Posts Tagged ‘Indiana’
Indiana Dems Outline Demands to end Boycott
Last Updated on Wednesday, 23 March 2011 01:31 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 16 March 2011 10:45
From CourierPress.com:
Scotch one labor bill, water down a private school voucher program and declare the “right to work” measure dead for the year.
Those are the requests the leader of Indiana’s boycotting House Democrats made in a letter his staff hand-delivered to Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma on Tuesday.
The implication of House Democratic Leader B. Patrick Bauer’s letter: If Republicans agree to those concessions, Democrats move much closer to leaving the Comfort Suites hotel in Urbana, Ill., where they’ve been holed up since Feb. 22, and returning to the Statehouse.
Tags: Indiana | Posted under State Legislature News | No Comments
Rainy Day Funds tough to use in some states
Last Updated on Wednesday, 23 March 2011 01:37 Written by rslcpol Friday, 11 March 2011 01:05
From NewsTribune.com:
While budget deficits threaten to cripple government services across the country, a handful of states with billions of dollars socked away in “rainy day” funds for troubled financial times are discovering they can’t use that money to offset their cuts.
Amid the worst financial crisis facing states in decades, stringent rules governing the use of reserve funds have tied the hands of lawmakers in nearly a dozen states even as they consider raising taxes, slashing health and social services and shuttering education programs.
About three-fourths of states have used rainy day funds in the past three years to alleviate budget cuts, but some have had difficulty accessing the money or have shied away from doing so. They would have to repay it quickly or were worried it would hurt their bond ratings.
Tags: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Neveda, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma | Posted under State Legislature News | No Comments
IN: GOP Speaker Optimistic Democrats will return to work Soon
Last Updated on Wednesday, 23 March 2011 01:38 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 9 March 2011 02:30
From IndyStar.com:
House Speaker Brian Bosma said this morning he is optimistic that the nearly three-week-old standoff in the Indiana House is nearing a close, now that the Democrat leader has both called and written him to discuss some of the issues.
House Minority Leader B. Patrick Bauer, who is in Urbana, Ill., with most of the 40 House Democrats, called Bosma this morning, and sent him a letter Tuesday. While the conversations did not break any new ground, as Bauer sought clarification on how bills that passed committees but have died due to the impasse will be handled, Bosma called it a positive step.
Tags: Indiana | Posted under State Legislature News | No Comments
IN: Democrat Leader Returns to State to Speak with Speaker Brian Bosma
Last Updated on Wednesday, 2 March 2011 02:05 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 2 March 2011 02:05
From ibj.com:
The leader of House Democrats who left Indiana over bills they disagreed with has returned to the state and met with the Republican House speaker — but their talks ended with no agreement on ending the weeklong Statehouse standoff.
House Minority Leader Patrick Bauer drove back from Illinois and met with Speaker Brian Bosma for 50 minutes Wednesday in the GOP leader’s Statehouse office. Bauer had two other House Democrats with him in the meeting, which also was attended by four other majority Republicans.
Most House Democrats have been staying in Urbana, Ill., since last Tuesday, when they began boycotting the House to derail labor and education bills they’re against by denying the House the quorum needed to conduct business. The boycott already killed a “right-to-work” bill that unions opposed.
Tags: Indiana | Posted under State Legislature News | No Comments
Indiana: Lt. Governor to run for Governor?
Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 11:23 Written by rslcpol Monday, 30 August 2010 01:26
From Post-Tribune:
– On a hot afternoon at the Indiana State Fair, a cool blonde caught the attention of two men from southern Indiana taking refuge in a shaded tent.
“Is that Becky Skillman?” asked one. “Can’t be,” said the other.
Absent an entourage and surrounded by hog farmers in ball caps, the woman they spotted eating a pork burger may not have looked like the constitutional successor to Gov. Mitch Daniels.
She looked, as she described herself earlier that day, like an “average Hoosier.”
That, say political experts, may be why Indiana’s first elected female lieutenant governor could make history again as the state’s first female governor, if she decides to run.
Tags: Indiana | Posted under Lieutenant Governor News | No Comments
Indiana AG Says Schools Can’t Charge Bus Riders
Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 12:02 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 13 July 2010 01:47
From South Bend Tribune:
Indiana’s attorney general said Monday that state law doesn’t allow public school districts to charge students a fee for taking the bus to and from school.
That could pose a problem for school districts around the state that had been looking at the fees as one possible way to help them out of a financial bind caused by property tax caps and a $300 million cut in state education spending.
The opinion said school districts have no legal authority to assess and collect a fee for transportation to and from school so a student can receive a public education. Further, it says that transportation is part of “a uniform system of public education in Indiana.”
Tags: Indiana | Posted under Attorney General News | No Comments
IN: State Races come into Focus
Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 12:22 Written by rslcpol Monday, 28 June 2010 01:48
From CourierPress.com:
Democrats chose Vop Osili, a 47-year-old Indianapolis architect, to run for the secretary of state’s office vacant because Todd Rokita has reached his two-term limit. In what turned out to be no contest, Democratic delegates chose him over Carmel attorney Tom McKenna.
Osili will face Republican nominee Charlie White, a 40-year-old Fishers town councilman, in November.
The key issue in that race is likely to be the voter identification law that Rokita championed. The law requires Hoosiers to present state-issued photo IDs when they go to the polls.
White has said he will vigorously defend it, while Democrats have called it unfair.
For state treasurer, incumbent Republican Richard Mourdock, 59, a former Vanderburgh County commissioner, will face South Bend businessman Pete Buttigieg, 28.
Mourdock has rocketed into the public eye in the last year because of his challenge of the Chrysler bankruptcy proceedings on behalf of two Indiana pension funds. That challenge is a likely focal point of the state treasurer’s race.
Tags: Indiana | Posted under Secretaries of State, State Legislature News | No Comments
Indiana: Regaining Majority would Aid Agenda
Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 12:34 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 22 June 2010 01:23
From indystar.com:
Gov. Mitch Daniels’ political future may depend on Kim Builta in Anderson.
And on Kurt Webber in Indianapolis, Kevin Mahan in Hartford City and a couple dozen other Republicans running this fall, with Daniels’ backing, for seats in the Indiana House.
AdvertisementWith two years left as governor and barred by law from seeking a third term, Daniels is making an all-out effort to put the Statehouse back under Republican control.
Tags: Indiana | Posted under State Legislature News | No Comments
IN: Governor Works to Give GOP a Boost
Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 12:35 Written by rslcpol Monday, 21 June 2010 02:08
From FortWayne.com:
Gov. Mitch Daniels is making a strong push to help Indiana Republicans win back the state House of Representatives in November, helping to recruit candidates and raising money to benefit the party.
The results could determine how successful he is in his final two years in office as he works for changes on issues such as charter schools, teacher pay and government reforms. But they also could increase national speculation about his potential as a Republican presidential candidate in 2012.
Daniels kept an aggressive pace during his first two years in office, when Republicans controlled both chambers of the Legislature. He won approval to lease the Indiana Toll Road to a foreign consortium for 75 years and declared victory after the state’s three-decade struggle over whether to switch to daylight saving time. But Democrats have held a slim majority in the Indiana House since 2007, and the momentum has slowed.
Tags: Indiana | Posted under State Legislature News | No Comments
IN: State has $32.8 Million in Unclaimed Cash
Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 01:18 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 12 May 2010 01:43
From Post-Tribune:
More than $32.8 million belonging to Northwest Indiana residents is sitting in state bank accounts, Attorney General Greg Zoeller said Tuesday, and it’s waiting for its rightful owners to claim it.
Zoeller spread the word about Indiana’s unclaimed cash while visiting Ivy Tech Community College’s Gary campus. More than $350 million has been left behind by Hoosiers all over the state, he said. People can claim their money at www. IndianaUnclaimed.com.
Tags: Indiana | Posted under Attorney General News | No Comments