By Niki Kelly | Editor-in-Chief
“No eligible voter should have to discover by chance that their voter registration is no longer active … It's scary for them not to be able to exercise their fundamental right to vote." — Johnson County resident Charrie Stambaugh
Indiana’s new laws to ferret out noncitizen voting recently revoked the registration of a longtime voter and citizen. And she’s not happy about it.
Indiana higher education officials are limiting a state workforce grant to “independent” Hoosiers due to unexpected demand. That leaves out younger college students.
Did you receive a letter saying you owe the state for unemployment payments you never received? We explain why.
Plus, commentary and more.
Voters head into a polling site at Grand Park in Westfield, Indiana, on Tuesday, May 5, 2026. (Photo by Tom Davies/Indiana Capital Chronicle)
Longtime citizen flagged, voter registration revoked in proof-of-citizenship ordeal
By Leslie Bonilla Muñiz
Charrie Stambaugh has been a U.S. citizen for nearly three decades and has cast a ballot in every election since she became eligible to vote.
But this spring, after seeing a Facebook post encouraging people to check their voter registration status, she found her registration had been canceled.
Stambaugh signed up again — and got a letter from the Johnson County Clerk's Office requiring her to provide proof of citizenship to retain her right to vote.
A grant allowing resident Hoosiers to earn in-demand industry credentials at no cost is so popular the Indiana Commission for Higher Education is now restricting applications to preserve funding. (Getty Images)
State restricts popular credential scholarship applications
By Mackenzi Klemann
The Indiana Commission for Higher Education is restricting new applications for a popular workforce grant, as demand outpaces available funding.
Indiana's Workforce Ready Grant allows Hoosiers to earn high-growth industry credentials for free, but will be limited to returning students and independent students for the coming school year.
COMMENTARY
Gov. Mike Braun is trying to reduce regulations to increase childcare slots. (Getty Images)
Indiana’s childcare crisis won’t be solved by lowering standards
By Kristin Stauss
Recently, there was a news story about an unlicensed childcare program in Goshen, Indiana found to be illegally operating with over 85 children and only three adults. As I read comments on the news story, I was more than a little surprised. There were families defending the program, comparing the teacher-to-child ratio to that of a school classroom, and suggestions that some families believed the program was licensed.
This was a reminder of how desperate families can be to find care and how difficult it can be to evaluate the programs available to them. Situations like the one in Goshen are proof that Indiana’s childcare crisis is real.
NATIONAL NEWS
Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, speaks at the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, D.C., in December. CMS last month released guidance on how states should implement new Medicaid work requirements. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
States gird for new Medicaid ‘medically frail’ rule
By Shalina Chatlani
State Medicaid agencies are concerned that many sick and disabled enrollees will lose their coverage because the Trump administration is narrowing the definition of who is “medically frail” enough to get an exemption from new work requirements.
Under the tax and spending law President Donald Trump signed a year ago, states that have expanded Medicaid to cover more adults under the Affordable Care Act — 40 states plus the District of Columbia — must mandate that those adults work, go to school or volunteer for at least 80 hours a month.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
(Tenor)
Thanks for reading Fast Break. Did you know our weekend digest is also free? Sign up here. And if you enjoyed today’s edition, please forward to a friend. Increasing our readership helps us cover more news.