The last couple of weeks in the General Assembly have featured hours…and hours…of committee hearings on topics like downtown development (SB7) and economic development (SB563), on to marathon hearings on gaming issues (SB552) and municipal powers earlier this week. There’s been lots of passing the…
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Rapper and part-time NBA team owner Jay-Z helps us title this week’s update, as a high-profile hearing on SB7 generated plenty of attention. The bill would change the game for Indy’s sports and hospitality sector, expanding our convention capacity while keeping the Pacers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse – and kicking in…
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We had to bring out the big guns – the one-and-only D-R-E – to headline this week’s update. We’re at a turning point, a gut check about what we mean when we say ‘Hoosier values.’ It’s time to bring the noise. We all know that Indiana is one of just five states…
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Thirty of America’s most prominent civil rights advocacy organizations rebuke Indiana’s current bias crimes bill as “weak,” “vague” and “unacceptable” INDIANA, March 7, 2019 – Thirty of the nation’s leading civil rights organizations — including the Anti-Defamation League, the Human Rights campaign, the NAACP and the Southern Poverty Law Center…
View MoreMore than 20 CEOs from some of the biggest companies in Indiana sent a letter to top Republican lawmakers Wednesday urging them to restore a list of victim characteristics in bias-crimes legislation being considered by the Indiana General Assembly. The Indiana Senate passed a bias crimes bill earlier this…
View MoreINDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb said Wednesday he will try to build public support for a hate crimes law, a week after the Republican-dominated state Senate stripped out a list of specific protected traits he had supported to get Indiana off a list of five states without…
View MoreFebruary 27, 2019 Dear Speaker Bosma, Senate President Bray and Representative Steuerwald: We want to bring your attention to an issue that is vital to the Hoosier business community: passing a comprehensive bias crimes law with enumerated classes. Unfortunately, SB 12 as passed by the Senate last week is void…
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It’s March 1st, and for Hoosier hoops fans that means we’re within shouting distance of the NCAA tournament…and it provides a useful metaphor for our strategy at the Statehouse (no, not ‘March Madness’ – yet). The coaches’ mantra for tournament play is “survive and advance” – get the win, even if…
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So…not much to report this week from the Statehouse. See you next Friday. Sometimes humor can take some of the sting out of a bitter disappointment, but there’s only one way to fix the bias crimes debacle on the Senate floor: Hope rests with the House, where Speaker Bosma (R-Indianapolis)…
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(INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., February 19, 2019) The Indy Chamber issued the following statement after the Indiana Senate acted today to remove enumerated, personal characteristics and law enforcement training from SB12, which had been a comprehensive and effective proposal to protect Hoosiers from bias-motivated crimes that passed the Senate Public Policy Committee…
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