Judge weighs bid to block Indiana’s Syrian refugee order
U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt noted at a Friday hearing that Indiana had no actual ability to prevent Syrian refugees from entering the state.
Public policy
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Senate passes bill to open adoption records
Adoptees born between 1941 and 1994 would be able to access their birth records under a bill passed Thursday by the Indiana Senate.
Bose adds veteran lobbyist Queisser to staff in Washington, D.C.
Brad Queisser previously served in the administrations of Govs. Evan Bayh and Frank O’Bannon, as well as in the Indiana Democratic Party and Democratic National Committee.
GOP Senate leader: Bill will address LGBT rights, religious freedom
An Indiana legislative leader assured business leaders Monday that Senate Republicans plan to introduce a bill that will address both civil rights for the LGBT community and religious freedom.
KENNEDY: Now comes the hard part–governing
How will mayor-elect Joe Hogsett and the new City-County Council provide even the most basic public services, from public safety to paving streets to picking up trash, in the face of steady erosion of the resources needed to deliver those services?
Gay-advocacy group gears up for civil rights campaign
Freedom Indiana named a campaign director on Wednesday and plans to start hiring workers for state outreach, hoping to spur political leaders to expand Indiana’s civil rights protections.
Indianapolis to host high-profile confab for U.S. mayors
The conference is expected to draw presidential candidates and national media because it will come not long before the Democratic and Republican national conventions.
Free-market policy group to convene in Indy
The conservative-leaning American Legislative Exchange Council, which drafts model legislation for state legislatures, will host its annual meeting in Indianapolis in 2016.
Ritz says ISTEP testing time can be cut by 3 hours
Indiana’s schools superintendent says a plan is in the works to cut about three hours from the maximum time that students will take the state’s standardized tests.
Pence address to be viewed through lens of 2016 aspirations
During Gov. Mike Pence’s third State of the State speech on Tuesday, many will be listening for clues about his plans for the next presidential election.
State board raises Christel House’s grade from D to B
For the second time in three years, Indianapolis’s Christel House Academy South charter school received a higher grade than the state’s scoring formula initially said it should.
Advocate brokers lower IPL rate hike for car-sharing service
Indianapolis Power & Light Co. customers would see less of a rate hike for an electric car-sharing program under a settlement agreement negotiated by the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor.
Second judge declares right-to-work law unconstitutional
Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller said Wednesday that he will ask for a stay to prevent the decision from taking effect immediately. A similar case is already pending before the Indiana Supreme Court.
Dems look to downtown funds for Rebuild Indy alternative
City-County Council Democrats on Wednesday morning unveiled an alternative to the mayor's infrastructure-spending plan. It would involve less borrowing and use money in the downtown TIF fund.
Shine comes off privatization for state projects
New approaches to privatization have forced officials in Indiana and Illinois to rethink their funding plans for the 47-mile Illiana Expressway.
City to consider $7.7M bond issue to assist Broad Ripple project
Browning Investments Inc. says that it is seeking $5.7 million from the bond issue to help finance Canal Pointe, its controversial $30 million apartments-and-retail project.
Sen. Delph wants last-ditch edit to gay-marriage amendment
After an extended Twitter tirade over the weekend stemming from a Senate move stalling the amendment, Sen. Mike Delph on Monday pledged to use a procedural maneuver to resurrect deleted language.
Report: Ditching business property tax shifts burden to others
Gov. Mike Pence’s plan to eliminate the tax on business equipment would mean significantly higher taxes for other property owners if the state took no specific action to protect them, according to a new analysis.
IBJ rolls out politics website
The central Indiana business news authority has elevated the idea behind its popular Forefront section and created a website similarly focused on commentary about politics, policy and government.
GOP powerbrokers crafted Indiana education policy, emails show
The Indiana education overhaul associated with Tony Bennett and then-Gov. Mitch Daniels actually was crafted in private by a handful of state GOP bigwigs, including Al Hubbard, Mark Miles and Mark Lubbers, according to emails obtained by the Associated Press. Elected officials weren’t included for months.