Indiana House advances proposal for spending some of $6.1B surplus
The Indiana House on Friday voted 93-2 to use the state’s unexpected surplus to send $1 billion in taxpayer rebates proposed by Gov. Eric Holcomb.
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Indiana House proposes larger, costlier taxpayer ‘refund’ plan
House and Senate Republicans in the Indiana General Assembly remain on a collision course over how to provide inflation relief for Hoosiers after committees from both chambers passed bills that take vastly different approaches.
Senate Republicans balk at Holcomb’s tax refund proposal
Signaling their opposition to Gov. Eric Holcomb’s plan to issue $1 billion to Hoosier taxpayers in the form of $225 tax refund checks, Indiana Senate Republicans presented an alternate plan Wednesday to provide some financial relief for Indiana residents during a period of record-high inflation.
Indiana finishes fiscal year with more than $6 billion in reserves
Indiana closed the fiscal year with $6.1 billion in state reserves, another sign the state’s economy bounced back from the COVID-19 pandemic faster than economists had expected.
US inflation reached a new 40-year high in June of 9.1%
Surging prices for gas, food and rent catapulted U.S. inflation to a new four-decade peak in June, further pressuring households and likely sealing the case for another large interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve, with higher borrowing costs to follow.
Indiana gas tax set to increase while state eyes inflation relief
Indiana will see another increase in state gasoline taxes starting July 1 amid promises of inflation relief—including a proposal to issue direct payments to Indiana residents later this month.
US failed to stop fraud in COVID loan program, Clyburn says
The U.S. failed to take basic steps at the start of the coronavirus pandemic to prevent fraud in a federal aid program intended to help small businesses, depleting the funds and making people more vulnerable to identity theft, the chairman of a House panel examining the payouts said Tuesday.
Indiana governor eyes ‘inflationary relief,’ not gas tax cut
Indiana’s governor said Wednesday he was preparing a plan to potentially tap into the growing state budget surplus to help residents with the national inflation jump, while rejecting calls for suspending state gas taxes.
Todd Rokita: Expanding liberty, empowering families key to economy
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita shares his opinion on how Indiana’s economy can prosper moving forward.
State of the Union: Biden vows to halt Russia, hit inflation
Addressing a concerned nation and anxious world, President Joe Biden vowed in his first State of the Union address Tuesday night to check Russian aggression in Ukraine, tame soaring U.S. inflation and deal with the fading but still dangerous coronavirus.
U.S. inflation jumped 7.5% over past year, a 40-year high
Inflation soared over the past year at its highest rate in four decades, hammering America’s consumers, wiping out pay raises and reinforcing the Federal Reserve’s decision to begin raising borrowing rates across the economy.
Plenty of help-wanted signs as lawyer jobs go unfilled
The January edition of the Lake County Bar Association’s monthly newsletter, The Minute Sheet, showed just how fierce the ongoing war for talent has gotten in the legal profession — 21 help wanted ads had been posted primarily by northwest Indiana law firms looking for attorneys. The extensive classified section in the newsletter reflects the need for more attorneys that law firms around the state and across the country say they have because of an increased workload.
Indiana law firm combination market sees activity despite pandemic
Law firms completed 41 mergers in 2021. The total was up slightly from 40 in 2020, but well below the historical average of 55 mergers per year over the previous decade. Despite the slow down, Indiana’s legal community still saw some combinations take place during the pandemic.
On MLK Day, Yellen says US economy is unfair to Black people
The U.S. economy “has never worked fairly for Black Americans — or, really, for any American of color,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a speech delivered Monday, one of many by national leaders acknowledging unmet needs for racial equality on Martin Luther King Day.
Holcomb: ‘The best is yet to come’
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb says despite challenges from the pandemic and workforce and supply chain issues, the state exceeded economic development goals in 2021, and the numbers suggest the momentum will continue into 2022.
Past due: Personal debt rising, collection expected to grow
A July 2021 report by the Indiana Institute for Working Families found that from 2019 to 2020, debt levels in Indiana increased at a rate of 3.6%, which outpaced the national increase of 3.0%. In dollars, Indiana saw debt levels balloon by roughly $8 billion to $226.5 billion in 2020. This equates to $40,770 in household debt per Hoosier.
Indiana governor says ‘we shall see’ on possible tax cuts
Indiana’s surging state tax collections have the governor in discussions on whether tax cuts should be considered during the upcoming legislative session.
Bankruptcy filings still falling but increase could be coming
Bankruptcy filings are continuing to plunge, falling nearly 30% for the 12-month period that ended Sept. 30. But the downward trend could be the calm before the storm.
US jobless claims fall again as some states end federal aid
Fewer Americans sought unemployment benefits last week — the latest encouraging sign for the rebounding U.S. economy — just as Republican-led states including Indiana are moving to cut off a federal benefit for the jobless.
Holcomb to reinstate job-seeking rule for unemployed, study whether to ax federal benefit
Gov. Eric Holcomb is set to reinstate a requirement that those applying to collect unemployment benefits actively seek jobs and be available for work — a requirement that the state has waived since the beginning of the pandemic.