High-profile bills on mass-transit, road funding and business taxes passed the Indiana General Assembly on Thursday, but so did several other pieces of legislation. Here’s a rundown.
A bill to legalize the cultivation of industrial hemp in Indiana is headed to Gov. Mike Pence after it passed the House on Wednesday night and the Senate on Thursday.
The House passed the compromise bill 95-4, even as a number of lawmakers – including Democrats – complained that the legislation doesn’t include any money for local roads.
The General Assembly has approved a pilot program to send low-income children in five counties to preschool.
The corporate income tax and state banking tax would be reduced to 4.9 percent and local governments would be left to decide whether to cut the business equipment tax.
General aviation pilots abhor the Federal Aviation Authority’s third-class medical certificate, which requires them to get a physical from an FAA-approved doctor every two years, but the industry has yet to take down that bureaucratic hurdle.
The measure will make about 26,000 Indiana veterans who served in the Armed Forces or National Guard after Sept. 11, 2001, eligible for grant payments through the state's Military Family Relief Fund starting July 1.
Mayor Greg Ballard will recommend that a proposed criminal justice complex be located on the former GM stamping plant on the western side of downtown—not the airport property that ranked highest in a market study.
Numerous bills advanced Wednesday at the Indiana Statehouse, including several that were sent to the governor for approval. Here's a rundown:
Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard said the bill “has been a long time coming” and will provide “sentencing reform that really has been sorely needed.”
A contentious measure to screen and drug-test some welfare recipients and to limit food-stamp use to only "nutritional" foods has resurfaced in the Indiana General Assembly with little time left to vote on the bill.
Indiana would spend heavily on new road construction and launch a preschool pilot program under a pair of last-minute deals reached between Statehouse Republican leaders.
Bypassing Congress, President Barack Obama intends to order changes in overtime rules so employers would be required to pay millions more workers for the extra time they put in on the job.
The compromise language does not include a provision to establish a light-rail system or an increase in corporate taxes. However, the legislation would still allow for an increase in individual income taxes pending voter approval.
Last year, the city shifted 100 officers to patrol duty to help combat crime. Despite that, Indianapolis suffered 125 homicides in 2013, its highest tally in seven years.
The Indiana Senate voted 35-13 Wednesday to end the state's use of federal Common Core standards and instead adopt a series of state-written guidelines.
Legislation that sets a goal for Indiana to eventually recycle at least half of its municipal waste is headed to Gov. Mike Pence's desk after passing the General Assembly.
The judge with authority over Marion County court facilities isn’t convinced that a 35-acre site by Indianapolis International Airport is the best pick for the proposed criminal justice complex.
House Public Health Chairman Ed Clere said Tuesday that negotiators had found a compromise that would ban new construction for two years except in counties whose nursing homes are at 90-percent capacity or higher.
Indiana Speaker of the House Brian Bosma said the governor and legislative leaders have reached broad agreement on some of the biggest legislative items being considered this session.
