In response to pressure by the Governor’s office to push a 10-percent income tax cut, House Speaker Brian Bosma penned a letter last month to all 92 Republican County Chairmen in Indiana explaining his hesitancy to adopt the measure.   A copy of the letter is below. Bosma letter to county chairman from Abdul-Hakim Shabazz

Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosma admits that while the Indiana General Assembly  has had to deal with some “side issues” he tells the Statehouse press corps he is generally pleased with what lawmakers have done and thinks they can workout their remaining issues like the smoking ban and a Hoosier’s right to resist an unlawful [...]

Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosma says if Democrats don’t show up for work at 9 a.m. Wednesday, he will start levying $1,000 a day fines.  Democrats say they have no intention of paying. The fines are the result of a tumultuous afternoon at the Statehouse where Democrats refused to come back from an afternoon caucus [...]

Don’t be surprised if you wake up on March 15th (the same days as the Ides of March, ironically) and find yourself in the 23rd “Right to Work” (RTW) state in the country.   RTW for Indiana is inevitable.  A full House vote is coming, and RTW will pass.  It won’t be a sweeping majority, I [...]

I was recently chatting with a buddy of mine from my graduate school days at the University of Illinois.  We were joking about the times we would go out, try to pick up a young lady or two, and just before we were about to seal the deal, then someone would overreach by asking her [...]

I was e-mailed this the other day. It started airing Sunday in Indianapolis and Ft. Wayne on the morning public affairs shows.  It will also be running on cable TV in the Indy-metro area. This tells me the GOP is serious bout passing right to work legislation.

Indiana Statehouse Republicans Monday threw down the political gauntlet and said they were bringing “right to work” legislation to a vote and making it a priority this session. Democrats, as expected cried foul and said they will do whatever is necessary to stop the measure. Brian Bosma and David Long say they’re ready for Pat [...]

There were some conflicting reports this morning on whether embattled State Representative Phil Hinkle of Indianapolis would resign his seat.  Some media outlets were reporting he was resigning, others said no.  I texted Hinkle this morning and his response was resounding “NO”.  He also told me he is not running for re-election in 2012.  House [...]

Indiana lawmakers are expected to take up the new legislative maps today, however House Democrats are asking for more time to review them.   In a letter to House Speaker Brian Bosma and Elections Committee Chairman State Representative Eric Koch, Democratic leader Pat Bauer and Ranking Member John Bartlett say today’s committee hearing and vote should [...]

Here’s the latest gossip, rumor and innuendo coming from the Capitol.  Do with it what you will… There’s a lot of speculation about what happened in the impromptu meeting Wednesday afternoon between House Speaker Brian Bosma and Democratic leader Pat Bauer.   Bauer was in town for a “personnel issue” that involved the four legislative leaders [...]