Government

Tippecanoe County receives approximately $500,000 each year through the federal Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP). That gives local entities money necessary to make roads, intersections and other transportation features less dangerous.

Area Plan Commission Executive Director Sallie Fahey says the funds could be used to put in a roundabout at the intersection of Happy Hollow and River roads.

The Indiana General Assembly adopted a two year, $30 billion budget, one Republicans say contains the largest tax cut in state history. However, Democrats say the tax cut is an illusion.

With the governor’s signature, Indiana would become the 28th state to legalize and regulate midwifery after the House and Senate approved a bill Friday. This marked the first session during which a midwifery bill cleared both houses of the General Assembly.  But key roadblocks remained as recently as last week.

Indiana took a major step toward overhauling its criminal code Friday as the Senate approved a bill four years in the making.

The revision bill is the result of work by the Criminal Code Evaluation Commission, a group of lawmakers, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, and law enforcement who analyzed the state’s entire code, line-by-line.  The legislation aims to make sentences for the worst criminal offenses more severe while reducing the penalties for low-level crimes, particularly first-time drug offenses.

House and Senate leaders say they’ve reached an agreement on the final two year budget.  They say it includes significant increases for education and roads funding.

Though the budget isn’t expected to officially pass until late Friday, House and Senate fiscal leaders have hammered out a deal that includes more than $300 million in funding increases for K through 12 education.  House Speaker Brian Bosma (R-Indianapolis) says the budget goes beyond the goal of restoring education funding to pre-recession levels.