Indiana University reviewing vaccine mandate amid criticism
Nearly all Republican members of the Indiana Senate on Thursday joined the criticism of IU’s policy in a letter to university President Michael McRobbie.
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Governor wants Indiana state employees in offices in July
Staffers for many state agencies have been working remotely, but Gov. Eric Holcomb said in a Wednesday email to employees that “it is not the optimal way for us to serve Hoosiers.”
AG says IU’s COVID-19 vaccine order violates new state law
Attorney General Todd Rokita’s advisory opinion contradicts a top Republican legislative leader who said he didn’t believe the law adopted last month applied to public universities or K-12 schools.
GOP legislators protest Indiana University’s vaccine order
A letter dated Tuesday to Gov. Eric Holcomb calls on him to prohibit any state university from mandating vaccines that don’t have full U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval.
Indiana attorney general argues governor exceeding authority
Indiana’s attorney general argues in new legal filings that the governor is wrongly trying to use the courts to expand his powers with a lawsuit challenging the authority state legislators have given themselves to intervene during public emergencies.
Indiana governor traveling to Israel during ‘hour of need’
Gov. Eric Holcomb cited business and cultural ties between Indiana and Israel for making the trip.
Indiana lottery sees big jump in ticket sales amid pandemic
Officials told the State Lottery Commission this past week that they projected that scratch-off ticket sales would be up almost 27% for the fiscal year ending June 30 compared with a year ago.
Holcomb claims Rokita seeking to expand power of attorney general’s office
As part of his battle with the Legislature over executive powers, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb is accusing Attorney General Todd Rokita of creating a legal fiction in order to expand the attorney general’s “authority beyond his statutory duties and powers.”
Indiana has plan to boost pre-K enrollment without increased state funding
On My Way Pre-K has also been slow to grow in the six years since its start, and enrollment plummeted during the pandemic by 40%. But the state is expecting increased demand.
Taxpayer files second legal challenge to new emergency-powers law
The suit challenges a new law that gives the Legislature the power to call itself into a special session whenever the governor declares a state of emergency that “the legislative council determines has a statewide impact.”
Indiana sees big cost jump with new prison medical contract
The four-year contract with Centurion Health will pay an average of about $160 million a year to the company that submitted the most expensive of four vendor proposals.
State reports 16 new deaths from COVID-19
The state said Friday that more than 2.22 million Hoosiers had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. More than 2.47 million had received the first dose of a two-dose vaccination.
UPDATE: Indiana gears up to give Pfizer vaccine to residents ages 12-15
After final CDC approval on Wednesday for giving the Pfizer vaccine to young teens, Indiana planned to open registration with appointments available as early as 8 a.m. Thursday.
After repealing consequences for failing schools, Indiana to revisit A-F grades
Prompted by an end to state takeovers and other consequences for low performance, Indiana schools likely will also see a change in how the state measures their success.
Holcomb signs order restoring work-search rule for jobless benefits
Indiana is joining several other states creating more requirements for people to stay on unemployment, with many businesses blaming the ease of obtaining the weekly jobless benefits with making it more difficult to fill job openings.
White House to work with states on reimposing work-search requirements
States waived their work requirements for unemployment benefits at the start of the pandemic, but about 30 of them have reimposed or are planning to reimpose them. Gov. Eric Holcomb announced Friday that Indiana would do the same.
Treasury to start paying out $350B in state, local aid
The funding could provide a jolt of growth after the unemployment rate ticked up slightly to 6.1% in April, a sign of how difficult it can be to restart an economy despite an unprecedented degree of federal assistance.
Union leaders decry Indiana’s high rate of worker deaths
Critics are calling for improved workplace safety enforcement with the state’s rate of deaths while working about one-third higher than the national average.
Critics say Indiana COVID-19 law allows nursing home neglect
Advocates for nursing home residents say they worry a new Indiana law expanding COVID-19 liability protections for health care providers will effectively block many lawsuits over neglect and substandard treatment that weren’t caused by the pandemic.
GOP governors slash jobless aid to try to force more Americans to return to work
An unexpected slowdown in hiring nationwide has prompted some Republican governors to start slashing jobless benefits. On Friday, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb said he would consider whether the state should continue to participate in federal pandemic unemployment programs.