still a free phone call if you put an 866- in front of there and when you call in you have two options you can talk to the call girl, talk to the call screener no matter what.

You can ask the question live and and our guest will answer it for you or if you would prefer to have me ask the question that's another option you have.

So please feel free to call at any time again we keep that phone number at the bottom of the screen for you.

So let's go ahead and introduce you to our guests.

We have three guests this evening.

Sitting next to me is State Representative Sue Glik from the 13th District.

She is also of course the assistant president pro tem.

So thank you.

So you've been on this program before and sitting next to state representative Republican State Representative Dave Hynie also a familiar face on this program.

So thank you for joining us.

And of course Dave is from the Fifth District and joining us virtually we appreciate this as well.

State Republican State Representative Craig Snowe representing the 18th District.

So Craig, thank you so much for joining us.

>> Thank you.

All right.

Well, Craig, I don't mean to leave you out of the the discussion the three of us right before the program we're talking about so much that is on the table right now.

This is a short session and some of the things we were talking about the emergency covid plan, the the workplace mandates I'm a vaccine mandates we've got issues with transgender the girls in sports that has and I understand the other day that was quite a heated discussion all sorts of education bills.

I know Dave, you wanted to talk about something with the college funding plan the ten twenty nine that's a lot.

I mean and I'm just scratching the surface with this being a short session.

What what do you guys think?

Is there enough time to feasibly address at least a big chunk of these bills?

>> Well, I think we can we can certainly address the ones with that have already passed through our houses.

The Senate has moved about one hundred and sixty bills I believe over to the House and the House and it's a little over one hundred back.

So so we have kind of winnowed out a number of bills not that they weren't important, just that we simply don't have time to address all the issues that have come up and and the covid bills certainly are very important to the people of Indiana.

The school bills are always important.

Education impacts all of us either sooner or later it's going to affect all of us.

There's some tax bills floating through and I think we just try and address them as they come up.

You just get a couple of swings at it and we we step up to the plate.

>> That's our job in the way I look at it, you know the people that elected office, they expect to serve them.

So you know, I joke around with some of the people down there and say hey, we're on salary so we don't we don't go home and are they so we we go down on Monday morning and for me we come home on Thursday night and you we can get it done because that's we don't have anything else to do down there.

So we can get it done.

>> Representative Snowe, what are your thoughts?

Are there especially some of these things regarding covid and the vaccine mandates?

Do you do you think there'll be a resolution in this session or do you think some of that stuff will have to wait till the next time?

>> Yeah, actually my first one that I've experienced it I used the term Fast and Furious.

I'm not used to that but it the A lot of work and it seems like all our to go longer than they expected and so I tend to be running late to the next minute all the time.

But you know we're working on a number of important bill, some of them very contentious and a lot of debating going on good discussion and again like I said, we are trying to work out for our constituents.

>> Well, when you're mentioning contentious I did want to bring up because that was a headline in some of the papers locally was about the transgender bill.

And I think a lot of people if you nationally have been following the situation with the Penn State student who swam for I believe the first three years of his college career as a man supposedly has been taking hormone suppressing drugs for at least a year.

But you know these I mean he's blowing his records.

I mean not just by five, 10 seconds he's beating these other women by 40 seconds and and there's no way that they can compete.

And what I'm hearing is, you know, even if they take suppression drugs that it's still a man's body.

It's already reached puberty, you still have larger lung mass stronger bigger skeletal structure.

That's what I'm hearing which these girls can't compete with.

So I understand the other day it was a rather contentious discussion.

>> I don't know if you want to just talk about that because that is has been in the headlines lately.

Well, I'll just say, you know, I did a survey before a session started and I asked that question to my constituents, hey, what's your opinion in eighty two percent of the people in District eighty five said, you know, if you choose to make a choice to transgender into a girl, then you know what that choice has consequence is God still loves you right?

>> Still that choice has consequences and you can't compete in girls' sports that's the consequence.

So you know in my district eighty two percent believe that should be the way it is and but you're right.

Luckily, you know I'm not on that committee so I wasn't involved in those meetings but they were contentious when Representative Snowe or Senator Glick either one of you want to contribute anything.

>> Well, I will say as a as a female from birth competing in junior high high school sports, I didn't compete at the college level but my sister did.

It was difficult for us.

We were before Title nine .

Right.

And we found ourselves a disadvantage from the standpoint we had to get up at four thirty five o'clock because we carried morning paper route and and so we had to do that because the only time the girls could get the gym was five thirty in the morning and we had to drive a number of miles to a consolidated school to to compete.

I don't want to forfeit that for all these young ladies coming along behind me.

I think that that as as Representative Hyne indicated, you know, there are consequence for choices and yes, I hate it that some aren't going to be able to compete but I would like to have competed at the college level but I wasn't a six foot tall right at the size I was you know you know, there were consequences for eating too much maybe being a little heavy and not being able to run as fast or jump as high or shoot as well.

But that's what competitive sports are about.

But to give someone a body mass advantage, to give them an advantage because they chose to change over and compete with people who are not the same that that's a choice they made.

But I'm not going to penalize all the young ladies if you want to say fifty one percent of the population who had to their sisters or mothers or whomever had to work long and hard to have the opportunity to compete and I'm not going to put them in a position where they don't get to compete with their gender from birth and and maybe the day will come well where the transgenders will have are only there a lot of things.

But as it stands right now, I don't feel that it's fair to to those young people to disadvantage them and you know and the thing is people are afraid to speak up about it too because then, you know, depending on who you're talking to I mean sometimes you come down in your heart I've heard of people being called racists or homophobes or whatnot, all these beautiful words that we've unfortunately become part of our everyday language.

Representative Snow, is there anything you wanted to add about that?

>> I know it's a hot topic.

Yeah, no, I think what that woman well said.

I think choice is that consequences and I did go to the different hearing.

I'm out on the education committee but I did go and listen to some of the testimony and you know, I understand the people that were testifying against the bill, they have a passion and they believe their choice is accurate.

But I believe in protecting the the the girls that are trying to stay in the girl or to keep that way.

>> I good choices have consequences.

I don't think I can say it any better.

Yeah, no I appreciate your thoughts on that.

So we'll just have to see how that what ends up but I mean some of the numbers speak for yourself like when you took that poll of your district representative ninety you know it sounds like there's an overwhelming majority of people don't want to go in that direction.

Do I want to remind everybody to the time goes quickly.

So if you have a question for any of our guests tonight, please call it any time even if we're talking about a different bill or issue than what you wanted to talk about, it's (969) 27 to zero again it's still a toll free number if you put it 866- in front of there.

So why don't we address stuff with regarding covid because you can't go a day without hearing something about covid or being required to have the vaccine mandates.

We've all heard a lot of unpleasant stories especially about people who we regarded as heroes last year in the medical profession and so forth that are, you know, having to leave their jobs, not wanting to get a vaccination for a number of reasons.

Of course the Supreme Court said it was OK for employers to not force their their workforce to to get the vaccination.

But if you're a health care worker doesn't really leave you much of a choice.

Is there anything that the state can do?

Can the state implement guidance that would over and over if you say override at the Supreme Court but can we do our own thing here in Indiana?

>> Well, ten or two does just that what ten or two does and it's coming over to you, Sue.

So you have an opportunity to vote yes on this but it just simply says that, you know, an employer they have the right to say hey, we want our employees to be vaccinated but all ten or two says is that hey, give us give us the opportunity for religious exemption or medical exemption to say no, I don't want to be vaccinated and that's all ten or two does and passed out of the House.

>> It's now in the Senate and we'll see what happens.

What is that what are the discussions?

I mean are most people willing to give people you know, give people these rights?

You know, I mean most people feel like they should there if they're asking for these exemptions it should be strongly considered where it seemed like in the beginning it was just rubber stamped.

No, no matter what you said I think as Republicans and all three of us want to show our Republicans we talk about not interfering with the decisions of employers and business getting out of the way.

We didn't like the idea of a mandate saying everybody must do X but by the same token we want to protect the majority as well and there are some people who simply cannot protect themselves enough.

The people with compromised immune systems and young people that may have some problems and pulmonary problems whatever.

I think the employers that's why the reason for wanting to 2002 is the idea of if there is a definite reason if there's a medical excuse, if there's a religious exemption but there has to be offsets from that if you are in fact are you have a reason for not masking up, then what alternatives are there?

What can you do if you can't take the vaccine then are you going to wear masks?

Are you going to protect the other person or the public at large?

We can't simply just everybody do their own thing and put compromised people at risk.

The reason for democracy, if you will, or a democratic republic is we balance we balance the issues and the rights of all for the good of the whole and you can't be in a situation where everybody does their own thing and puts people at risk.

We have to take into account the responsibilities of our government and of the individuals.

I think an employer has to take that into consideration if he's a manufacturer and he's dealing in the health care industry or the food industry or he's a food service provider, he or she then they have to take into account how do we deliver our product or our service and protect the people who might be purchasing that product or that service and how do we protect our employees as well.

So it's a balancing test and we have to build that into any kind of regulation that we put forth.

>> Well, and truth be told, you're never going to make all the people happy all the time.

So I am sure you know that very well, Representative.

No, I don't want to leave you out of that conversation anything you'd like to add?

>> No thanks.

It was you know, I own a business in the way I've operated get that our employees can be respectful of their clients that they meet with them.

We are not in the health here for the industry.

But you know, I have asked people to be adults about this but use common sense if you feel sick, stay home and in a sense about it and treat it like a flu.

That's the mentality of the think group.

So just be respectful of others and if somebody wants to wear a mask that is certainly within their right and that's fine, we don't have that mandate here and let people make their own choices at my company anyway.

>> I think a lot of people like that, you know, just that's how it always has been.

That's the American is you know, make your own choices for yourself.

You know what you think is best for you and your family.

But you have a mandate of definitely at least for a lot of people that an unpopular and a popular thing so OK, well we're going to leave all this covid because I know everyone's probably had their fill of that one thing I know you wanted to talk about Representative Hynie was the ten twenty nine which I know I told you before the show we have two boys going to college next year so I'm really, really into this stuff.

>> Right.

Do we have a deal for you and it's a House bill ten forty five and it will be coming over if passed with unanimous vote.

Yeah Craig was was a coauthor on that bill but what that does is basically right now you can give a minimum of five thousand dollars into a 529 savings plan and get a thousand dollar tax credit on your Indiana return.

And what this bill does is takes limit up to seventy five hundred dollars and you'll get a fifteen hundred dollar tax credit from state of Indiana.

So right now six point eight billion dollars has been saved by Hoosiers, you know, to send their children and grandchildren to college and we think that that's going to bump that up significantly.

But the way I look at it is that six point eight billion dollars that our students won't have debt when they get out of college.

So I think savings for my my grandchildren's education is so important and I think this is going to benefit all of Indiana and especially those students that they when they graduate they don't have student debt.

>> Oh, that can be you know, that can be a real eye opener for a lot of kids, you know, not not knowing how to handle that either, especially when you're first starting out after school.

A lot of times your salary is relatively low.

So I didn't sue.

Did you want to add anything to it?

I know Representative Snow, you said it coauthored it so well.

>> Make sure we get his thoughts as well.

Certainly I'm in favor of it.

The idea that we can consider all students in Indiana and the possibility that anyone in the family or relatives friends can contribute for the benefit of young people, it's going to lift Indiana economically.

The more bachelor's degrees we have, the more advanced in this not only covers college but it also covers the trades to year ivy on those types of occupational skills.

We want to skill up Indiana.

We want to allow young people to achieve the most you know, to be what they they can be all that they can be if you will.

And the idea of people, grandparents, whoever assisting them along the way and giving a tax break that is something that I think is a driver for the whole Indiana economy.

>> So does that mean you're going to vote yes?

Well, I'm sorry I have in the past I don't know why I'd change.

I think it's a great idea.

It is.

No, I think that's a lot of people love that idea especially of others can contribute to it and the trades are hurting.

They need people that some of the money can go to that representatives.

No, go ahead.

I know you would coauthor this bill.

What would you like to say about well for me it is a little personal.

We have our we are expecting your first grandchild March twenty eight.

>> So I plan to utilize the 529 plan.

All right.

Well it's a good it's a good deal and if you if you have kids or grandkids I mean you should look into that.

Why not?

It's a smart thing to do and college is not getting any cheaper.

We we all know that I want to I feel terrible.

There are a couple of people were waiting for several minutes for us to answer their questions.

I didn't mean to make them wait so long I believe.

>> Fred, did you have a question you wanted to leave?

I do.

OK, OK.

The first thing is that the lawmakers generally I'm having trouble accessing especially amendment information on a website and trouble getting good information on that second and this is especially for Senator Glik Hospital eleven thirty four is coming over to the Senate in the Senate no education committee and I'm recommending by law that you include students in the community curriculum committee that's being discussed and I further I'm going to be encouraging government teachers to involve those high school students because they're effective as much as teachers in the limited options and the negative effects of this House bill.

Eleven thirty four and I'll just take my answers online or offline and I'll hang up.

>> OK, thank you Fred.

Thanks for calling in.

Do you want to address that first and then we'll talk about the website.

OK well first of all as far as information if you go online to the Indiana General Assembly for two thousand twenty two it will bring up the website.

You can go to the House or the Senate but you can look up bills.

It will have a list of bill numbers and also to the side of that will show what the subject matter of that bill is and you can go to that bill say House bill eleven twenty four eleven thirty four if you will.

Then you can also see the bill action.

It'll show the most recent action the original bill as it came it was introduced and then any amendments and at what stage if there was committee action, what the vote in committee was and so forth.

So it's very informative.

It's not difficult to use.

It may take you a couple of times going through it if you're not sure of the bill number itself in the upper right hand corner you can do a search by subject matter.

So I think that's a very easy way to do it and I hope that people will use that website because I think it will help them assist them in looking up some of these bills as far as the idea of the religious exemptions, I'm afraid what was the other thing that Fred and Bill thirty eleven thirty students I have no objections to the students being involved .

I think it has to be you know the kids would have it couldn't be everybody you know we don't get to vote up or down.

I'm sure that when I was in junior high school the twelve year old boys wanted to see National Geographic even if the librarian didn't want to give them to her.

But but realistically the more input we have I think the key with eleven thirty four is I don't I personally don't want to make criminals out of teachers and librarians.

I think that's ridiculous.

I think we also have to look at the content from the standpoint of are we talking an isolated paragraph or two ?

Are we talking the general content of a publication or a presentation like a theater production or what have you?

And I think that having parents involvement in curricula where it's constructive not yelling and screaming at the school board or the administrators, I think every parent has a right and should review the materials that the children have that are being introduced to in the classroom.

If they have an objection, go to the teacher if the teacher the response isn't satisfactory, go to the principal.

Yeah, you can go to the superintendent and then to the school board.

You have several opportunities as now and if we're going to form curriculum committees that's fine.

But I don't think at any point along the way it should be book burning and that sort of thing.

I think it should be a review of curricula and as I understand it, I'm not an educator as I understand it, there's very strict standards on curriculum now but the idea of posting curricula on a daily basis is that's a that's not in the bill and it's not in the bill now is in the end introduced portion.

But I think now we've gone to the idea of posting a form of the lesson not lesson plans but the curriculum the beginning of the year.

>> But at any time a parent has the right to go to their their principal, there's students, teachers, their principals, their superintendents and through the line that's what they're there for and most welcome parent involvement if it's respectful and there's interaction.

Yeah, I think respectful is the key word.

I mean when did we I think we've lost that you know, just respecting other people and not just jumping on them right away.

And sometimes like you said, if you're not getting the response you feel is suitable, then you go take the next step and go to the principal or school board.

>> So sadly we only have like a minute and a half.

So why don't we quickly take this question that somebody had asked that they wanted me to ask of you are there any religious exemptions and other vaccines and I guess I never thought about that is there one?

>> Well, I know that my daughter who works for Ascencion, they had a you could be have a religious exemption or medical exemption on the flu shot.

>> So OK, so I don't know about any other vaccines but I do know on the flu shot OK, and I knew that when parents had concerns remember there were there was a number of years ago started where parents were just afraid about their kids getting so many vaccines at once when they were younger and the ones that they require them to enter school.

But I mean I've heard that some doctors were open to staggering like still getting but maybe not all three or four and one day.

>> Yeah.

So I'd heard about that before we go Representatives.

>> No we have thirty seconds left so thank you so much.

Is there anything quickly you wanted to add?

>> No I just want to thank you for allowing me to be on your program and it's always enjoyable to learn new things and that's what I have been doing for a year and a half so I'm drinking from a firehose and enjoying it so far.

>> Thank you.

Thank you so much for being with us.

Representative Hynie and Senator Glik, thank you so much as well.

Thank you.

Appreciate it so much to cover .

I had like six pages of material I think we covered about a half a page.

I'm glad we got the ten twenty nine and that's a big thing.

All right.

Well thank you so much for joining everybody.

Thank you too.

For everybody who joined in watching and for those who called in with questions, we always appreciate that be sure to tune in next Friday evening Bruce will be back and have another prime time.

So take care.

Have a nice weekend.

Bye