Discipline and data: New laws continue rethinking approach to troubled youths
Bills dealing with suspension of students and the collection of data on discipline continue an evolution of how the state deals with children at school.
Indiana General Assembly
Articles
After Noblesville school shooting, juvenile waiver a hot topic
On the heels of the recent Noblesville school shooting involving a 13-year-old suspect, lawmakers pledged to review Indiana’s juvenile waiver laws to determine if Title 31 should authorize more situations where a minor could be transferred out of juvenile court.
Extra $25M for DCS dwarfed by prior increases, children’s needs
The $25 million Gov. Eric Holcomb recently pledged in additional funding for the Department of Child Services is not the first infusion of extra money given to the agency in recent years. In fact, the sum is one of the smaller supplements to the department’s annual state appropriation, which is more than $600 million.
Justices won’t hear nursing home moratorium appeal
A majority of Indiana’s Supreme Court let stand Indiana’s moratorium on nursing home construction. The 3-2 ruling is a loss for Carmel-based Mainstreet Property Group, which sought to overturn the ban.
Holcomb praises Supreme Court’s online sales tax ruling
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb is praising a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that says states can force online shoppers to pay sales tax. The 5-4 decision Thursday overturns earlier rulings, which determined companies shipping products to states where they didn’t have a physical presence weren’t obligated to collect the states’ sales tax.
Holcomb: DCS changes, extra $25M mark new day for troubled agency
Pledging this is the start of a new day for the Indiana Department of Child Services, Gov. Eric Holcomb on Monday outlined changes his administration is implementing to improve the troubled state agency and announced that he is dipping into the state surplus to provide another $25 million to boost salaries and transform the workplace culture.
Results of DCS outside assessment to be released Monday
Key findings from an outside assessment of Indiana’s Department of Child Services will be released Monday, when representatives from the Child Welfare Policy and Practice Group will present the results of the assessment requested by Gov. Eric Holcomb. Holcomb asked for the DCS study after former director Mary Beth Bonaventura abruptly resigned, accusing Holcomb of cutting funds and putting children’s lives at risk.
Indiana Senate leader Long joins Ice Miller
In advance of his retirement from the Indiana Statehouse in November, Senate President Pro Tem David Long, R-Fort Wayne, will be joining Ice Miller LLP as a partner today. Long, who has a law office in Fort Wayne and serves as general counsel for Pizza Hut, will practice in the firm’s Public Affairs Group.
Lawmakers skip assessment of unemployment fund
Despite Indiana’s unemployment rate of 3.2 percent, the General Assembly is still required by law to perform a yearly checkup of the unemployment fund to make sure the nest egg is strong and healthy enough to support Hoosier workers who are laid off. However, at present, no examination has been scheduled.
ACLU arguing for injunction against abortion law taking effect July 1
An in-court battle over yet another Indiana abortion law will take place Friday when the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana will urge a district court judge to enter an injunction against portions of a law set to take effect in less than a month.
House Speaker opposes Republican marriage platform changes
Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosma is the latest powerful GOP leader who doesn’t want to change the state Republican Party’s platform that favors “marriage between a man and a woman.”
Study: Gun removal law reduces suicides in Indiana
An Indiana law allowing authorities to temporarily remove guns from those considered a risk to others or themselves has helped reduce the state’s firearm-related suicides, according to a University of Indianapolis study.
Changing times: Fewer call for laws on the books
With the Indiana Code accessible and searchable online, fewer and fewer volumes of the printed versions are being produced each year, and DVDs once supplied to county clerks around the state to update their statute records have gone the way of the floppy disc.
State secret: DOC presses lethal injection confidentiality
A law slipped into the 2017 budget bill during the General Assembly’s final hours declared that information about drugs that the state would use to execute someone was confidential. The last-minute law was written into the bill even though a judge had ruled months earlier that the very same information was a matter of public record and had ordered the Department of Correction to provide it.
State, railroad argue over blocked crossings before Supreme Court
The Indiana Supreme Court on Thursday heard oral arguments in a case to determine whether state or federal law controls how long trains may block road crossings. Norfolk Southern Railway challenged the state’s blocked crossing statute after receiving 23 citations for blocking a crossing for more than 10 minutes.
Indiana Senate Republicans pick Bray to lead after special session
Indiana Senate Republicans selected a new leader to replace outgoing President Pro Temp David Long. The decision came after lawmakers concluded a one-day special session by sending a handful of bills to Gov. Eric Holcomb.
Indiana lawmakers returning to clean up session’s mess
Indiana lawmakers will be back at the Statehouse on Monday for a special session called to take action on a handful of bills that died in March when the year’s regular legislative session came to a chaotic close.
Marion, Lake, Monroe prosecutors won’t defend abortion law
Three Indiana prosecutors in counties with Planned Parenthood facilities have announced they will not defend the state in a recently filed lawsuit challenging a 2018 abortion law.
ACLU, Planned Parenthood sue over abortion complications reporting law
Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky is once again challenging an Indiana abortion law it says is “a cruel intimidation tactic,” this time taking aim at a 2018 piece of legislation that was signed into law less than a month ago.
Indiana collecting more DNA samples after new law
A new Indiana law is adding thousands of new samples to the state’s DNA database. The Indiana State Police lab has had an average of 4,200 DNA samples tested each month this year through March, up from 1,100 a month last year.