If Indianapolis is considered a model on fronts ranging from downtown revitalization to fiscal responsibility, why is it so
late to ban smoking? George Geib, who has been observing Indianapolis as a Butler University historian for 45 years, thinks
the reluctance can be traced to immigration patterns.
An interim legislative committee is likely to recommend that new guidelines be established for Indiana lawmakers to follow
when they redraw legislative and congressional maps in 2011, a state senator said Tuesday.
Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita pitched a plan today that would make it illegal for lawmakers to consider political
data when redrawing congressional and legislative district maps.
Several prominent local Democrats are lining up to challenge Republican Mayor Greg Ballard just two years into his first
term.
Now that another General Assembly is mercifully behind us, itâ??s a good time to raise a festering question
about the lopsided nature of ideas bantered about the Statehouse in recent years.
Gov. Mitch Daniels has driven a wide-ranging agenda characterized by…
Former Indianapolis Mayor Steve Goldsmith, never one to let grass grow under his feet, has started a not-for-profit
with one-time presidential candidate Howard Dean to promote Goldsmithâ??s pet cause of public-private partnerships.
The Council of Project Finance Advisors aims…
Which group should make the spending decisions? Consumers or elected officials?
Ind. Gov. Mitch Daniels will call the Legislature into special session to pass an acceptable budget, but some legislators think a budget that would satisfy the governor cannot be crafted by the contentious partisans in this developing fiasco.
Charitably speaking, not much got done in the legislative session that ended Wednesday. Now Gov. Daniels plans
to call a special session to force passage of a budget, the only bodyâ??s only legal requirement.
Should anything else be put on the…
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels would make a remarkable president. Governor/ presidentâ??it’s the same game, just a different scale.
The Legislature has been behaving as expected lately: little public sound and fury, but action beginning to stir behind the
scenes.
Most of the critical work of this state legislative session will occur after April 20, because only then will the General
Assembly have a revenue projection for the next biennium.
In the past, lawmakers ignored the need to fix financing for the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund, and now they must come
up with solutions that will be difficult for both Democrats and Republicans to accept.
A year into his tenure as mayor of Indianapolis, Greg Ballard over the weekend articulated what may be the
closest thing weâ??ll hear for his vision for the city.
Ballardâ??s State of the City address touted making Indianapolis the…
Positive action, action for the sake of action, and inaction were all on tap in the General Assembly in recent days as lawmakers
prepared to wrap up the first half of the session.
State legislators seem to be looking for excuses to dodge the recommendation in the Kernan-Shepard report
to eliminate township-level government.
This wasnâ??t unexpected. Township officials often are close friends and political allies of legislators, so
the legislators donâ??t want…
The weakening economy is producing worse and worse tax revenue forecasts for Indiana. As a result, Democrats
are calling for Gov. Mitch Daniels, a Republican, to open the stateâ??s $1.3 billion rainy day fund.
Tough times like these are what…
The bill in question seems like a long shot. It would abdicate government’s responsibility for protecting citizens’ health
and safety, and place it in the hands of individual business owners.
A third nominee to join the Obama administration has gone down in flames after revelations about problems
with income taxes.
A Senate panel last night called off confirmation hearings for U.S. Rep. Hilda Solis, who was nominated to
lead the Labor…
All things considered, there shouldnâ??t be a fuss about President Obamaâ??s plan to cap salaries of executives
in companies that receive federal bailouts.
Thatâ??s the take of Dan Dalton, an Indiana University specialist on corporate governance.
Dalton points out that…
