Articles

Rokita proposes new plan for redistricting

Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita pitched a plan today that would make it illegal for lawmakers to consider political
data when redrawing congressional and legislative district maps.

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Legislature snubs casinos, but forms study committee

Indiana’s struggling gambling industry didn’t get the relief it sought during the special session of the Indiana General Assembly. But embedded within the budget bill approved June 30 is a provision creating a gambling summer study committee. Its recommendations, due by Dec. 1, may make or break several of Indiana’s casinos.

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FEIGENBAUM: Education money helped land key Democratic votes

As both House Speaker Pat Bauer, D-South Bend, and House Republican Leader Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, see it, this is definitely a "Republican-flavored" budget. Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels laid the framework, and legislators from both sides of the aisle largely abided by his bottom lines of spending, state agency cuts and surplus.

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EDITORIAL: Leadership void stymied special legislative session

The legislative session that concluded June 30 with passage of a two-year budget left a bad taste in our mouths. For starters,
legislators lacked the courage to tackle local government reform—even though cash-strapped units of government
desperately need the millions of dollars in savings they would generate. In short, they put political cronyism ahead of the
interests of the state.

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MARCUS: Budget made by rudderless Legislature

If we are lucky, by the time you read these words the Indiana General Assembly will have passed a new budget. Democrats use
tarot cards and Republicans chicken innards to determine how much to spend. There are alternatives.

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STATEHOUSE DISPATCH: Political posturing puts session on strange trajectory

Casual observers of the legislative process might be confused by the political posturing, lack of a sense of imperative, and seeming non sequiturs in this General Assembly special session. Rest assured that even many veteran legislative observers also share the sense of puzzlement about June’s events. However, there is some method to the madness, and […]

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Unprecedented economic forecast revision will frame special session

With the help of outside economists, Indiana government undergoes an economic forecast every other yearâ??a process that’s taken on increased importance this spring, as Gov. Mitch Daniels and the Legislature attempt to craft a two-year budget amid the deepest recession since the early 1980s.

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