Republicans enter this year’s elections with a 70-30 House majority, with Democrats aiming to pick up at least the four seats to break the supermajority.
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More than 160 bills got past the finish line in Indiana during this year’s legislative session, with dozens of them taking effect in July.
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Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, echoing Gov. JB Pritzker’s comments last week, indicated he’s open to the possibility of a special session and hinted the Bears’ move to Indiana is far from assured.
Two sources familiar with conversations between the state and the Bears said no formal deal or letter of intent has been finalized, though each described the sides as “very close” to putting pen to paper.
Mickey Shuey and and The Bears said in a statement that its board of directors met and voted to move forward with Hammond.
The discrepancy contradicts what the Bears told lawmakers crafting the Arlington Heights legislation and could deepen mistrust between the team and Springfield after months of negotiations over a stadium proposal.
Samm Quinn The Illinois Legislature faces an 11:59 p.m. deadline to adjourn its spring session.
The law is one of two recent state actions on child care from a Republican-controlled General Assembly that has resisted state funding for child care and early education.
Check here for primary election updates throughout the evening.
The bill was approved in a bipartisan 72-38 vote after a series of amendments and backroom jockeying played out in the state Capitol.
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, say the bill would protect taxpayers from being extorted by team owners for huge subsidies. The legislation would likely face an uphill climb in the Republican-controlled Congress.
Private meetings between legislators and lobbyists for data center companies resulted in rewritten incentive provisions that were not reviewed in public and were inserted in the final bill.
As the dust settles on House Enrolled Act 1038, questions are beginning to emerge about the next steps for turning legislation into a new casino in northeast Indiana.
HEA 1177 expands the tax credits available to businesses that help employees with the cost of child care. SEA 4 allows but does not require FSSA to use dollars from the Financial Responsibility and Opportunity Growth fund on child care vouchers.
Efforts to attract the Bears across the Illinois border received widespread, bipartisan support. But other items lawmakers tackled were contentious.
Indiana Gov. Mike Braun says his administration got almost nine in every 10 agency and agenda bills over the finish line during his second session.
Among them are a new restriction on social media for minors and a ban on cellphones during school hours, which could change how students spend their time while reducing fights and distractions.
Provisions of Senate Bill 270, which the House approved on Tuesday, would require townships with poor performance scores to merge with other townships or some cities.
The measure bans camping, sleeping or long-term sheltering on land owned by the state or a unit of local government — and establishes a Class C misdemeanor for violations.
The Indiana Senate is set to vote as soon as Thursday afternoon on legislation that would authorize the financing and construction of a stadium in Hammond.
Restrictions apply to common student devices, which schools must either prohibit entirely or require students to keep powered off and inaccessible during the school day.
A provision added to the northwest Indiana stadium bill would require State Budget Committee review of any highway project with a price tag of at least $250 million.
