Trump asks Supreme Court to unfreeze border wall money
The Trump administration on Friday asked the Supreme Court to lift a freeze on Pentagon money it wants to use to build sections of a border wall with Mexico.
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Holcomb launches 2020 re-election run with big advantages
Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb brandished his front-runner status Saturday as he kicked off his re-election campaign with a rally extolling the state’s economy while brushing off any criticism of his record.
Democrats acknowledge questioning Mueller ‘will not be easy’
Some are watching old video of his previous testimony. Others are closely re-reading his 448-page report. And almost all are worrying about how they’ll make the most of the short time they’ll have for questioning. Robert Mueller, the Democrats know, will be tough to crack.
AG candidate calls for ‘principled, conservative’ leadership
John Westercamp, an attorney with Bose McKinney & Evans LLP, is the first announced candidate for next year’s Republican nomination to become the Indiana Attorney General as the political prospects for embattled AG Curtis Hill remain unclear.
Abortion procedure ban latest to be halted
In the same day a federal judge blocked an Indiana law that would have banned a second-trimester abortion procedure, a conservative United States Supreme Court justice agreed not to hear a similar case from another state.
Trump insists he’s not dropping census citizenship question effort
President Donald Trump is insisting that he is not dropping efforts to include a citizenship question on the upcoming 2020 census, even as the U.S. Census Bureau has started the process of printing the questionnaire without the controversial query.
House committee files lawsuit over Trump tax returns
A House committee has filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking President Donald Trump’s tax returns.
Friends, family remember South Bend man fatally shot by police
Friends and family of a man fatally shot by police in South Bend are recalling him as caring and thoughtful.
Indianapolis attorney Bennett ends tenure as Election Commission chair
Indianapolis attorney Bryce Bennett, a founding partner with Riley Bennett & Egloff, has resigned as chair of the Indiana Election Commission effective Monday, according to a statement from the firm. Bennett has served two four-year terms under his appointments from Govs. Mitch Daniels, Mike Pence and Eric Holcomb.
Many new Indiana laws take effect today
Several new state laws take effect Monday, from a required high school state government test to allowing wrongfully incarcerated individuals to collect $50,000 a year.
Cass County prosecutor elected to lead IPAC board
A new chair has been chosen to lead the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council’s Board of Directors following an election that took place last week.
AG candidate calls for ‘principled, conservative’ leadership
The first candidate to announce for the Republican nomination for Indiana attorney general in the 2020 race is touting his private sector experience and is calling for “principled, conservative leadership” in the Office of the Attorney General.
Supreme Court 5-4 ruling blocks census citizenship question
The Supreme Court of the United States is forbidding President Donald Trump’s administration from adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census for now. The court said the Trump administration’s explanation for wanting to add the question was “more of a distraction” than an explanation.
5-4 Supreme Court won’t block districts drawn for partisan gain
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled federal courts have no role to play in policing political districts drawn for partisan gain. The decision could embolden political line-drawing for partisan gain when state lawmakers undertake the next round of redistricting after the 2020 census.
Bose attorney to challenge Hill for Republican AG nomination
An Indianapolis attorney with Bose McKinney & Evans LLP will challenge Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill for the Republican nomination to become Indiana’s top lawyer. Formal announcements at four stops around the state are scheduled for Thursday.
New laws for 2019
The following enrolled acts, followed in parentheses by their corresponding public law numbers, take effect July 1 unless otherwise noted below.
Census, redistricting top remaining Supreme Court cases
The Supreme Court enters its final week of decisions with two politically charged issues unresolved: whether to rein in political line-drawing for partisan gain and allow a citizenship question on the 2020 census.
Zipping into statutes: Overview of new laws for 2019
Although the $34 billion budget dominated the session, legislators introduced and considered more than 600 bills each in both the Senate and the House. The ones they passed covered a variety of matters, including hate crimes, hemp, gambling, foster parents, electricity generation and, of course, electric scooters.
Introduced, debated but not passed in the General Assembly
Not every bill introduced gains the traction needed to get to the governor’s desk. Many times, a proposed new law fails to get a committee hearing, or it stalls once it reaches the floor. Other times, as a measure progresses through the Statehouse, it ignites disagreements that are ultimately too much to overcome.
Indiana official sued for records on US election hacking vulnerability
A voting security advocacy group is trying to force the former president of a group of state election officials to release documents on whether she wrongly asserted that electronic election systems are safe from hacking.