United Way of Central Indiana announces public policy agenda ahead of 2024 legislative session

INDIANAPOLIS – United Way of Central Indiana today announced its policy priorities for the 2024 legislative session, focusing on key issues to eliminate poverty in Central Indiana, including in the areas of early care and learning and economic mobility.

United Way — a nonprofit that serves the area’s largest network of human service organizations — works with partners across the state to advance legislation that helps every person, child and family reach their full potential. In 2024, United Way’s public policy agenda prioritizes:

• Early childhood education: Through its continued leadership of the Early Education Works Coalition, United Way will advocate for increasing Indiana’s early childhood education workforce through apprenticeships, work-based learning opportunities and competency-based pathways. The coalition will also propose piloting child care microcenters in hard-to-serve areas of the state, improving Indiana’s early childhood education regulations and the scope of early education from ages 0-5 to ages 0-8.

• Housing: In partnership with the Hoosier Housing Needs Coalition and Prosperity Indiana, United Way will advocate for increasing the supply of quality affordable housing, ensuring the preservation of existing affordable housing (including the enforcement of habitability standards and tenant protections), ending housing discrimination and raising homeownership rates in Central Indiana.

• Economic mobility: In collaboration with public and private organizations across the state, United Way will advocate for increasing access to in-state tuition for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients and other undocumented students, studying a paid family leave pilot for families that qualify for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and studying student financial aid for people whose lives have been affected by the criminal justice system.

To complement these priority issue areas, United Way will support its advocacy partners in the areas of predatory lending, support of student parents and seeding 529 accounts for Medicaid births.

“Supporting individuals and families moving out of poverty looks different than it did 100 years ago when United Way was founded – and even different than it did before the pandemic. We’ve been listening to our community partners about how United Way can uplift our most vulnerable neighbors, and this continues to be our priority for the 2024 session,” said Fred Payne, president and CEO of United Way. “Our community can accomplish great things when we work together to advocate for a better future. We look forward to collaborating with organizations across Indiana to build and support systems that help Hoosiers thrive.”

United Way developed its public policy agenda in consultation with its network of 88 community organizations. The nonprofit focuses on efforts that serve Hoosier households living in or near poverty. In United Way’s seven-county service area in Central Indiana, more than 244,000 households are living in, or are one emergency away from, poverty. To ensure policy efforts have maximum impact on the communities served, the agenda prioritizes solutions and partners that build on the successes of United Way’s Family Opportunity initiatives, working alongside 10,000 households to increase earnings and enhance well-being.

“Our policy agenda is a collaborative effort that prioritizes the creation of more stable households and vibrant communities, and we look forward to building on the bipartisan successes of last session.” said Sam Snideman, United Way’s vice president of government relations. “Even with the short session this year, our bold early care and learning proposals will help Indiana meet its economic and workforce development goals.”

United Way of Central Indiana invites all Hoosiers to make their voices heard this legislative session by becoming an advocate at uwci.org/advocate.