Hoosiers would earn more for jury duty under proposal
Hoosiers haven’t seen a pay increase for jury duty in at least two decades, but that could change—even double—under a bill advancing steadily through the Statehouse.
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Bill aims to keep state from releasing non-resident prisoners in Indianapolis
House Bill 1087, authored by Rep. Justin Moed, D-Indianapolis, would require the Indiana Department of Correction—with some exceptions—to return offenders to the county where they lived when they were convicted.
Indiana lawmakers hear, but don’t vote on, bill decriminalizing marijuana
Rep. Wendy McNamara, R-Evansville, chairs the House courts committee and said the dialogue needed to be heard but didn’t call a vote on the bill—which would have possibly advanced it to the full House Chamber.
Marijuana backers prepping for ‘inevitable’ legalization
Supporters say Indiana is missing out on a valuable opportunity by remaining one of only 13 states without a medical or adult-use cannabis program.
Doctors ask lawmakers to free them from noncompete agreements
The Legislature is considering a bill that put Indiana on a list of more than a dozen other states that expressly prohibit or sharply limit non-compete agreements for physicians and other patient-care professionals.
Tech parks could capture larger share of tax dollars
A bill that would divert some $6 million in state and local tax revenue annually to state-certified technology parks has passed the Senate and is headed to the House, where similar legislation died two years ago.
Bill seeks to prevent federal takeover of Indiana air pollution program
Lawmakers hope to head off EPA action, but Senate Bill 155 could get pushback from colleagues who want more oversight over agencies, not less, and those who want to lower, not raise, taxes and fees.
Some truckers want higher speed limits; key lawmakers reluctant
Two legislators are seeking to eliminate the lower speed limit for heavy trucks on rural interstates and highways, but their proposals appear to be another chapter in more than 30 years of fruitless efforts on behalf of independent truckers.
Rebooted data privacy legislation making its way through Statehouse
A data privacy bill died in the House last year, but a Fort Wayne lawmaker said she did “an entire rewrite” before introducing a new version of the bill this year, and she’s optimistic it will gain more support.
Indiana tax cap proposal would help homeowners but hurt schools, local government
A new study projects homeowners’ bills payable this year could increase as much as 15%. That’s more than double what previous reports estimated for the upcoming bills.
Indiana students may need to learn how to open bank accounts, take out loans in order to graduate
The vote puts Indiana on track to join several other states that have recently adopted financial literacy graduation requirements.
Indiana lawmakers scale back on private school aid expansion
Critics argued the original proposal opened up tuition payments to private schools for even the wealthiest families.
Indiana Senate panel advances bill to prohibit non-compete agreements for physicians
It’s the latest in a series of bills meant to address the high cost of health care in Indiana, as well as the physician shortage and patients’ rights.
Indiana bills backed by national pet store chain draw pushback from animal advocates
A national pet brand chain is a driving force behind two Indiana bills that would block local communities from enforcing outright bans on the retail sale of pets. Such ordinances already exist in cities like Bloomington and Carmel
Black legislators’ top priorities include auto-enrollment in state college tuition program
The push for automatic enrollment of eligible students in the state’s 21st Century Scholars program might be able to navigate the Legislature’s Republican supermajority due to Gov. Eric Holcomb’s backing.
Indiana, other states readying privacy bills as Washington stalls
Lawmakers in at least nine states, including Indiana, have introduced so-called comprehensive privacy bills, which broadly seek to set limits around what consumer data companies can collect and how they use it.
Architects push for restoration of historic preservation tax credit
The effort is meant to create more incentive for developers to rehab vacant, deteriorating institutional structures in communities throughout the state.
Proposal could ax business personal property tax for thousands
The bill would raise the exemption that determines which companies must pay the tax. It would exempt companies that own machinery, equipment and other tangible goods that cost them, in total, less than $250,000. The current threshold is $80,000.
Three bills in Indiana Senate take aim at health-care costs, practices
The proposals aim to lower prescription drug costs, promote competition among physicians and end the practice that allows for inaccurate medical billing in certain circumstances.
Legalizing online casinos lands backing of House committee chair
Rep. Ethan Manning, a Republican from Logansport, said he’ll introduce a bill to allow online casino games, taxing revenue at an 18% rate and sharing some of the proceeds with cities and counties where casinos are located.