Indiana Senate committee advances crime bill package
The Senate Corrections and Criminal Law Committee has endorsed five criminal justice bills aimed at reducing violent crime.
The Senate Corrections and Criminal Law Committee has endorsed five criminal justice bills aimed at reducing violent crime.
Voting legislation that Democrats and civil rights leaders say is vital to protecting democracy collapsed when two senators refused to join their own party in changing Senate rules to overcome a Republican filibuster after a raw, emotional debate.
With the help of Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, the IndyBar Legislative Committee provides weekly Bill Watch reports throughout the session, which highlight progress and recent actions taken on bills being monitored by the association.
Lawmakers are set to consider numerous criminal justice bills on Tuesday, including measures on bail funding, self-defense, HIV-related enhancements, victim compensation and more.
A bill dealing with obstruction of justice concerns is slowly moving through the Indiana Senate, with lawmakers butting heads about definitions in the measure.
Republican lawmakers in Indiana are rolling back the language in a series of bills they said would increase transparency around school curricula after the proposals drew national attention and widespread opposition.
Asserting they are willing to fight “these old battles,” the Indiana Black Legislative Caucus unveiled its 2022 legislative agenda that is focused on addressing what they called the “long-term effects of racism in society” in the areas of wealth, education, health and housing.
The Indiana Senate’s version of legislation to enact administrative tools to end the state’s public health emergency passed in committee unanimously on Wednesday, with backing from business and health care leaders.
In endorsing legislation allowing more people convicted of Level 6 felonies to be sentenced to the Department of Correction, an Indiana House Republican said the move was the result of learning from recent data. But some House Democrats said the bill was actually a sign that the Legislature had failed in its wide-ranging criminal justice reform bill passed nearly a decade ago.
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb painted a rosy picture of the state’s accomplishments in his sixth State of the State address, and he outlined steps he wants to take to keep up that momentum while acknowledging lingering challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic.
A bill that would do away with Indiana’s handgun permit requirement will continue to advance through the Indiana General Assembly after getting a majority vote of approval in the Indiana House on Tuesday.
A bill that would strip a requirement for Hoosier motorists to signal at certain distances before changing lanes or turning got the green light to move ahead in the Indiana Legislature on Tuesday.
A controversial Indiana bill that Republican lawmakers contend would increase transparency around school curricula has drawn opposition from dozens of teachers who testified Monday at the Statehouse that the legislation would censor classroom instruction and place unnecessary additional workloads on educators.
A big jump in Indiana county jail overcrowding has state lawmakers looking to partially roll back a nearly decade-old criminal sentencing overhaul and let judges send more people convicted of low-level felonies into state prisons.
Republicans are making a new push to loosen Indiana’s requirements for carrying a handgun in public despite the opposition of several major law enforcement organizations.
The Indiana House Employment, Labor and Pensions Committee on Thursday passed a controversial bill that would restrict employer COVID-19 vaccine mandates by a vote of 7-4, moving the bill forward to the full House for what is expected to be a quick passage next week.
Indiana lawmakers on Wednesday began debate on a Republican-backed bill that would require all school curricula to be posted online for parental review and ban schools’ ability to implement concepts like critical race theory.
A proposed bill that would have removed lawyers’ exemption against obstruction of justice charges has passed out of an Indiana Senate committee, but the provision regarding lawyers was stripped in an amendment.
A bill that would remove a state law requiring drivers to initiate their turn signals at certain distances before turning or switching lanes has started down the Indiana legislative road.
Indiana House Republicans unveiled a tax plan to eliminate or lower four separate taxes that would result in $1 billion in tax cuts by 2025.