Statewide News

A bill that would raise the floor for teacher pay in Indiana passed out of the Senate Education and Career Development Committee this week. Lawmakers disagreed on how much to raise the pay floor, but the bill still passed committee unanimously.

Indiana has at least 600 rape kits waiting to be tested at the state’s crime labs. And there are potentially many more in local law enforcement agencies, waiting to be sent to the labs.

Health care facilities are barred from hiring employees who have been convicted of certain criminal offenses, including felony convictions within the last five years related to “controlled substances.” Lawmakers want to introduce an exception for peer support professionals.

A Senate committee advances a bill banning diversity, equity and inclusion. Legislation heads to the Senate floor to continue cutting the state individual income tax rate. And a measure banning non-compete clauses for physicians clears a committee.

The Indiana Senate advanced a measure Thursday that would require children younger than 16 to get parental permission before creating social media accounts. Despite some concern about the bill's implementation, it was supported by most of the Senate.

A bill concerning additional skill tests for people who received a non-accredited, non-public high school diploma received robust debate in the House Education Committee this week and passed out of committee.

A House committee approved a bill that would make several funding changes to Indiana’s Medicaid expansion program. House Bill 1586 was supported by key health care stakeholders, such as the Insurance Institute of Indiana and the Indiana Hospital Association.

Several bills that would make Hoosiers pay some of the cost of building small modular nuclear reactors are working their way through the Indiana Statehouse. But a state Senate bill that passed committee on Thursday, SB 423, would allow the tech companies driving the need for these plants to share that cost.

Indiana law enforcement would be required to send notice to federal immigration officials if they have probable cause to believe someone they arrested is an undocumented immigrant. That’s under a bill approved by a House committee Thursday.

Diversity, equity and inclusion — and a list of policies and beliefs tied to them — would be banned in state agencies, educational institutions and any organization that receives money from the state under a bill approved by a Senate committee Wednesday.