Bill advances to loosen Indiana superintendent rules
Local school superintendents would no longer have to hold an Indiana superintendent's or teacher's license under a bill endorsed by an Indiana House committee.
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Indiana lawmakers advance music therapist bill
A bill that would certify Indiana therapists who specialize in using music to treat people with autism, Alzheimer's and other conditions is advancing in the General Assembly.
Education spending debate a matter of priorities
Top Democrats and Republicans in the General Assembly agree that more money is needed to improve Indiana's education system in the next two years, but how that money will be spent is a point of debate.
GOP leaders say gay marriage ban not priority
The Republican leaders of Indiana's General Assembly said Thursday they have not decided whether to take up a constitutional ban on gay marriage, one day after a pair of House lawmakers filed separate proposals to place the ban before voters in 2014.
Senate overhauling $10M school safety proposal
Indiana Senate Republicans are in the middle of overhauling a safety measure aimed at better protecting schools after a shooting last month in Connecticut left 20 first-graders dead.
Bill eases path for utilities to boost rates
An 11-page utility bill in the Indiana Senate that a consumer group likens to “a money grab” would hasten and expand a utility’s ability to recover additional costs from customers.
Lawmakers press Pence aide on school dollars
The Pence budget calls for roughly $6.4 billion in education spending in each of the next two years, with another $64 million for high-performing schools beginning the summer of 2014, at the start of the 2015 budget year.
Bill to make IEDC more transparent moves to full senate
The Indiana Senate Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee unanimously passed legislation Tuesday meant to makes the state’s job-creation efforts more open to the general public.
Pence address set to expand on 1st-year priorities
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence might be shying from specifics ahead of his first State of the State address, but the details of a first-year agenda that will focus on jobs training, expanded spending on private schools and an across-the-board tax cut are largely known at this point.
Indiana lawmakers aim to shore up riverboat casinos
Lawmakers have introduced legislation to help Indiana's riverboat casinos hold onto business in the face of growing competition from casinos in neighboring states.
State lawmakers unlikely to toughen smoking ban
It appears health advocates have little chance of seeing Indiana's smoking ban extended to include bars.
Judge dismisses Indiana right-to-work law challenge
U.S. District Court Judge Philip Simon in Hammond ruled that none of the union's arguments against the law could succeed in federal court, although a challenge could still be made in state courts.
Bill would give green light to live table games at racinos
A wide-ranging gambling bill designed to protect Indiana casinos from border-state competition would allow live table games at two central Indiana racinos.
FEIGENBAUM: Range of non-fiscal issues may take center stage
While taxes and spending (and related work-force and economic development matters) will consume the bulk of legislative attention in coming months, several other major issues will dot—or blot—the agenda, and should bear your attention.
Bill seeks earlier date for online retailers to collect taxes
Hoosiers may be required to pay a 7-percent sales tax on top of their Amazon purchases starting July 1 if a proposed House bill is adopted.
House speaker seeks jobs panel, preschool funding
Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosma plans to spearhead efforts to create a new statewide jobs council and give families scholarships so children can attend preschool as part of an agenda focused on fighting Indiana’s stubborn unemployment rate by closing the state’s “skills gap.”
Indiana House panel backs sentencing-laws overhaul
A sweeping plan to overhaul Indiana's criminal sentencing laws cleared its first hurdle in the Legislature on Wednesday with the support of law-enforcement groups that had scuttled similar efforts the past two years.
Senator’s bill would ease penalty for pot possession
Sen. Karen Tallian’s proposal would reduce the penalty for possession of less than 2 ounces of pot to an infraction punishable by a fine. But the amount has caught the attention of at least one antidrug advocate.
Pence sworn in as Indiana’s 50th governor
Mike Pence, the former six-term Republican congressman from Columbus, used his inaugural address from a Statehouse balcony in front of a crowd of supporters and state officials to call upon all residents to help better the state.
Universities oppose bill allowing guns on campus
Universities across Indiana are cautiously eying a state lawmaker’s proposal that would prohibit them from banning guns on campus.