Last week, journalists recognized World Press Freedom Day, a “holiday” designated by the United Nations in 1993 that celebrates the “freedom to seek, impart and receive information.”
The budget approved last week increases the tax by $2 per pack and imposes similar increases on other tobacco products, including vaping products.
All universities are facing uncertainty about federal funding and grants. But because Indiana hasn’t been so dependent on those dollars for building up its life sciences sector, it might be able to forge a new path.
It’s not appropriate to expand school vouchers to higher-income families at the same time the state has waitlists for services needed by children with disabilities and aging Hoosiers.
We encourage the governor to use a similar approach as he faces future public records issues.
But Indiana’s 5th District voters deserve representation in congressional committees, too.
Public health is an area where the state has repeatedly failed to make progress. We believe that’s changing, and we urge lawmakers to give the programs time to take root and produce results.•
The CHIPS Act focuses on microelectronics and battery technology, but the future of artificial intelligence could also be at stake.
The House has taken steps to eliminate the backlog in rape kits that need processing. We urge the Senate and Gov. Mike Braun’s administration to finish the job.
The budget plan, which is now under consideration in the Indiana Senate, includes $15 million for the project, which will encompass about 7.5 acres on the White River’s western bank.
Many Hoosiers are choosing higher taxes—they see them as a cost of living in vibrant communities with top-notch services.
Housing prisoners and fighting crime are just the types of jobs local governments need money to do, especially when they aren’t getting paid as they should for their services.
Lawmakers must seek to balance the needs of local government with what it’s fair to ask the public to pay.
We don’t see a need to inject more politics into school boards.
But it’s not the best solution. What the Hogsett administration would most like to see—and IBJ has endorsed—is a change in a state road-funding formula that currently favors rural communities over urban and suburban ones.
Residents need to get to school and to work and to the grocery store—safely. That is a core responsibility of government.
Rather than simply wiping regulations off the books without analysis, Gov. Mike Braun is urging agencies to review ways to simplify the rules, eliminate those that don’t apply to public safety and make the regulatory process more efficient and affordable.
If lawmakers decide that property taxes should be reduced—which is an argument for another day—there are ways to do it without undermining a system that was meant to inject fairness among payers. Lawmakers should focus their energy on those solutions.
There are many lessons in Carter’s work, but two things stand out. One is that Carter lived his later life with intention, and the second is that the activities he chose were aimed at helping others.
Another win for LEAP and more accountability by public officials are on our wish list.
