Voters will nominate candidates in more than 30 Indiana House primary races Tuesday, completing matchups for November’s general
election that will determine control of the narrowly divided chamber.
Tasked with boosting Indiana’s economy following the Great Recession, the 2010 General Assembly tinkered at the edges
by passing a handful of incentives meant to spur small-business growth.
The law, which takes effect July 1, lets workers keep guns locked out of sight in their vehicles while parked on their employers’
property.
Hoosier legislators are crowing about the deal they just brokered to delay a $400 million state tax hike meant to shore up
Indiana’s bankrupt Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund. Here’s what they’re not touting: the mandatory federal tax increases
every single business in Indiana now faces the next three years.
Bill would have allowed businesses, universities and other organizations generating their own power to receive a retail credit
on their utility bills.
After a legislative session short on fireworks but absent any major achievements, it’s fair to ask how long “do
no harm” will pass for progress in the Indiana General Assembly.
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels signed 23 bills into law on Wednesday.
K-12 education in Indiana already has faced $300 million in reduced state funding this year as the state has cut spending
in the face of lower tax revenues.
Legislators postponed a $400 million tax hike to shore up Indiana’s bankrupt Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund, but state’s
most
troubled employers still face automatic payroll tax hike this year.
The Indiana General Assembly finally adjourned its 2010 legislative session early Saturday with deals including a one-year
delay on unemployment insurance tax increases and aid for schools reeling from state budget cuts.
Both parties reportedly agreed to tentative deals on the issues that threatened to push the legislative session all the way
to the brink, including a one-year delay for a planned increase in unemployment taxes.
The impasse between the two parties over a delay in an unemployment-tax increase is expected to drag the legislative session
into the weekend. "Nobody is talking right now," says one legislator.
OK, I admit that I’m still wincing about last week’s column about a peaceful, easy feeling in the General Assembly
as it approached the leadership-targeted early-adjournment date.
Sticking points include a bill that would delay an unemployment insurance tax increase and provide tax breaks and incentives to create jobs.
The full Indiana House returned to the Statehouse after a five-day break, but partisan differences remained over an unemployment
insurance tax bill.
The plan approved by the Republican-controlled Senate would transfer the duties of the Tobacco Use Prevention and Cessation
board to the State Department of Health.
Negotiations on some major issues resumed in the Indiana General Assembly on Monday after a meltdown occurred last week.
The Republican-controlled Indiana Senate kept working Friday while House Speaker Patrick Bauer adjourned his Democrat-led
chamber until Wednesday.
Lawmakers hoped to adjourn by midnight, days before a March 14 statutory deadline for finishing business, but are still bogged
down on several issues.
The Indiana General Assembly approved a bill that lets workers keep firearms locked in their cars in trunks or out of sight
while parked on company property.
