Economy
Congress is haggling over border security: Where does it stand?
WASHINGTON — As Congress negotiates the White House’s $106 billion supplemental aid request for Israel, Ukraine and U.S. border security, fights over immigration policy have tied up the request. The White House sent its proposal that includes nearly $14 billion in supplemental border security funding to Congress in late October, but it will likely look […]
The resurgence of union power is bigger than money
The Portland Public Schools (PPS) and the Portland Association of Teachers (PAT) reached a tentative agreement to their labor dispute on Sunday. The impasse had led to a three-week strike, cancelling eleven instructional days in Oregon’s largest school district. Students returned to the classroom Monday. The highlights of the dispute weren’t novel. Teacher pay was […]
Jury finds Senate candidate’s family-owned company price gouged eggs
An Illinois jury found on Tuesday that several companies, including one co-owned by a U.S. Senate candidate from Indiana, conspired to restrict the supply of eggs to drive up the prices. Rose Acre Farms Inc. — previously chaired by John Rust, who is running to succeed U.S. Sen. Mike Braun — Cal-Maine Foods Inc. and […]
Reliability v. sustainability: Inside the debate over the EPA’s proposed carbon rules
Electric reliability has been a hot topic lately — from congressional hearings to regulatory agencies and at the regional transmission organizations that run the electric grid in much of the country. The American electric grid is undergoing a major change, prodded by state and federal decarbonization policies, market forces pushing cheaper and cleaner forms of […]
Retailers pare back their seasonal hiring to prepare for ho-hum holidays
Black Friday shoppers may notice longer lines and fewer retail associates in some of their favorite stores than in past holiday seasons as retailers scale back seasonal hiring over concerns about consumer spending. JCPenney is hiring 12,000 fewer workers than last year. Macy’s 3,000 fewer. Meanwhile a Walmart executive said the retail giant has been […]
Indiana cities are dishing out thousands of dollars to get out-of-state workers to relocate
Museum passes, concert tickets, coworking spaces and thousands of dollars in cash are enticing hundreds of families to relocate to Indiana — and even more are expected to make the move as a growing incentive program continues to expand. More than three dozen Hoosier communities have tapped into new funding pools created to help them […]
Biden launches ‘Investing in Rural America’ push with Cabinet officials
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and administration officials are kicking off an “Investing in Rural America” event series, starting with a visit to a Minnesota farm Wednesday to announce nearly $5 billion for conservation, economic development and “climate smart” agriculture. Biden, who is running for reelection in 2024, has been highlighting what the administration calls […]
Blue and red states slash taxes despite warnings of hard times ahead
With a $750 million budget surplus on hand, there was little doubt whether North Dakota lawmakers would cut taxes earlier this year — the question was how much. “The surplus was strong, and we believe it’s going to be sustained into the future,” said state Rep. Craig Headland. “So, it just made sense to cut […]
Pensions panel recommends guaranteed 13th check-COLA split
Indiana should move from ad hoc public retirement benefit increases to a long-term approach that guarantees former public employees a 13th check or cost of living adjustment (COLA) annually, an interim committee recommended Tuesday. But who gets what — and how much the proposal will cost the state — will depend on a yet-to-be-determined cutoff […]
Indiana selected for biotech hub designation worth millions
The federal government designated Indiana’s Heartland BioWorks as a Regional Technology and Innovation Hub on Monday, allowing the consortium of Hoosier entities to compete against other hubs for implementation grants of up to $75 million. U.S. Sen. Todd Young authored the program as part of the CHIPS and Science Act expressly to “spur more innovation … […]
Replacing income tax with sales tax hike would cost poor Hoosiers more, experts say
Axing Indiana’s individual income tax and replacing just half the revenue with a sales tax hike would cost the state’s poorest residents an additional $62 and hand the top 1% of earners a $30,000 tax cut, a think tank told state lawmakers Friday. Instead of “seeking deep cuts to the income tax or even getting […]
Committee concludes with draft recommendations for child care
The third and final meeting of the interim committee on Public Health, Behavioral Health and Human Services concluded with a unanimous vote to approve a draft report of recommendations — though that report wasn’t yet available for public review. Much of the final report focused on child care testimony from an August meeting, where stakeholders […]