Black Caucus hosts town hall in South Bend

SOUTH BEND, Ind. --- A group of Indiana senators and representatives spoke to a crowd of South Bend residents about what going on in the capitol.

The Indiana Black Caucus came to UAW Local 5 building on South Main Street 12 p.m. This was a part of a statewide tour the caucus is doing to make sure there’s an open line of communication with them and their voters.

The caucus talked through the current budget and legislation that passed during this last session, such as the plans for the South Shore rail transit, a change in Pre-K education, putting prayer in schools, the future of DNA use for felony charges, and much more.

State Representative Joe Taylor III said he was most excited to hear from the crowd about their topics.

“Job creation, just disparity in the law of what’s going on throughout the state people are paying attention to what’s going on a national level,” Joe Taylor, state representative in House District 7. “And they just want to make sure that we’re doing our job on a state level to make sure none of that comes down here.”

The town was two full hours of conversation between elected officials and their constituents.

“I really appreciate the fact that the state legislators come to the community so that we can learn about what they’re working on, what the issues are and have the opportunity as well to voice our concerns,” said Dr. Barbara Milon, South Bend resident.

One of the concerns of Henry Davis Jr., president of the Indiana Democratic African American Caucus, was African Americans and other minorities not having access to certain opportunities.

“We want to make sure that we are being included in these projects, education conversations, we’re being included in the total picture so that we all get our fair share,” said Henry Davis Jr.

This is the second tour that the Black Caucus has taken and Davis Jr. said he hopes that this trend will encourage more town hall meetings here in South Bend.