Indiana redistricting plan secures suburban district for GOP
A Republican redistricting plan shores up a suburban Indianapolis district for the GOP while leaving a potentially targeted Democratic district in northwestern Indiana intact.
Politics
-
Advocates ask U.S. Supreme Court to review Indiana absentee voting laws
Hoosiers who unsuccessfully pushed for no-excuse absentee voting in Indiana during the 2020 election are turning to the U.S. Supreme Court, claiming the constitutional arguments they raised will become even more pertinent as some state legislatures are already trying to restrict mail-in balloting.
Read More -
Taft builds new lobby group with Ice Miller transplants
Taft Stettinius & Hollister is making a big push into public affairs and lobbying in both Indianapolis and Washington, D.C., and has nabbed seven attorneys and nonlawyer professionals — including several big names in Indiana politics — from rival Ice Miller to do it.
Read More -
Taft builds new lobby group with Ice Miller transplants
Taft Stettinius & Hollister is making a big push into public affairs and lobbying in both Indianapolis and Washington, D.C., and has nabbed seven attorneys and non-lawyer professionals — including several big names in Indiana politics — from rival Ice Miller to do it.
Read More -
Lawmakers reject no-excuse absentee voting, other election amendments
At least 13 bills dealing with election and voting have been introduced into the 2021 session of the Indiana General Assembly, but only three have received a hearing and none are addressing calls by Democrats for expanded absentee voting and easier access to early voting.
Read More
Articles
Indiana lawmakers head to next step in redistricting after hours of initial public testimony
Lawmakers heard more than two hours of testimony Wednesday at the Indiana Statehouse from citizens who spent most of their time asking for a fair redistricting process.
Evansville woman gets probation for absentee ballot charge
An Evansville Democratic Party activist has been sentenced to probation for sending illegally pre-marked mailings to voters ahead of the 2020 primary elections.
Unusually agreeable justices end term with conservative wins
An unusually agreeable Supreme Court term ended with conservative-driven decisions on voting rights and charitable-donor disclosures that offered a glimpse of what the coming years of the right’s dominance could look like for the nation’s highest court.
Joining Trump at border, Indiana GOP congressman eyes path to power
At the invitation of Donald Trump, Indiana Rep. Jim Banks recently led a small group of House Republicans out to the former president’s New Jersey golf club, where they dined on beef tenderloin, posed for photos and briefed him on strategy for the 2022 midterm elections. Whatever that future may hold, Banks, 41, is working aggressively to play a prominent role in it.
Indiana AG’s “Parents Bill of Rights” document sparks criticism
A document penned this week by the Indiana Attorney General called “Parents Bill of Rights” has caused a stir among parents and political parties alike, partially taking aim at topics of critical race theory and social emotional learning in schools.
Q&A with Mike Schmuhl, new chairman of Indiana Democratic Party
Mike Schmuhl became the Indiana Democratic Party chairman in March and is faced with the task of rebuilding a party that hasn’t won a statewide elective office in nearly a decade. A South Bend native, Schmuhl managed childhood friend Pete Buttigieg’s 2020 presidential campaign, as well as his mayoral campaign in 2011. IBJ recently had a chance to talk to Schmuhl about his rebuilding efforts—and the prospect of Buttigieg coming back to Indiana to run for office.
Indianapolis-area employers reluctant to require employee vaccinations
Around central Indiana, employers are offering plenty of incentives to encourage their workers to get vaccinations as part of an effort to keep their office towers, stores, warehouses and factory floors safe for co-workers and visitors. But few, if any, are requiring workers to get vaccinated.
Indiana health officials plead with Legislature not to overturn Holcomb veto
Some of Indiana’s top public health leaders are pleading with the Legislature not to overturn Gov. Eric Holcomb’s veto of a bill they say would dramatically weaken the authority of local health officials during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Democrats revise voting bill but Senate obstacles remain
Democrats are revising key sections of their sweeping legislation to overhaul U.S. elections, hoping to address concerns raised by state and local election officials even as they face daunting odds of passing the bill through Congress.
Lawmakers to return to Statehouse with chance to override two vetoes
Lawmakers are set to return to the Indiana Statehouse on Monday to make technical corrections — a session in which they could also vote to overturn two vetoes by Gov. Eric Holcomb.
Local refugee organizations prepare to rebuild after Biden raises cap
Only 21 refugees have been resettled to Indiana so far this fiscal year, in the midst of a global pandemic and a historically low federal annual cap on the number of refugees allowed in the United States. On Monday, the Biden administration quadrupled that limit, from 15,000 to 62,500, effective May 15.
Supreme Court skeptical of low-level crack offender’s case
Crack cocaine trafficking kingpins convicted more than a decade ago can ask courts to reduce their prison terms under a 2018 federal law. The Supreme Court on Tuesday sounded skeptical that people convicted of older low-level crack crimes can do the same.
Indiana lawmakers approve state budget, finish session
Indiana lawmakers wrapped a legislative session conducted under the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic Thursday with nearly unanimous backing of a more robust state budget than they had imagined a few months ago.
Indiana bill approved to ban government vaccine passports
State or local governments in Indiana will be prohibited from issuing or requiring COVID-19 vaccine passports under a bill approved by state lawmakers.
DC statehood approved by House as Senate fight looms
A decades-long movement to reshape the American political map took a further step Thursday as the House of Representatives approved a bill to make the nation’s capital the 51st state.
Pelosi floats new proposal for bipartisan Jan. 6 commission
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is renewing her push for a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, floating a new proposal to Republicans that would evenly split the panel’s membership between the two parties.
Indiana budget plan invests revenue bump in education, infrastructure
An extra $2 billion in revenue has led to new and “historic” investments in education, small businesses and broadband, Indiana legislative and executive leaders announced Tuesday.
Justice Barrett selling South Bend home
The South Bend home where Justice Amy Coney Barrett, her husband, Jesse, and their seven children have lived for 19 years is being sold as the family prepares to relocate to Washington, D.C., to be closer to her work at the U.S. Supreme Court. She isn’t the only Hoosier pulling up stakes in South Bend to go serve in the nation’s capital.
Indiana agrees to deal giving local officials say over health orders
Indiana legislative negotiators have reached an agreement on limiting the authority of county or city health departments by allowing local elected officials to overturn orders or enforcement actions issued during emergencies.