New license plate to benefit recycling programs
Proceeds from its sale will support the Indiana Recycling Coalition’s statewide recycling programs and efforts to educate Hoosiers about environmental sustainability.
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Proposal for cold medicine prescriptions being scaled back
The new version of the Indiana bill would classify pseudoephedrine in a way that most consumers would be able to buy it, but pharmacists could require a prescription from suspicious customers.
Gregg vows pragmatism over ideology during speech
Democratic candidate for governor John Gregg took aim at Gov. Mike Pence in a speech Thursday after months of keeping a low profile.
Indiana House Republicans consider tolls on existing highways
There’s no question that tolling one of Indiana’s interstates could generate serious cash to help maintain the state’s roads. But are taxpayers willing to pay a few bucks to travel highways that now are free?
Key lawmaker wants state to buy GM site for green space
Senate Appropriations Chairman Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, wants the state to buy the 102-acre General Motors stamping plant site on the western edge of downtown and turn it into an expansion of White River State Park.
Senate passes bill to open adoption records
Adoptees born between 1941 and 1994 would be able to access their birth records under a bill passed Thursday by the Indiana Senate.
INSIDE THE STATEHOUSE: Broad support not enough to save work-share bill
Big business and labor both support legislation that would let companies cut workers’ hours during downturns but let the employees collect partial unemployment. But Gov. Mike Pence’s administration says it would be expensive to implement and so the bill will die.
Senate passes bill regulating fenced-in deer hunting
Hunting preserves have operated unregulated in Indiana since February, after a court ruling that said the Department of Natural Resources overreached when it tried to close one in Harrison County.
UPDATE: Pence signs bills sparing teachers, schools from ISTEP penalties
The measures were given final approval by the full House and Senate on Thursday, checking off a major priority for Gov. Mike Pence and fellow Republicans in the Legislature.
Surgery sidelines lawmaker during General Assembly
Rep. Bob Cherry, R-Greenfield, who is vice chairman of the budget-writing House Ways and Means Committee, said he recently had surgery following a health emergency.
Bill allowing staffers to carry guns in Statehouse advances
Current state regulations ban deadly weapons from the Statehouse and the nearby state office buildings, while allowing exceptions for police officers, members of the General Assembly and judges.
Poll finds RFRA impacts linger; Visit Indy acts to blunt damage
The survey found that only 45 percent of the 339 meeting decision makers polled agree with the city’s post-RFRA battle cry “Indy Welcomes All.” And a mere 28 percent surveyed agree with the statement “Indiana Welcomes All.”
UPDATE: Debate renewed over Sunday alcohol sales
Big-box grocery chains and liquor store lobbyists bickered in front of lawmakers Wednesday over the latest attempt to lift Indiana's longtime ban on Sunday carryout alcohol sales.
UPDATE: House panel OKs road bill with tax increase
A measure that would finance improvements to Indiana's transportation infrastructure by raising cigarette and gasoline taxes was approved by a House transportation committee Wednesday.
Senate approves $430 million for local road funding
The bill would provide one-time funding from reserve funds that are set aside when the state distributes shares of income taxes to local governments.
Ritz objects to ISTEP re-score measure proposed by GOP
Whether the 2015 ISTEP should be re-scored due to well-documented problems with the roll-out and administration of the exam is once again pitting GOP leaders in the Legislature against Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz.
Merritt loses job as railroad exec, a role critics called conflict
As chairman of Senate Utilities Committee, Sen. James Merritt supported numerous bills favored by big utilities, the railroad’s biggest customer. Now he’s out of a job.
UPDATE: Pharmacist consultation bill clears senate committee
Indiana pharmacists could get the legal right to refuse to sell a common cold medicine used to make methamphetamine to suspicious customers under a bill a Senate committee approved Tuesday.
Chamber’s Brinegar voices concern over Pence’s LGBT stance
Indiana Chamber of Commerce CEO Kevin Brinegar said business leaders hoped the first-term Republican would use his State of the State address “to close the book on the … issue.”
Lawmakers won’t seek ban on over-counter pseudoephedrine
Indiana legislators are poised to start debates on how to combat growing methamphetamine production in Indiana, but adding a prescription requirement for one of the illegal drug's key ingredients is off the table.