Activity at Statehouse picks up, but how much is getting done?
After a surprisingly slow month of January, the pace of legislative action picked up considerably during the first two weeks
of February.
After a surprisingly slow month of January, the pace of legislative action picked up considerably during the first two weeks
of February.
It’s the season for bailouts—banks, businesses, capital improvement boards are all standing on street corners shaking
empty Burger King cups at passing taxpayers.
City engineers and consultants are fine-tuning plans to build a colossal tunnel to temporarily store water and raw sewage that now shoots into local waterways during rain storms.
“Group think,” a powerful and controlling force, was present as the Capital Improvement Board built Lucas Oil Stadium and Eli Lilly and Co. developed and marketed Zyprexa.
Political fighting in the Indiana House has delayed at least temporarily a vote on a bill to help fix the state’s depleted unemployment insurance fund. The bill would raise taxes on employers to help balance the fund, which currently pays out millions of dollars more than it collects while relying on federal loans to issue […]
Changes to a bill in the Indiana House would completely exempt casinos from a proposed statewide smoking ban. Also approved yesterday were changes allowing nursing homes to designate areas where smoking is permitted and allowing communities to pass tougher restrictions even after the bill’s original deadline of 2010. The bill originally would have banned smoking […]
Legislation aimed at changing how Indiana Supreme Court justices are chosen hasn’t gotten enough support to make it out of committee for now, receiving a split vote from lawmakers today that means it won’t be going to the full House for consideration. The Government and Regulatory Reform Committee added to its agenda this morning House […]
Several local government reorganization proposals floundered at the Indiana Statehouse yesterday, as lawmakers resisted some of the vast changes proposed by Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels. The Senate Local Government Committee gutted a bill to eliminate township governments, instead voting 9-2 for a more modest measure that would leave townships intact but add a review of […]
A month after federal officials expressed concern about changes at Indiana’s environmental agency, state officials will meet today with their federal counterparts to explain those changes and how they might affect environmental protection. Environmentalists fear the Indiana Department of Environmental Management’s recent move to dissolve its enforcement office, take over air monitoring contracts with six […]
The Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association says it needs more sales and marketing firepower to fill an expanded convention center and adjacent hotels. That means asking the city’s Capital Improvement Board-one of ICVA’s primary sources of funds-for a budget increase of up to 50 percent at the worst possible time. ICVA says it needs an […]
City officials are looking to add youth and high school sports to the roster of collegiate and professional events built up since the city decided a generation ago to pursue amateur sports as an image-enhancing strategy.
The Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association says it needs more sales and marketing firepower to fill an expanded convention
center and adjacent hotels. That means asking the city’s Capital Improvement Board—one of ICVA’s primary sources of funds—for
a budget increase of up to 50 percent at the worst possible time.
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.
President Barack Obama said today he would begin distributing $15 billion to the states within two days to help them with Medicaid payments to the poor. The money will begin reaching the states Wednesday from the newly passed $787 billion economic stimulus program, Obama told the nation’s governors during a meeting at the White House. […]
Republican state lawmakers were never keen on House Democrats’ idea to take $500 million from a trust fund and spend the cash on local road projects. But the GOP-controlled Senate made the message clear yesterday as it approved a proposal to protect the fund by putting it into the Indiana constitution. Sen. Mike Delph (R-Carmel) […]
The Indiana Senate has approved a bill to eliminate local township advisory boards, but not eliminate township government completely as Gov. Mitch Daniels had proposed. The bill that passed yesterday 28-22 would eliminate three-member township boards that adopt the annual township budget and act as the township’s fiscal and legislative body. Those duties would be […]
The Indiana Senate has passed a bill that would give taxpayers a break if the state’s surplus is at least 10 percent of the budget. Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels supports the proposal, and the GOP-led Senate approved it 34-16 yesterday. But don’t expect tax credits any time soon. Indiana is struggling to keep its budget […]
In a move to delay construction of expensive new generating capacity, Indianapolis Power & Light wants to roll out “smart” electric meters to help customers conserve electricity. The meters would allow for time-of-use electricity pricing that rewards customers with lower rates when they use appliances during off-peak periods. IPL’s so-called demand-side management plan pending before […]
In a move to delay construction of expensive new generating capacity, Indianapolis Power & Light wants to roll out “smart”
electric meters to help customers conserve electricity.
Markets, no matter how imperfect, not government programs, manage the economy.