Indiana lawmakers reviewing the embattled Department of Child Services voted Tuesday to localize more decisions on when to investigate cases of child abuse and neglect and set up a permanent oversight committee at the Statehouse.
Supporters and opponents of gay marriage are already squaring off in a battle over whether to amend Indiana's constitution that could stretch until voters decide the issue in November 2014.
Indiana Gov.-elect Mike Pence has tapped one of his top campaign aides and a veteran of Gov. Mitch Daniels' administration to lead the state's budget office.
Two lawmakers say they plan to introduce legislation in the new year that would require Amazon.com and other online-only retailers with a presence in Indiana to begin collecting sales tax on July 1, 2013, six months earlier than expected.
Indiana's new superintendent of public instruction, Democrat Glenda Ritz, said she can make some policy changes for the state's schools without needing the approval of the Republican-controlled General Assembly and governor's office.
State tax collections—the lifeblood of the budget and everything from road-paving to classroom sizes—could remain stagnant as the state continues to crawl out of the recession.
State Rep. Ed Clere plans to introduce a bill that would give municipalities explicit powers to create land banks, which can sell surplus property for redevelopment. He also wants to include a revenue source to support land-bank operations and eliminate tax-foreclosure sales as a form of investor speculation.
Indiana taxpayers will receive a $111 credit on their state income tax returns next year as the state distributes part of its budget surplus. The credit will be $222 for couples filing joint returns.
House Speaker Brian Bosma used the ceremonial opening of Indiana's legislative session Tuesday to call for bipartisanship, even though Republicans now enjoy a supermajority that largely allows them to circumvent Democrats to push through their plans.
The session will focus on creating the next two-year budget, implementing the federal health care law and other priorities including education and jobs programs.
Indiana's top lawmakers said Monday they're not sure what to expect from the federal health care law other than greater costs at a time the state's budget is already stretched thin.
Economic development typically tops the chamber’s agenda, and for the upcoming session the pro-business organization is backing Gov.-elect Mike Pence’s idea for a new state-sponsored research institute.
Indiana lawmakers can add confusion over the federal health insurance law to their already overflowing plate when they return for their 2013 legislative session in January.
States received an extra month from the Obama administration to decide whether to build online marketplaces for medical insurance after Republican governors pressed their resistance to the president’s health-care law.
Indiana Gov.-elect Mike Pence closed the door on a state-run health insurance exchange Thursday, arguing that the estimated $50 million cost of the state program was not worth the limited autonomy granted in return.
But with a legislature that could be unreceptive to environmental policy, HEC is also guarding against an unwinding of existing laws.
A report by the Indiana University Public Policy Institute and Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute recommends streamlining the system.
Indiana Gov.-elect Mike Pence has ruled out building a state-run health insurance exchange but appears to be leaving open the option of running a joint venture with the federal government as a critical decision deadline draws near.
Pence will travel to a meeting of the Republican Governors Association in Las Vegas and later to a training session for new governors being conducted in California.
Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosma is picking a new Ways and Means chairman with an eye on dealing with health care costs in the coming years.
