Tagged: Indiana General Assembly

Indiana's Republican House and Senate leaders will wait a year before they take up an effort to write the state's gay marriage ban into the constitution.

House Speaker Brian Bosma  and Senate President Pro Tem David Long said today  that their respective caucuses decided the issue should wait until the 2014 session.

Long and Bosma have said they are apprehensive of taking on the issue before the Supreme Court rules on related cases this summer. Social conservatives in the House and Senate had pressed them to tackle the issue this year.

Indiana lawmakers held a lengthy hearing today on a bill that would allow Sunday retail alcohol sales.

The measure before the House Public Policy Committee would broaden a state law that currently restricts Sunday sales to restaurants, bars, breweries and wineries.

John Elliott spoke on behalf of the Kroger Company and the Indiana Retail Council Board.   He says customers are being inconvenienced, retailers are losing money and the state is missing out on tax revenue under the current law.

Amazon.com and other online-only retailers would have to start collecting Indiana's 7 percent sales tax this summer under a bill approved overwhelmingly by the Indiana House.

The bill approved by a 79-18 vote today would negate an agreement between Amazon and former Gov. Mitch Daniels that gave the company until next year to start charging the sales tax.

A proposal to amend Indiana’s constitution to guarantee residents the right to hunt, fish and farm has cleared a legislative committee.

The Senate Agriculture Committee voted 7-0 today to advance the measure, which now goes to the full Senate.

The proposal is sponsored by Republican Sen. Brent Steele, who says hunting and farming are being threatened by animal-rights activists and other groups.

Indiana legislative leaders expect to decide soon whether to take up a proposal during the current session to write a gay marriage ban into the state constitution.

Republican Senate President Pro Tem David Long and Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma say they will make their decision after consulting with their respective caucuses next week.

Their statements follow reports from the Evansville Courier and Press that a majority of lawmakers on the House and Senate panels that would vet the ban want to wait until next year.

A tort reform measure from Indiana Gov. Mike Pence's first-year agenda has gone down in defeat amid opposition in a key Senate committee.

Republican Sen. Mike Delph said today he was withdrawing the proposal that would make the losers of lawsuits pay all legal fees because it was unlikely to pass the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The measure sparked controversy when it was first submitted earlier this month. Pence didn't include the proposal in his campaign "roadmap" and has declined to comment on it in multiple interviews.