Officials from Indiana Medicaid and a hospital trade group are trying to craft a deal that would create a tax on hospitals that would help attract more federal funds for hospitals—thereby offsetting looming cuts in state payments.
Budget cuts became more painful in the past several years as the national recession drew the fiscal noose tighter on Indiana government income.
Indiana lawmakers plan to set aside more money in the next two-year budget to help deal with unfunded pension liabilities, but experts warn the amount needed to pay retirees will only grow in the next 15 years.
The Indiana House has approved a Republican-backed state budget plan that would keep overall education funding at current levels while making major shifts in the way money is divvied up among individual school districts.
More than 330 proposed amendments to the state budget bill were listed online as of Monday night, and Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma said more are pending.
House Speaker Brian Bosma directed Republican committee chairmen to hold meetings starting this week to discuss Senate bills, even though no official action or votes can be taken until Democrats return and provide the quorum required by the state constitution.
An Indiana Senate committee is set to start public hearings on a new state budget, reviving a process that has been stalled by the month-long boycott by House Democrats that shows no signs of ending.
More talks between the Republican and Democratic leaders of the Indiana House might be inching the two sides closer to resolving the now three-week-long boycott by Democratic legislators.
An Indiana House Democrat threatened Monday to continue the caucus's ongoing boycott "as long as it takes" to get changes made to Republican-backed proposals, even if their absence shuts down state government.
Most House Democrats skipped Thursday morning's floor session, extending their stay at an Urbana, Ill., hotel to an 11th day and preventing action on labor and education bills they oppose.
House Democrats say they won't return to the Statehouse unless Republicans give into their demands to change labor-related legislation.
State budget officials are seeking to recoup much of nearly $610 million overpaid to local governments in fiscal years 2009, 2010 and 2011 due to income tax revenue estimates thrown off by the lingering recession.
Indiana bankers are relieved House Republicans decided to spare a bank insurance fund from being raided to plug holes elsewhere in the state’s finances, but they’re not done lobbying against the idea.
Indiana lawmakers have a busy week ahead of them as they try to advance major bills before legislative deadlines arrive this week.
A Republican-controlled Indiana House committee has approved a GOP budget proposal that would keep overall education funding at current levels while making major shifts in the way money is divvied up among individual school districts.
Indiana’s current fiscal position points a way forward, illuminating what the next decade of good government, and good partnership between municipalities and businesses, should look like—not only at a regional level, but for the nation as a whole as well.
Individual school districts could see major shifts in funding but overall education funding would remain at current levels under a state budget plan presented Thursday by Republicans who control the Indiana House.
A proposed cut of more than 20 percent in the state's corporate income tax rate would improve Indiana's business climate without hurting the state budget, the leader of the Indiana Senate's tax committee said Wednesday.
Legislators aren't holding up a plan to fix Indiana's debt-ridden unemployment insurance fund as they wait to see whether the federal government will put off charging the states interest on what they owe.
The House Ways and Means Committee began taking public testimony Monday about the two-year state budget plan after four weeks of hearings with state agencies and universities.
