Prescription could be required to buy cold medicine
Over-the-counter medications for common colds and allergies could become more regulated under a Indiana House bill introduced last week.
Government & Economic Development
Articles
Obamacare small-biz plan lags as employers stand pat
Greeted by higher premiums, less generous coverage and more paperwork, small businesses are choosing to renew existing health plans rather than buy them through President Barack Obama’s program.
Indiana joins Feds in reviewing merger of Sysco, US Foods
Sysco, with annual revenue of about $44 billion, is the top operator in the U.S. food distribution business. Adding No. 2 US Foods would create a corporation in charge of at least a quarter of the North American market.
Five questions: Indiana treasurer ponders course for yield rise
Richard Mourdock, a 62-year-old geologist and former coal-mining exec in his second term as Indiana treasurer, discusses his approach to managing $7 billion in state funds.
Proposal would expand public-private partnerships
Under Senate Bill 225, authored by Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, private firms may be able to build, abolish, or repair state facilities – and also operate them.
GOP bill would spend $400M on highway projects
The bill would give the State Budget Committee the authority to transfer $400 million from the Major Moves Trust Fund to the state’s main highway fund.
Bosma ‘exploring options’ for marriage amendment
Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosma said he’s considering ways to move a constitutional same-sex marriage amendment out of committee and onto the House floor. He said an internal poll found 80 percent of voters want to cast a ballot on the issue.
Bill would bolster Hoosier homegrown products
House Bill 1039 – approved unanimously Thursday by the Agriculture and Rural Development committee – is meant to bolster a program that brands Indiana-grown produce and meat.
GOP sheriff candidate ramps up fundraising
This is a bit of an off year for local politics, but there may be a real race for the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, based on early fundraising by GOP candidate Emmitt Carney.
Carmel upstart fights nursing home moratorium
Nursing home companies went on a building spree in Indiana, and now most of them want the Legislature’s help reining in high operating costs brought by over-capacity.
Harsh weather at New York’s Super Bowl could hurt Indy’s 2018 bid chances
The game Feb. 2 and the week-long run-up to it will be fresh in the minds of the 32 NFL owners when they gather for their annual meeting in Atlanta in May to hear 2018 Super Bowl bid presentations from Indianapolis, Minneapolis and New Orleans.
State revamps its revenue forecasting after big miss
Growing ranks of dropout workers have nagged the economy throughout its recovery, and now Indiana’s budget forecasters feel they can’t ignore the trend. They recently revised their outlook on state revenue downward, partly because so many Hoosiers stopped looking for jobs.
Website operator for cities expanding
An Indianapolis company that manages websites and processes payments for dozens of cities and towns plans to raise $2 million to grow.
New state law might idle school bus fleets
A state law intended to make sure cash-strapped public school districts pay their debt could have an unintended consequence: permanently parking the yellow buses that deliver students to class.
Indiana House OKs early childhood education pilot program
Under the program, families earning less than 185 percent of the federal poverty level would get state aid to send their children to preschool.
U.S. Attorney Hogsett ends mayoral run speculation
The former Indiana secretary of state said he intends to remain in his position as the top federal prosecutor for much of the state through 2016.
Jilted dental patients get $543K in restitution from state
Nearly 300 former patients of Allcare Dental & Dentures have received refunds of upfront payments they made before the national dental chain abruptly closed multiple Indiana locations in 2011.
U.S. Senate ready to send $1.1T spending bill to Obama
The Democratic-controlled Senate planned to give final congressional approval to the immense spending measure, possibly as early as Thursday. The Republican-run House passed the package Wednesday in a lopsided 359-67 vote.
House panel approves proposed adoption tax credit
An effort to increase adoptions and make the process more affordable advanced in a House committee Wednesday, a day after Gov. Mike Pence called for making Indiana the nation’s “most pro-adoption state.”
Senate committee passes cursive writing requirement, again
For the third straight year, Sen. Jean Leising has convinced the Indiana Senate Education Committee to advance a bill that requires schools to teach cursive writing.