Key Indiana lawmakers optimistic about budget deal
Legislative leaders think they are on track to reach a budget deal by the time the legislative session ends Friday.
Legislative leaders think they are on track to reach a budget deal by the time the legislative session ends Friday.
The Indiana House voted 55-43 to give final approval to a bill creating the controversial voucher program. It would allow even middle-class families to use taxpayer money to send their children to private schools.
A bill aimed at spurring more charter schools in Indiana has cleared its final legislative hurdle, marking another piece of Gov. Mitch Daniels' aggressive education agenda to pass.
State Rep. Patrick Bauer of South Bend wants the state to suspend taxes on gasoline during the summer in a move he says would save consumers about 40 cents per gallon.
The bill with perhaps the best chance of emerging is the so-called dinosaur buildings bill, which would make it easier to win tax incentives for renovating obsolete industrial buildings.
A judge Monday ordered the head of the Indiana Recount Commission to appear before him this week to explain why the panel has not moved more quickly in considering whether Republican Secretary of State Charlie White was a valid candidate when he won election last fall.
A bill linking teacher pay with student performance has won final legislative approval and now heads to Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels for his signature.
Indiana lawmakers may have found a way to spur the consolidation of small school districts without jumping into the politically unpopular issue: Starve small districts of state funding to financially push them toward merger talks.
Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma says Indiana lawmakers are on track to finish their work on time as the legislative session draws to an end this week despite a five-week boycott by House Democrats.
Indiana taxpayers are paying about $300 million a year in nursing home costs despite a state law that would allow the state to save millions while keeping many elderly and disabled Hoosiers in their homes or with family members.
Gregg said he plans to form an exploratory committee to raise money and test public sentiment but that he's prepared to seek his party's nomination.
Indiana's corporate income tax rate would be cut by nearly 25 percent over the next four years under a plan the Indiana House has approved.
Businesses that hire illegal immigrants could have some state tax credits revoked under a proposal that has cleared the Indiana House.
A $28 billion budget proposal that cleared the Indiana Senate on Thursday includes a way to fine boycotting lawmakers — a provision Democrats oppose — and doesn't include an automatic taxpayer refund that the Republican governor wants.
Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller says the state will get $858,000 from CVS Pharmacy Inc. to settle allegations that the company overcharged Medicaid programs.
Embattled Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White is appealing a judge's ruling sending a dispute over his November election back to the state recount commission.
The Indiana Senate has approved a bill that would allow Gov. Mitch Daniel to appoint a new secretary of state if indicted Republican Charlie White is found to be ineligible.
Republican frustration over the five-week walkout by Indiana House Democrats re-emerged Wednesday as the state Senate approved a method for $1,000-a-day fines against boycotting legislators.
Republicans who now fully control the Legislature and the redistricting process say they've followed their commitment to draw new districts that are compact and avoid splitting up cities and counties.
Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation, formed in 2001 and funded by money from a settlement with the tobacco industry, may be consolidated into the state Department of Health as a budget-cutting measure.