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.
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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.
Indiana lawmakers consider looser voucher rules
The proposal sponsored by Republican state Sen. Carlin Yoder of Middlebury would eliminate the requirement that siblings of current voucher students first attend a public school for a year before becoming eligible for the program.
Lawmakers plans to renew bill against same-sex marriage
A proposal to write Indiana's same-sex marriage ban into the state constitution may be on hold as Republican leaders ponder its fate this year, but the House and Senate sponsors are charging ahead anyway.
Indiana bill would require teaching cursive writing
The state Senate's education committee is scheduled to hold a hearing Wednesday on a bill that would require all public school districts and all accredited private elementary schools to teach cursive writing.
Lawmakers eye workforce development in new session
Indiana's General Assembly jumped to a quick start Monday with promises from Republican leaders to focus on workforce development and a request from Democrats to place a moratorium on divisive social issues for the next two years.
State lawmakers return for packed 2013 session
Legislators will be busy drafting the state's biennial budget, pondering the restoration of education spending and looking for ways to pay for road projects.
Legislature to look at expanding voucher program
Indiana lawmakers will look at expanding what is already the nation's largest school voucher program when the General Assembly gets to work Monday despite concerns that the program is hurting public schools in big cities.
Competition blamed for state casino revenue drop
The latest state revenue forecast projects annual casino tax revenue will decline by about $42 million, or 9 percent, for the second year of the new two-year state budget.
Carmel lawmaker wants transparency from IEDC
Sen. Mike Delph said he believes the economic development organization is intentionally misleading the public about the number of jobs that companies receiving incentives create.
IEDC seeks $30M fund to stoke life sciences firms
The Indiana Economic Development Corp. is looking to renew its commitment to life sciences by creating a $30 million venture fund. The amount dedicated to one sector would be equal to the state’s allocation for all high-tech startups over the past two years.
Kenley pitching license plate tax to fund highway projects
A license plate tax of $20 to $50 per car will be one of a raft of proposals considered by the Legislature next year as a way to fix a hole in funding for road maintenance, and to keep expanding Indiana’s system of highways.
FEIGENBAUM: Unusual circumstances could stir Indiana General Assembly
When lawmakers reconvene Jan. 7 for the 2013 legislative session, they will do so under a unique structure: a new Republican governor and Republican super-majorities in both chambers of the General Assembly.
Indiana Republicans already clashing over budget
What the 2013 legislative session lacks in spectacle, it’s sure to make up for in surprises.