House to take up bill to create redistricting commission
The Republican-controlled Indiana House is set to take up legislation that would give a bipartisan commission the duty of drawing district maps.
The Statehouse File
Articles
Senate bill seeks to cut corporate income and property taxes
The proposal from Republican leaders would make small companies exempt from tax on business equipment, and cleave the state’s corporate income tax to the second-lowest in the nation.
Committee passes ban on tanning for young teens
Commercial tanning beds may soon be off limits to Hoosiers younger than 16 under a bill approved Wednesday by the Senate Health and Provider Services Committee.
Microbrews would be available at farmers’ markets under bill
Indiana microbrewers are one step closer to selling their craft beer at local farmers’ markets after a bill passed a Senate committee Wednesday.
House Republicans to push tax cut, preschool
House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, presented an agenda focusing on workforce development – which also included a new focus on college internships, increased funding for roads and highways and the repeal of “burdensome regulations.”
Lawmakers consider state-assisted retirement plan
Senate Bill 66 creates a state-assisted savings plan for retirement. The bill is opposed by the Association of Indiana Life Insurance Companies.
Lawmakers confused by cut in state’s tobacco funds
A hearing about tobacco funding Wednesday in the House Public Health Committee left many legislators still searching for answers.
Lawmakers – or most of them – return to start 2014 session
Snow-covered roads and frigid temperatures nearly kept the state's House and Senate from getting the quorum each chamber needed to launch the 2014 Indiana General Assembly on Tuesday.
Farmers push revised ag-gag bill; critics say problems remain
Senate Bill 101 would create a crime known as “agricultural mischief” and it’s aimed primarily at stopping secret videography and photography of farming operations.
Winter storm puts freeze on state government
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence on Sunday closed state government offices Monday, and the General Assembly postponed the start of its 2014 session until Tuesday due to severe weather.
Crouch sworn in as Indiana’s new auditor
Crouch is the third person to hold the office – which oversees the state’s payroll and financial transactions – in the past six months.
Report: Ditching business property tax shifts burden to others
Gov. Mike Pence’s plan to eliminate the tax on business equipment would mean significantly higher taxes for other property owners if the state took no specific action to protect them, according to a new analysis.
More public schools receive A grades, fewer get F’s
More Indiana schools received top grades under a system the Indiana State Board of Education approved Friday after months of political wrangling. Among the F’s was a charter school that received a controversial A rating last year.
Tourism makes up state’s sixth largest industry, study says
The industry maintains nearly 140,000 jobs and contributes $10 billion in revenue to Indiana businesses, according to a new report.
State’s top court gives Rockport developer a victory
The state's high court ruled unanimously Tuesday that an alteration of the contract the plant's developers signed with the Indiana Finance Authority did not constitute a significant change.
Pence makes another pitch for business tax cut
Talking to entrepreneurs at a center for business start-ups, Pence said the state can’t compete with its neighbors for private investment without eliminating the personal property tax on business equipment.
Pence plans to appoint new state auditor on Monday
The previous auditor, Dwayne Sawyer, announced his resignation last month – effective Sunday – after just three months on the job.
Pence, Sebelius to meet on health care expansion proposals
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence is scheduling a meeting with U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius about the state’s request to use its own health care plan in place of a traditional Medicaid expansion.
State sells plane, cuts higher ed amid shortfall
State agencies will have to cut their budgets an additional 1.5 percent and state universities will see their state aid clipped by 2 percent as the state looks to make up a $141 million drop in tax collections.
Food-aid recipients to see new schedule in 2014
Nearly 1 million food aid recipients in Indiana will have their benefit payments shifted to new days next year in a change sought by the state’s grocers.