Faced with the prospect that Trump will continue with his adversarial approach, Republican lawmakers are also looking for ways to provide a taxpayer bailout to farmers.
The Indiana General Assembly ended the 2019 legislative session Wednesday night after passing a $34.6 billion two-year budget with an emphasis on K-12 school funding.
The House Utilities Committee advanced legislation this week along party lines that would prohibit state regulators from approving any large new power plants until 2021. Environmentalists and utilities say the move could interrupt the transition from coal to renewable fuels and natural gas.
Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb lauded the legislation for covering “all forms of bias crimes” and says it “treats all people equally.” But Democrats and others say it doesn’t go far enough.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, the Senate Judiciary chairman who spent the weekend with President Donald Trump in Florida, said his committee will investigate the actions of the Justice Department in the Russia investigation.
For Indianapolis Public Schools, the proposed cuts could mean $7 million less to meet the needs of its students from low-income families between now and 2021.
The GOP’s dogmatic approach will fail. In the short term, it will chip away at lawmakers’ credibility among voters until elected leaders’ lack of responsiveness drives citizens to demand change.
The principles our Founding Fathers set forth—the ones Republicans used to hold up as resolute pillars of our democracy—no longer seem to be of concern to the White House or Republican leadership.
Democrats—including several who are part of minority groups—pleaded with Republicans not to change the bill, but the amendment passed 33-16. Sen. Greg Taylor predicts the backlash “might be worse than RFRA.”
The Indiana House Ways and Means Committee fended off amendments and objections from Democrats on Tuesday and ushered the bill to the full House for consideration.
The spending plan includes the additional $286 million per year requested by the Indiana Department of Child Services, covers increases in Medicaid costs, and hikes K-12 spending by 2.1 percent in 2020 and 2.2 percent in 2021, which is slightly higher than the 2 percent annual increase suggested by Holcomb.
The Indianapolis-based airline said the problem has now been fixed, though some of its flights will be affected Friday as it works through its schedule.
Jose Evans has decided to not to run for mayor and has thrown his support behind State Sen. Jim Merritt. And City-County Council member Jefferson Shreve, who replaced Jeff Miller last year, won’t seek a return to the council after his current term ends.
The priorities for Indiana House Republicans this year align with Gov. Eric Holcomb’s agenda, except for one significant issue that did not make the list: a hate crimes bill.
Republicans will maintain their supermajority status in the Indiana General Assembly after votes were finally tallied Friday in Porter County, three days after the election.
