The Indiana General Assembly is expected to consider a proposal that would allow Gary’s two casino licenses to relocate this year — one would stay in Gary, while the other could move to another city.
Two counties seeking funding for additional magistrate judges from the House Courts and Criminal Code Committee got their wish Wednesday when the panel advanced the legislation to the House floor.
As they did in January 2018, supporters of hate crimes legislation rallied Tuesday in the Indiana Statehouse to again push lawmakers to add a bias-motivated crime statute to the Indiana law books. Advocates from a broad array of groups, including business, education, nonprofits and faith-based organizations, were on-hand to applaud and cheer as legislators and community leaders called for Indiana to join the 45 other states with hate crimes law.
The Senate Ethics Committee unanimously passed an amendment to its internal ethics rules Monday, defining sexual harassment for the first time. The Senate and House will each draft their own ethics rules and conduct training for their respective lawmakers.
The priorities for Indiana House Republicans this year align with Gov. Eric Holcomb’s agenda, but one significant issue did not make the list: a hate crimes bill.
Although Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosma said he hopes to have the General Assembly’s sexual harassment policy finalized by the end of next week, he’s not sure if that’s possible.
In an effort to remove Indiana from a list of five states without hate crimes legislation, lawmakers have filed three separate bills so far in the Indiana General Assembly, but the latest measure does not specify the classes of individuals and groups who would be protected.
Indiana lawmakers are set to begin their four-month legislative session, facing a tight state budget picture and a possibly contentious debate over adopting a state hate crimes law.
A trending topic discussed by state legislators across the nation is legalizing and incorporating sports wagering into casinos. This comes after a decision in May by the United States Supreme Court that struck down a federal law that barred states from offering legal sports gambling.
The spray-painting of a swastika outside a suburban Indianapolis synagogue this summer was the final straw for Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb, who quickly called for Indiana to join the 45 states that have hate crime laws.
In what the Indiana House Speaker said is likely to be an “extraordinarily difficult” budget session, Indiana’s legislative leaders plan to focus their efforts during this year’s legislative session on budget-impacting legislation, such as funding for the embattled Department of Child Services and increasing teacher pay.
A new proposed policy is being sent to the Indiana General Assembly House and Senate ethics committees for further review before it lands in both chambers for a full vote. Even so, questions linger over whether the recommendations will change behavior and protect potential victims.
Top Republican and Democratic lawmakers voted Tuesday afternoon to recommend that the General Assembly adopt a new sexual harassment policy when it convenes next year. The Legislative Council unanimously approved the guidelines to combat sexual harassment at the Indiana Statehouse, but the policy will still undergo review by the ethics committees in the House and Senate and require approval from both chambers.
Indiana lawmakers returned to the Statehouse on Tuesday for the ceremonial start to the new legislative session.
Legislature should respond to complaints of sexual harassment by legislative employees, but it’s still unclear whether the Legislative Council will meet next week’s statutorily-mandated deadline to officially adopt the recommendations.
The commissioners in a northwestern Indiana county plagued by a mix of Election Day problems asked the FBI on Wednesday to investigate what they called “scores of alleged violations of Indiana Election Law” reported following Tuesday’s election. Porter County officials did not begin counting votes until Wednesday morning, more than 15 hours after the first polling places closed.
Indiana’s House speaker says a top-ranking Republican lawmaker is recovering at home more than a month after a serious motorcycle accident in Michigan. Speaker Brian Bosma said in a statement Thursday that House Ways and Means Chairman Tim Brown is in therapy and continues to improve.
A woman alleges that when she was an Indiana legislative intern in 1992, she performed oral sex on a married Republican lawmaker who has since become the speaker of the state House of Representatives, a published report Wednesday said.
The chairman of the Indiana House Ways and Means Committee remains in critical but stable condition in Ann Arbor, Michigan, according to the House Speaker’s office.
Indiana’s House speaker said Thursday a top-ranking Republican lawmaker is in critical condition after a motorcycle accident in Michigan. Rep. Tim Brown had been placed in a medically induced coma after the crash.