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Indiana women struggling to break the gubernatorial glass ceiling
While women have regularly held statewide office and Indiana has had four female Lt. Governors, Hoosier women have struggled to break through to the top office. Indiana has only had one female gubernatorial nominee ever: Democrat Jill Long Thompson in 2008. And the state is languishing on a depressing list of 18 states that have […]
Statehouse basement renovations approach $600k
Indiana paid nearly $600,000 to remodel and reconfigure several committee rooms on the state capitol building’s first floor. The renovations took place after last year’s legislative session. Statehouse Room 156 was previously sectioned into four smaller rooms and a connecting lobby-like area. After months-long renovations costing $583,000 — to date — it’s a snazzy set […]
New Senate rule stifles debate
Amidst the oath-taking and speech-making of Organization Day, the Indiana Senate changed a rule related to floor decorum that threatens to shut down debate in the chamber, especially the voice of the minority party. To fully understand the new rule, let me give you an idea of how debates on controversial bills sometimes have gone […]
Study committees are study in pointlessness (and aren’t free)
A recent prosecutorial oversight committee could be the poster child for why Indiana doesn’t need Legislative Interim Study Committees. The group held one meeting. It lasted one hour. No member of the public testified. The group came up with no recommendations. And that isn’t an aberration. Unfortunately, it is a rarity when these committees actually […]
U.S. Supreme Court denies attempt by Arizona GOP chair to block Jan. 6 panel subpoena
The U.S. Supreme Court sided Monday with the U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, denying a request from Arizona Republican Chairwoman Kelli Ward and her husband to block the panel from obtaining their cellphone records. The court’s two-paragraph order ends Kelli and Michael Ward’s federal suit to block the committee from enforcing a […]
Holcomb bringing Egypt trip to close
Gov. Eric Holcomb is taking many lessons from his trip to Egypt for an international climate change conference — starting with the need to scale up fast and compete with the world. He told reporters Friday morning, for example, that he learned about a hydroelectricity project that was shelved in the United Kingdom. “And it’s […]
Time to move on from straight ticket voting
I’m just going to say it — it’s probably time for Indiana to join the rest of the country in eliminating straight ticket voting. It leads to choosing unqualified or questionable candidates because the R or D after the name is more important than the person who will hold the office. Also called straight party […]
Debating the blue check mark
Anyone who follows me on Twitter knows how excited I was to get my blue check mark back in Dec. 2021. I had tried for years, but Twitter had a pretty stringent procedure. Even though I had thousands of followers, aired on a weekly television show and had been an honest and fair journalist for […]
Molter dons robe — officially
Indiana Supreme Court Justice Derek Molter’s ceremonial robing ceremony Tuesday was a who’s who of jurisprudence, with a few jokes thrown in. He is the newest member of the five-member court, appointed by Gov. Eric Holcomb. He started work Sept. 1 and has already worked on more than 100 cases. Holcomb called Molter innovative, collaborative […]
State law already clear on required vaccines
I love that insurance commercial where several older women are taping pictures to their “wall” — a nod to Facebook and the trope about technology and senior citizens. “That’s not how any of this works,” one woman says. That’s how I feel about the current debate on requiring the COVID-19 vaccination for school-aged children. An […]
Congressman Jim Banks makes moves for leadership
Indiana’s Third District Republican Congressman Jim Banks has been methodically building a national profile over the last seven years — by aligning himself with Donald Trump, curating a fiery (and controversial) Twitter account and leading the Republican Study Committee. Now, he is looking to become the House majority whip should Republicans take control of the […]
Transparency needed on Boone County economic development project
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation’s handling of an attempt to create a massive high-tech park in Boone County leaves a lot to be desired. And while local citizens there are pushing back hard, Hoosiers as a whole should be watching. That’s because the approach to this “innovation district” is new and unique in Indiana – […]