Indiana lawmakers adjourned for the year late Wednesday after passing a two-year, $31.3 billion budget that boosts funding for schools and leaves the state with slightly less money in reserves.
Indiana residents will be barred from purchasing, selling or using a powdered form of alcohol under a bill Gov. Mike Pence has signed into law.
Lawmakers have approved a deal to allow Indiana's riverboat casinos to build on-land facilities, but live dealers won't be working table games anytime soon at the state's two horse track casinos.
A bill passed Wednesday gives the State Board of Education more authority to oversee Indiana’s ISTEP program and a new grant program that gives more money to charter schools, while keeping Superintendent Glenda Ritz as chair until the next election.
A bill that would have funneled state money into a new or substantially renovated soccer stadium for the Indy Eleven has died in the legislative session's final hours.
House members have approved a proposal that would allow government agencies to charge a searching fee for record requests that take over two hours. After that time, they could charge up to $20 an hour.
Indiana lawmakers were still working late Tuesday to make deals on key bills about gambling, education and local criminal justice programs with just one day left in the 2015 legislative session.
The Pence administration would be banned from constructing a new, $25 million state archives building along the Central Canal in downtown Indianapolis under the budget bill lawmakers plan to approve Wednesday.
Most charter schools would get additional money, teachers would get a $100 tax credit and the governor’s regional cities initiative would be funded under a budget compromise the Indiana House and Senate reached Tuesday.
In a letter to team owners, Commissioner Roger Goodell said the league office and its management council will file returns as taxable entities for the 2015 fiscal year. Goodell said the NFL has been tax-exempt since 1942, though all 32 teams pay taxes on their income.
Indiana legislators gave final approval Monday to a state ethics law overhaul that requires greater financial disclosure by lawmakers and expressly prohibits elected officials from using state resources for political purposes.
Senate Republicans unveiled a proposal Monday to allow the Indiana State Board of Education to choose its own leader, but not until Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz, a Democrat, completes her first term in office.
Pence will travel with a delegation of Hoosier business leaders to Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou, the capital city of Zhejiang Province, Indiana’s Chinese sister-state. The delegation plans to leave May 9 and return May 16.
Matt Lloyd served as communications director on Mike Pence’s congressional staff for 10 years and as a senior advisor to his gubernatorial campaign.
Some senators had pushed a bill calling for replacement of the exam with an "off-the-shelf" test in hopes of saving millions of dollars. But House members favored keeping ISTEP in place while undertaking a special review of a possible overhaul.
Indiana legislative leaders are considering steps to broaden the Republican-backed proposal aimed at allowing the state Board of Education to replace the state superintendent of public instruction—currently Democrat Glenda Ritz—as its leader.
The issue has been at the heart of the mayoral campaign in Carmel this year, with incumbent Jim Brainard and challenger and Carmel City Council President Rick Sharp consistently citing different numbers and sources.
Indiana lawmakers were grappling Wednesday over where to make cuts in the new state budget with little more than a week remaining in the legislative session while also debating what steps should be taken to help struggling casinos.
Karl Browning resigned his post Wednesday as commissioner of the Indiana Department of Transportation. Gov. Mike Pence immediately named Deputy Commissioner Brandye Hendrickson to succeed him.
Indiana residents will have an easier time having wine shipped to their homes under a bill approved by state lawmakers.
