Rokita weighs in on federal education moves, Indiana immigration bill

Attorney General Todd Rokita met with reporters Friday to applaud President Donald Trump’s move to close the U.S. Department of Education.

While in Congress, Rokita chaired a K-12 education committee and carried a bill to eliminate the agency.

“We never had the votes. I don’t know that we have the votes now in Congress, but this executive order is certainly a step in the right direction,” Rokita said. “It can’t eliminate the department, technically, right? There’s still that enabling legislation that will have to go through Congress, but it’s clear that this executive order defunds a huge majority of that department.”

Trump signed an executive order last week to close the education department.

The Indiana attorney general told Hoosiers that the important funding streams that help Indiana’s low-income and special needs students will still exist and be handled by other agencies. But he said the federal strings that come with that funding will be gone.

“We’re going to be fine. Parents are going to be fine. Students are going to be fine in the state of Indiana,” Rokita said.

The attorney general also pitched an immigration bill he is pushing in the Indiana General Assembly. House Bill 1531 would require local compliance with federal detainer requests and crack down on businesses using unauthorized labor.

“It allows me to investigate whether a company is knowingly hiring illegal aliens, and if they are, they can lose their business license,” Rokita said.

The measure passed the House 64-26 but has not yet received a hearing in the Senate. It has been assigned to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is chaired by Sen. Liz Brown, R-Fort Wayne.

“I’m hopeful for it,” he said. “I’m not sure why it would have a problem in the Senate, I’m told the Senate judiciary chairman doesn’t like it. We had a conversation this week. It wasn’t clear why she doesn’t like it. It’s a popular measure. It’s a Hoosier, common sense measure.”