As Indiana lawmakers  move  forward with bias crimes legislation, the big issue is whether there will be a “list” of classes specifically spelled out in the statute (i.e., race, gender, sexual orientation, etc.)   The original Senate Bill included an enumerated list of protected classes.  And while that passed out of committee, the list was removed […]

Indiana lawmakers have a busy week ahead as they try to meet committee deadlines for numerous bills including the budget, bias crimes, gaming, alcohol, the Indiana Pacers and variety of other issues. It is also at this point that things can get contentious in the House and Senate chambers as major legislation starts to move. […]

Two years ago Indiana was in the middle of a level five political hurricane called RFRA.  A few years before that Democrats and Republicans deadlocked over “right to work, ” and Democrats fled to Champaign, IL bringing the government to a halt.  And just last year we were all pondering whether then Governor Mike Pence […]

Indiana has $1 billion in annual road need.   The anti-tax crowd says don’t raises taxes, use existing budget dollars.  Ok, that’s fine, let’s see if we can take $1 billion out of the state budget. According to State Budget Agency, Indiana spent $30 billion in fiscal year 2016.   Wow, that’s a lot of money, Abdul. […]

I have always felt that here in Indiana, Republicans worst enemies aren’t Democrats or progressives, but themselves. This became abundantly clear when I read State Representative Curt Nisly of Goshen wants to introduce a bill that would put a rape victim in jail for having an abortion if she became pregnant due to the sexual […]

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 […]