The Indiana Black Legislative Caucus brought its statewide town hall tour to South Bend on Saturday. Five Democratic state representatives from Lake and Marion counties gave a recap of the 2025 session and discussed plans for the future.
They praised new protections against human trafficking and the expansion of the crime guns taskforce to Lake County. But they also criticized cuts to pre-k, housing programs and public health in the state budget.
“I think it’s important that people understand the things that we fight off every session or we push back on every session because we spend most of our time playing defense,” said Rep. Ragen Hatcher (D-Gary).
The representatives said they don’t have the numbers to stop an expected Republican congressional redistricting attempt, but Rep. John Bartlett (D-Indianapolis) called on his fellow Democrats to try to stop it in court.
“We have a constitutional situation here," Barlett said. "We’ve allowed too many things to happen across the great state of Indiana, and we’ve not filed lawsuits. And we’ve got to get them in court and take our positions back.”
In addition to sharing information, the town halls are also an opportunity for lawmakers to gather ideas.
Indiana Black Legislative Caucus Chair Earl Harris Jr. (D-East Chicago) said they’re still finalizing the caucus’s agenda for the 2026 session, but he expects to focus on the economy. “So when you look at changes in terms of money going to public education, things related to health care, those are items and issues that people are having a lot of concerns about how that’s going to impact their community, their city, their town and their personal economics,” Harris told WVPE after the town hall.
None of the current members of the Black Legislative Caucus are based in the South Bend area. But Harris said he’s encouraged that its overall membership continues to grow, and said they’d continue to encourage people to run for office.