Indiana House Democrats got a boost Thursday when a judge temporarily blocked the collection of $1,000-a-day fines imposed on them for their legislative boycott over the contentious right-to-work bill, and their leader said they might return to the House chamber Friday to vote.
The chief of staff to Gov. Mitch Daniels, Earl A. Goode, bought a residential lot from the real estate broker John M. Bales about two years after an agency led by Goode awarded Bales a contract to handle state leasing.
The state’s largest green group is seeking changes to measures it says could strip funding and oversight for environmental protection.
Republican State Sen. Brent Waltz has filed a bill that would require the Indiana Economic Development Corp. and businesses seeking awards from the 21st Century fund to match the state’s money with outside capital at a four-to-one ratio.
State officials in 2005 vowed to run a competitive process to select a private firm to handle real estate leasing for public agencies, but a 20-page request for services to more than 400 potential bidders was a sham, according to three people with knowledge of the process.
Besides no longer requiring barbers and cosmetologists to be licensed, the bill also exempts dieticians, hearing aid dealers, private investigators and security guards.
Indiana House Democrats kept up their legislative boycott over the right-to-work bill Thursday morning, a day after majority Republicans voted to start imposing $1,000-a-day fines.
An Indiana Senate committee is advancing a plan to put more money into state savings accounts before automatic tax refunds go out to taxpayers.
Campaign finance numbers released Wednesday show Indiana Rep. Mike Pence raised $5 million last year and has $3.7 million in the bank. Former Indiana House Speaker John Gregg has raised $1.7 million so far and banked $1.2 million.
Indiana House Democrats say they'll go to court to challenge the $1,000-a-day fines they face for their legislative boycott over the right-to-work bill.
A state Senate committee rejected an effort Wednesday to resurrect Indiana's single-class high school basketball tournament, but the head of the statewide high school athletics governing body agreed to review the current format.
Indiana House Republicans have approved $1,000-a-day fines against Democratic legislators who are boycotting over a right-to-work bill.
All outdoor stages in Indiana would have to pass inspections before any performances under a bill approved by a state Senate committee.
An Indiana Senate committee has endorsed a proposal giving state residents limited rights to resist police officers trying to enter their homes.
The former director of an Indiana University scholarship program has filed a federal complaint accusing IU of gender and equal pay discrimination.
The vote comes out of a truce Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma and Democratic House Minority Leader Patrick Bauer negotiated to end Democratic boycotts.
State lawmakers could provide an additional $4 million to victims of last summer's stage collapse at the Indiana State Fair.
A bill that would allow fines of up to $500 against government officials found to have blatantly violated the state's open meetings or open record laws has been endorsed 11-0 by an Indiana House committee.
Legislators stung last year by county prosecutors who opposed a sweeping plan to overhaul Indiana’s criminal sentencing scheme won’t push the issue this year. Sheriffs now are worried that an attempt to reduce crowding in state prisons could aggravate overpopulation in their jails.
House Democrats say they’ll continue stall tactics at the General Assembly unless they get a referendum to decide whether Indiana will become a right-to-work state.
