Lawmakers in the bipartisan coalition showed they were willing to set aside political pressures, eager to send billions to their states for rebuilding roads, broadband internet, water pipes and the public works systems that underpin much of American life.
Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett’s administration introduced a $1.35 billion budget proposal to the City-County-Council on Monday evening, with more than half allotted to public safety and criminal justice.
Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett’s plan, funded largely with federal coronavirus relief, gives $33 million to traditional law enforcement efforts, $82 million toward community-led programming and $51.5 million toward “root cause” services like mental health care, hunger relief and workforce development.
The governor has maintained he won’t reinstate a statewide mask mandate or other restrictions, instead leaving such decisions to local officials.
The Indiana Supreme Court has denied Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita’s emergency petition to halt a trial court from continuing proceedings in the governor’s lawsuit against the Legislature.
Violations will now result in four points against a driver’s license, BMV officials said.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he was prepared to keep lawmakers in Washington for as long as it took to complete votes on both the bipartisan infrastructure plan and a budget blueprint.
The money would be split between existing programs that fund highways, transit agencies and airports, and other initiatives designed to tackle goals such as repairing aging bridges and improving the accessibility of buses.
For weeks, the 10 Republicans and Democrats hashing out a roughly $1 trillion package to revitalize the nation’s roads, bridges, pipes, ports and internet connections have insisted that the group was close to finalizing a deal with the White House.
As discussions continued through the weekend, Ohio Sen. Rob Portman said both sides were “about 90% of the way there” on an agreement.
In Indiana and other states, anger at perceived overreach by health officials has prompted legislative attempts to limit their authority, including new state laws that prevent the closure of businesses or allow lawmakers to rescind mask mandates.
State officials argued in their court filings Monday that a Marion County judge “abused” his discretion last month by ordering Indiana to resume participation in the benefit programs.
State officials say no final decisions about a combined campus have been reached, but they are forging ahead for now with the prep work, including the search for as many as 120 acres to house the schools.
Public support for legalizing marijuana is high, with 91% of Americans saying marijuana should be legal in some form, according to a recent Pew Research Center poll.
The tax-increment financing bonds will be used to pave the way for Elanco Animal Health Inc. to build its new headquarters on the former General Motors stamping plant property west of downtown.
The Supreme Court decision affirmed state rights to set its own voting rules and could make it harder to challenge other voting limits put in place by Republican lawmakers following last year’s elections.
Whatever the future may hold, Rep. Jim Banks, 41, is working aggressively to play a prominent role in it. A politician with mountaintop ambition, he is rising in the ranks of the House Republicans—and in the estimation of the mercurial Donald Trump.
The group had been narrowing on a much smaller but still sizable $1 trillion proposal of road, highway and other traditional infrastructure projects.
The ambitious legislation could curb the market power of tech giants Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple and force them to sever their dominant platforms from their other lines of business.
President Joe Biden wants to increase taxes for corporations and those households making more than $400,000 a year. Republicans have ruled that out, putting forward alternatives that Democrats find unacceptable.
