2013 Legislative Session Starts Today

The 2013 legislative session of the Indiana General Assembly convened today at the Statehouse at 1:30 p.m.    It's a long session this year, with April 29 being the last possible day of session.  During the long session, the legislature creates Indiana's biennial budget, which consumes the majority of legislators' time, but also, legislators are able to propose more legislation, which means the potential for quite a few more issues to be delved into.

MCCOY will be how children's issues fare this session with topics ranging from creating a commission to improve the status of children in Indiana to addressing early childhood learning and safety to preventing bullying and keeping children safe.  Bills are now being posted on the General Assembly's website and MCCOY will be sending out it's first Voices for Indiana's Children legislative update at the end of this week to summarize the bills posted thus far.  To receive the newsletter, please click here and choose the "advocacy" mailing list.

Due to redistricting and the elections, your legislator may have changed.  Please visit the General Assembly's District Look-up Page to find out who represents you in the statehouse.  Reach out and make contact with your legislator - they would love to hear from their constituents on the important issues that they will grapple with this year.

Stay tuned for periodic updates as the session moves forward!

MCCOY reads about llamas

Last week, MCCOY staff participated in Jumpstart's Read for the Record Day. This campaign highlights the early education achievement gap and seeks to provide low-income students with high-quality educational experiences. MCCOY staff traveled to the city's newest Center for Inquiry school, IPS #27 Charity Dye.

What a fantastic school, right in heart of Indianapolis! The school was full of great energy and the students were so bright. We divided into pairs and read Llama Llama Red Pajama to groups of kindergarteners. As a part of the campaign, each student got to take home their very own copy of the book. It was definitely the highlight of MY week. Perhaps in a few months, we can visit again and read Llama Llama Holiday Drama.