More Government News Heading

Home
More Government News Heading

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita is co-leading 17 states in asking a federal appeals court to rule in favor of the religious liberty of a former Brownsburg High School teacher forced to resign because he declined to use the preferred names and pronouns of transgender students — an action that violated the teacher’s sincerely held beliefs.

John Kluge, who taught orchestra, was originally permitted to call all his students by their last names so transgender students would not feel singled out. The school district, however, withdrew its initial approval and insisted Kluge use students’ preferred names and pronouns.

Leveraging the voices of likeminded attorneys general from other states to empower parents, Attorney General Rokita is asking the 7^th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to overturn a lower court’s ruling that the school district could not accommodate Kluge’s religious beliefs without experiencing “undue hardship.”

“By addressing all students by their last names, this teacher conscientiously worked to treat everyone equally and respectfully while also staying faithful to his own religious convictions,” Attorney General Rokita said. “But no concession short of full surrender will placate the powerful forces devoted to making sure we all march in lockstep with the transanity agenda.”

In rejecting Kluge’s attempts at a compromise, school leaders cited litigation risks under Title IX and concern for the educational environment. Such concerns, however, should not override the First Amendment’s protection of religious liberty in this case.

“Title IX does not mandate the use of a student’s preferred name or pronoun,” Attorney General Rokita said. “Nor does requiring use of preferred names and pronouns help schools fulfill their academic mission. To the contrary, kicking this teacher to the curb sends students the wrong messages about America’s heritage of respecting religion. And, at a time when teachers are in short supply, this kind of intolerance of faith among faculty members is sure to push additional good teachers out of the classroom.”

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita is warning Hoosiers to watch out for scammers soliciting donations for fake charitable causes. Good samaritans started a legitimate fundraising effort to support families of those killed and wounded during the July 13 attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, but scammers have used this tragedy to start their own copycat efforts to lure donors to give money to imposter accounts.

“These fraudsters appeal to people’s natural sense of compassion and patriotism in order to steal their hard-earned money,” Attorney General Rokita said. “Although most of us are appalled by such vile conduct, this is exactly the way scammers think and operate. They try to take advantage of difficult circumstances for their own personal gain. We want to help good-hearted Hoosiers avoid falling for these schemes.”

Attorney General Todd Rokita encourages Hoosiers to exercise caution not only in regard to this specific scam but anytime they receive solicitations related to high-profile news events that scammers may attempt to exploit.

In regard to solicitations involving political figures and causes, caution is especially warranted during an election year when many Hoosiers will receive more emails, phone calls and other communications from political organizations.

Attorney General Rokita offers the following tips: 

Slow down. A real charity will accept your donations any day of the week. Take as much time as you need to research and feel confident about the organization before handing over your hard-earned money.
Know that it’s OK to ask questions. If the request for a donation is over the phone, the caller should be able to answer critical questions. 
Know who’s making the request. Don’t assume a request to donate is legitimate because a friend posted it on social media. Your friend might not personally know about the charity or how it spends money. 
Make sure you are dealing with the real charitable organization. Be leery of year-end appeals from unknown or unfamiliar organizations you receive by phone, mail, email and/or social media. 
Always donate by credit card rather than cash or other methods. This will ensure you can access the protections available through your credit card company. 
Research the cause or the organization. Search online for the name of the organization or cause with words like “review,” “scam,” or “complaint.” See if others have had good or bad experiences with the charity. Check out what charity watchdog groups say about that organization.
Look up a charity’s report and ratings on these websites: 
CharityNavigator.org 
CharityWatch.org 
Give.org 
Guidestar.org

If you ever suspect a scam of any type, file a complaint at indianaconsumer.com or call Attorney General Rokita’s office at 1-800-382-5516.

IDHS seeks volunteers to participate in the PFAS Testing Pilot Program. In 2023, the Indiana General Assembly instructed the Indiana Department of Homeland Security (IDHS) to establish a pilot program to determine if firefighters in Indiana have per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances PFAS) in their blood.

PFAS substances got the name “forever chemicals” because they do not break down easily and they stay in the body and environment for long periods of time. Most Americans have these suspected carcinogens in
their body, but researchers have shown that firefighters likely have higher levels of PFAS due
to exposure from protective gear, products of combustion and some firefighter foams.

PFAS Testing Pilot Program
IDHS is launching a voluntary program where firefighters in Indiana can apply to have their blood tested for PFAS free of charge. The results will be shared with the individual firefighter. The de-identified data collected from the pilot program will be analyzed by IDHS and other state agencies to determine how to better
protect Indiana’s firefighters from PFAS exposure.

How To Participate
Indiana firefighters interested in participating in the pilot program should submit their name, email address and PSID via the interest form. A follow-up application will be emailed from the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. email address to those who fill out the interest form. The follow-up application must be completed in full to move forward in the process. A limited number of participants will be selected. Completing the application does not guarantee you will be selected for the program.

If selected for the program, participants will be mailed an at-home testing kit, which needs to be returned within 14 days. Participants are not guaranteed results if the test is not returned within 14 days.

After returning the test, participants will receive the results of their test and IDHS will receive de-identified results to use in a report for legislative purposes. Participants’ personal information will be protected. No identifiable information will be shared with IDHS or in the public report.

The deadline to apply is Aug. 9.

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita and Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird are co-leading a 22-state letter calling on Congress to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (“SAVE”) Act.

This bill would strengthen our electoral process by upholding the rule of law and prohibit individuals who are ineligible to vote like illegal aliens from doing so. Even as Rokitaand Bird demand action on the national level, the American public should find it absurd that such a letter to Congress is needed in order tobolster the very foundation of our country’s system of government – free and fair elections.

“This commonsense piece of legislation is needed to ensure what should be two simple concepts - that our elections are secure and our elections are protected from illegal voters,” Attorney General Rokita said. “With millions of illegal aliens entering the country on President Joe Biden’s watch, it’s imperative that we take these steps to ensure our elections are safe and secure.”

Under the SAVE Act, individuals must provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote. It also will help states identify and remove illegal aliens from their voter registration rolls. With broad support among all Americans and the U.S. House of Representatives passing the bill last week, Attorney General Rokita is demanding the U.S. Senate to take action.

“As Indiana’s former secretary of state, I know that increasing public faith by securing the electoral process is a hallmark of ourdemocracy – a system that is unfortunately and ironically being blocked by members of a political party named for this exact system of representative government,” Attorney General Rokita said.

In the wake of a massive and under-reported cyberattack, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita is warning Hoosiers about the steps they can take to prevent the potential theft of their personal health care information.

For months, the nation’s largest electronic data clearinghouse, ChangeHealthcare/UnitedHealth, failed to inform the likely 110 million affected Americans about the potential theft of their health insurance records, banking information, Social Security numbers, and medical records that are typically kept confidential between doctors and patients. Rokita’s Data Privacy and ID Theft team is urging Indiana residents to be on the lookout for strange changes to their health plan statements and billing information, and to take advantage of Change Healthcare offering free credit monitoring and ID theft protection services. To enroll in credit monitoring through IDX, call 1-888-846-4705.

“The protection of your private medical records and personal health care information is of utmost importance to our office, and you have the right to request a credit freeze and numerous other preventative ID theft services – free of charge – from this irresponsible health care handler,” Attorney General Rokita said.

Change Healthcare processes 15 billion health care transactions each year, and the company reported one-in-three Americans may be affected by this latest BlackCat ransomware attack. The attack itself enabled the shady hacker group to obtain millions and millions of private medical records stored by Change Healthcare.

“Our office will continue to pressure companies like Change Healthcare to hold Hoosiers’ data privacy at the highest standards -- and know that we will hold all health care operators accountable for any and all breaches.”

Timeline of Attacks & Change Healthcare’s Failure to Notify Patients

The company has stated that affected individuals may begin receiving notification letters in the mail in late July, but Change Healthcare first became aware of the so-called Blackcat ransomware cyberattacks all the way back on February 21, 2024.

The ransomware attackers themselves have publicly claimed that patient data was being stolen well before the February 21 date – but millions of patients have not been individually notified in any way that their information has likely been stolen by the hacker group.

Companies like UnitedHealth are legally required to report all data breaches involving protected health information (PHI) to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. But Rokita’s office reiterates that the depth and scope of the breaches are still unknown – so even if you don’t think you’re affected – it can’t hurt to take pro-active steps to protect yourself.

Consumers should be aware of potential warning signs that someone is using their medical information. The signs include:

A bill from their doctor for services they did not receive;
Errors in their Explanation of Benefits statement like services they never received or prescription medications they do not take;
A call from a debt collector about a medical debt they do not owe;
Medical debt collection notices on their credit report that they do not recognize;
A notice from their health insurance company indicating they have reached their benefit limit; or
They are denied insurance coverage because their medical records show a pre-existing condition they do not have.

If consumers are concerned that their data may have been impacted but prefer not to use the free resources provided by Change Healthcare, they can also consider freezing their credit.

Individuals will have to freeze their credit with each bureau: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.