Ed Feigenbaum: Lobbying groups’ tactics test patience, boundaries
Perhaps it is no surprise that Bosma decided to step down as speaker soon, then resign his House seat yet this spring.
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IBJ Podcast: The session so far—health care, teacher evaluations and hands-free phone use
IBJ’s Statehouse reporter Lindsey Erdody breaks down what bills are moving, which ones already are dead and what’s about to hit Gov. Eric Holcomb’s desk.
Lawmakers consider bill to protect right to resell entertainment tickets
The legislation is meant to protect an individual’s right to sell or give his or her ticket to an event to someone else, should they choose to do so.
Indiana lawmakers backing tougher tobacco sales penalties
The House and Senate will need to reach agreement on a single version in the coming weeks of the legislative session.
Legislator seeking end of state’s U.S. Senate primaries
Sen. James Buck of Kokomo said delegates at a state party convention would select the best Senate candidates and that eliminating primary campaigns would make running for office less costly.
GOP-backed bill to make professional licensing easier faces opposition
A top legislative priority for House Republicans faced some push back this week from the very professionals lawmakers believed they would be helping with the measure.
Indiana governor keeps padding huge campaign cash lead
New state campaign finance reports filed Wednesday show Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb raised nearly $2 million in the last six months of 2019, leaving him with about $7.25 million in the bank for his 2020 re-election bid.
Ed Feigenbaum: The session will move fast—pay attention or you might miss it
Legislators returned Jan. 6. Even though, as of that morning, only 11 House bills had been filed, committee hearings were underway in earnest (especially in the Senate, where the file list topped 200 bills).
GOP lawmakers differ slightly from governor on 2020 priorities (including on swine barn funding)
Like Gov. Eric Holcomb, Indiana Senate and House Republicans are focused on health care, education and spending one-time dollars on capital projects this year. But lawmakers have slightly different views on how those surplus dollars should be spent.
Teacher pay action not on GOP’s agenda in 2020 General Assembly
Members of the Republican-dominated General Assembly are set to return Monday to the Statehouse in Indianapolis for their 2020 session, during which they will face continued calls from teacher unions and Democrats for better teacher pay.
Vaping crisis could be impetus for Legislature to raise smoking age to 21
Republicans hold a supermajority in both chambers of the Indiana General Assembly. But the leadership support doesn’t make the bill a slam dunk.
Complexity of Indiana school funding complicates teacher pay debate
Top Republicans touted “record investment” in school spending in defending themselves as thousands of teachers turned out for a Statehouse rally this past week calling for a bigger boost in education funding. But it’s not that simple.
Pete Buttigieg establishes clear lead in Iowa, new poll shows
Buttigieg was leading the crowded Democratic field with 25%, in the new CNN/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll of likely Iowa caucus goers.
State CIO Dewand Neely will tackle new challenge with Eleven Fifty Academy
After 15 years working in the information technology department for the state of Indiana—the last four as chief information officer, Dewand Neely is departing to take a job as chief operating officer for Eleven Fifty Academy, the not-for-profit coding academy with facilities in downtown Indianapolis and Fishers.
Embattled Attorney General Curtis Hill says he will seek re-election
Hill’s decision comes as he awaits the outcome of an Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission hearing over allegations he drunkenly groped a state lawmaker and three legislative staffers at a party in March 2018.
Democrats expand majority on City-County Council
Democrats picked up at least five seats—and possibly six, depending on the outcome of a race with a razor-thin margin. Republican leader Mike McQuillen was among the GOP casualties.
Hogsett & Merritt talk neighborhoods, poverty, crime and more
IBJ talked with incumbent Democrat Joe Hogsett and his Republican challenger, Jim Merritt, about why they’re running for mayor, what they’ve learned about themselves in the process and how they’ll tackle crime, neighborhood development, crime and more.
Early voting picks up in Marion County in week before election
So far for the 2019 election, 6,158 voters have cast ballots in person, which is higher than how many people voted early in person at the same point in 2015 and 2011.
IEDC president to lead state’s new tourism agency
State lawmakers passed legislation during the 2019 session that allowed the Indiana Office of Tourism Development, which is under Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch and funded by the state budget, to become a quasi-governmental corporation as of July 1, 2020.
Indiana to drop Pearson, return to ETS teacher licensing
The move comes after Republican state Sen. Jean Leising, of Oldenburg, introduced legislation this year that required the state Board of Education to adopt a program that’s administered nationally.