Recapping the first 30 days of session for our district

Indiana House District 32 legislative & community update from Rep. Victoria Garcia Wilburn

Feb 07, 2025

Dear neighbor,

As of today, the Indiana General Assembly has been in session for 30 days. To give you a sense of what I’ve been up to so far this session, I wanted to share updates from the first month of the legislative session.

As always, please reach out to my legislative office at h32@iga.in.gov with questions, concerns, and feedback.

In service,

Come chat with me about the ongoing legislative session on February 14!

I hope you will join me on Friday, Feb. 14 at one of the below locations to share coffee and conversation about all the things we LOVE about House District 32. As the 2025 Legislative Session continues and we work on Indiana’s next two-year budget, my focus remains on improving quality of life in our neighborhood. My goal in hosting these events is to get to know more local residents and the issues they care about, and to answer your questions about topics being discussed at the Statehouse.

Fishers Morning Coffee with State Rep. Garcia Wilburn - 7:30 to 9:00 a.m.

Location: The Well Coffeehouse (8890 E 116th St #120)

Carmel Afternoon Coffee with State Rep. Garcia Wilburn - 1:30 to 2:30 p.m.

Location: Starbucks (11435 Spring Mill Road)

Leadership Uncorked: An International Women's Day Mixer

I am excited to join SMC next month as a panelist during their International Women’s Day Mixer on March 6th from 5:30-7:30 p.m. While the event is only open to those 21 and over, it’s a free event open to both men and women. Sign up on Eventbrite here for an evening of networking, hors d’oeuvres and more!

Watching out for our schools and public safety departments

Hoosiers need property tax relief, but we have to be careful about unintended consequences of this for our public schools and public safety departments.

HSE and CCS stand to lose the most in funding of all central Indiana school districts under Gov. Braun’s property tax plan.

Families move to our district for our excellent public schools, and we need to make sure we are safeguarding them. Read more here.

Sitting down with IPBS to discuss my priorities this legislative session

Thanks to Jon Schwantes from IPBS for the chance to talk about my hopes for this session!

My bill to fund family recovery courts will receive a hearing Monday morning

I filed House Bill 1107 to ensure that child wellbeing and safety is prioritized when parents or primary caregivers are suffering from substance use disorder. This proposal has overwhelming support from our local courts. The purpose of problem-solving courts is to promote outcomes that will benefit not only the justice involved individual and their family, but the victim and society as well. These courts were developed as an innovative response to deal with the needs of justice involved individuals, including drug abuse and mental illness.

Thank you to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Chris Jeter for granting HB 1107 a hearing in committee this upcoming Monday morning. I’m looking forward to discussing this important issue.

Speaking of our courts: It was my absolute privilege to help escort Chief Justice Rush in her State of the Judiciary address.

Her endless support of the problem-solving courts and their incredible success rates is something we should all be proud of. Thank you, Chief Justice!

Advocating for ABA therapy funding

ABA therapy is a critical and important service that we must prioritize in our state budget and our state’s Medicaid coverage. I put together the above information so you can advocate for FSSA to remove harsh limits on the extent of ABA therapy care patients can receive. Thanks to WISH-TV for this story on the looming cuts.

Additionally, if the federal Department of Education is eliminated, I have concerns for how this will impact our excellent public schools, particularly the specialized individual education plans (IEPs) for students with learning and developmental disabilities and the protections students with disabilities receive under IDEA.

Receiving Indiana Association of Chiefs of Police’s Legislator of the Year award

Last month, I was honored as a Legislator of the Year by the Indiana Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) at its annual Mid-Winter Conference.

I'm so grateful to receive this recognition from the IACP for my work advocating for police chiefs and law enforcement at the Statehouse. I will always support law enforcement, and continuing to earn your trust is a priority for me. A question I always ask myself before writing legislation is 'How does this impact law enforcement?' The profession is always at the top of my mind.

In fact, a priority for me this session is ensuring that the first responder mental health training passed in my 2023 legislation is funded into the future through House Bill 1092, which I've authored and am advocating for with my fellow lawmakers.

Honoring retiring Fishers Fire Department Chief Steve Orusa…

It was an honor to author a bipartisan concurrent resolution honoring retiring Fishers Fire Chief Steve Orusa with House Speaker Todd Huston, Rep. Chris Jeter and Sen. Kyle Walker. Thanks for your excellent service keeping our community safe, Chief.

… And welcoming new Fishers Fire Chief Ky Ragsdale

Fishers’ new Fire Chief Ky Ragsdale was sworn in by Mayor Scott Fadness last month. Congratulations to Chief Ragsdale! I look forward to working with you and continuing to advocate for our fire department at the state legislature.

Attending Mayor Fadness’ State of the City address

I attended Mayor Fadness’ State of the City address earlier this week, and his remarks sat well with me. He’s right that our Fishers community drives our economy, and I’m committed to representing Fishers as a collaborative, invested lawmaker who votes for legislation in the best interest of our city. Fishers is continuing to move forward, and I will continue looking for ways to build up our community schools, promote health care access and foster economic development with federal dollars. Congrats to Mayor Fadness and the Fishers City Council on the vital business partnerships announced during the address!

Congrats to the Monon/86th Project on a successful project report

Thank you to the volunteers and businesses who participated in the tactical urbanism project at the 86th Street Monon Trail crossing. The purpose of this project was to find out if this dangerous trail crossing can be made safer with physical changes to the road infrastructure. Unsurprisingly, they found the answer to be yes.

I want to congratulate these concerned community members for a successful project and reaching data-backed conclusions about how we can make infrastructure upgrades at this crossing to keep pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists safe. I will look for opportunities to support your recommendation that a bridge be built at the crossing by 2030.

For more on the report, read here.

Carmel residents: Take the City’s City Transportation and Mobility Survey

The City of Carmel has introduced a Transportation and Mobility Survey to better understand how people move around our city and help shape new potential transportation options in Carmel. In March of 2024, the City launched a Community Engagement Survey with results indicating that nearly two-thirds of the community desired better public transportation options.

The City wants to hear your thoughts on how you get around Carmel today and whether a public transportation option could improve the experience for you (or someone you know). Your confidential feedback will directly impact future planning decisions. The survey is available in multiple languages to ensure that as many residents as possible are able to weigh in.

Take the survey here by Feb. 21 to make your voice heard.

Thank you to the below publications for featuring the work I’ve been doing at the Statehouse so far this session!

Rep. Victoria Garcia Wilburn’s Newsletter

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