Bill adds oversight to redevelopment commissions
The Indiana House approved a Senate bill that adds transparency to redevelopment commissions and forces decades-old tax-increment financing districts to expire.
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House sends industrial hemp bill back to Senate
The Indiana House approved a bill Monday that would allow farmers to grow hemp – a non-intoxicating cousin of marijuana – if the federal government lifts restrictions on the crop.
Campaign money offer exposed in Indiana gay marriage fight
A former state Republican Party chairman’s pledge to provide campaign cash to protect House members who were considering voting against a constitutional gay marriage ban offers a rare look at the private power game that plays out at the Statehouse.
Indiana one of many states aiming to limit tanning
Lawmakers' efforts to crack down on the use of Indiana tanning beds this year are part of a national push to limit young people's exposure to risks that include skin cancer.
State lawmakers advance roads, education measures
Indiana lawmakers advanced a wide range of measures Thursday as they headed into the final two weeks of their 2014 session, setting up last-minute negotiations on everything from road funding to education.
Analysis casts doubt on revenue projection for soccer stadium
The Indy Eleven soccer team would generate just $2 million to $4 million a year in ticket sales, a fraction of the $51 million that owner Ersal Ozdemir has estimated a new downtown stadium would generate including non-soccer events, according to an independent analysis.
Indiana Senate panel approves welfare drug tests
The current version of the measure is far less sweeping than what supporters originally sought. The measure approved Thursday would only apply to welfare recipients who had previously been convicted of a drug crime.
Pence continues pitch for preschool voucher plan
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence spent Wednesday morning highlighting the work of an Indianapolis preschool as he made a final pitch for an early education voucher plan that has foundered in the Legislature.
Indiana House OKs bill to end efficiency program
The bill's author, Sen. Jim Merritt, R-Indianapolis, said he's going to take the next few days to review the House's changes before determining whether to ask the Senate to approve it or send the bill to a conference committee to restore its original wording.
Modified hemp legalization bill moves to full House
The legalization of the production of industrial hemp is a step closer to reality in Indiana after the House Agricultural Committee passed an amended bill Tuesday.
Pence makes last-ditch push to salvage preschool proposal
Pence is heading to the Shepherd Community Center to highlight his request that the state provide vouchers for children from low-income families to attend preschool.
House easily OKs softened farm-trespassing bill
The measure was revised multiple times in the Senate after the Hoosier State Press Association and animal rights groups blasted it as an attempt to restrict whistleblowers at factory farms. Earlier versions would have banned videotaping or photography without permission.
Bill allowing state fair alcohol sales heads to governor
The bill, authored by Sen. James Merritt, R-Indianapolis, seeks to end a nearly 70-year old ban on beer and alcohol sales at the state fair.
Transit bill advances at Statehouse after losing amendments
The Indiana House Ways and Means Committee voted Tuesday morning to move a mass-transit bill to the full House, where it’s sure to see further debate.
Indiana lawmakers draw close on business tax deal
A pair of legislative panels approved changes Tuesday for competing House and Senate tax measures that would cut taxes on business equipment and corporate earnings.
Senate GOP leaders punish Delph, strip him of leadership posts
The moves against the conservative senator follow an intraparty fight over amending the state's constitution to ban gay marriage.
House panel trims nursing home moratorium to one year
The construction ban is at the center of an ongoing debate between the state's existing nursing homes and developers leading a wave of construction, including Zeke Turner of Mainstreet Property Group.
Panel gives Pence half of his $400M road-funding request
The reduction, led by Senate Appropriations Chairman Luke Kenley, was a partial blow to one of the governor's key legislative goals.
FEIGENBAUM: Lawmakers press ahead on education issues
The business community has turned a keen collective eye to a passel of bills that seek to improve education, including measures that would authorize Indianapolis Public Schools to enter into an agreement with a school-management team to establish innovative network schools, allow charter school support to be distributed at the organizer level; and create a career and technical education diploma.
Doubt over how to run effective preschools derailed bill
Sen. Luke Kenley scuttled a pilot program of state-funded preschool vouchers for low-income families on Feb. 19, instead sending it to a summer committee to investigate 10 questions he said will help make sure Indiana launches a worthwhile program.