The Inside Scoop from the Senate Democrats
The Interim Study Committee on Redistricting met September 20 to hear testimony concerning the redistricting practices of other states, including a presentation by the National Council of State Legislatures (NCSL).
NCSL Redistricting Presentation (PDF)>>
The committee is charged with reviewing the process by which Indiana redraws its district maps and recommending ways to improve method by 2021, the year maps will be redrawn again.
The State Budget Committee met on September 8 to hear from Indiana’s public universities on recent tuition increases at their respective institutions. Committee members pressed university presidents and board of trustee members on alternative methods for securing the necessary funding to preserve Indiana’s status as a state that provides high quality, affordable and accessible higher education.
Reductions in state funding for public institutions of higher education have, in part, pushed universities to increase tuition to accommodate operational costs.
Continue reading ‘Budget Committee looks at university tuition increases’
The state presides over seven retirement plans that together make up the Indiana Public Retirement System (IPRS). The IPRS includes more than 480,000 members and serves over 1,200 different public employers. Overall, Indiana’s pension fund contained net assets of over $25 billion as of August 3, 2011. Member and employer contributions amounted to $1.9 billion in FY11 and the system distributed $3.9 billion to retirees and beneficiaries.
Indiana Public Retirement System Presentation (Aug. 3, 2011)>>
Plans cover the following public employees and officials:
Continue reading ‘Budget Briefs: Indiana Public Retirement System Budget Breakdown’
On Friday, the Indiana Department of Workforce Development (DWD) announced that Indiana’s unemployment rate for August 2011 rose to 8.7 percent. Indiana’s unemployment is beginning to approach the U.S. rate of 9.1 percent, and stands lower than neighboring states Illinois (9.9 percent), Ohio (9.1 percent), Kentucky (9.5 percent) and Michigan (11.2 percent).
Employment Report (LAUS)
Jobs Report (CES)
The Interim Study Committee on Employment met on September 7 to hear testimony on project labor agreements (PLAs). This topic was assigned to the committee during the 2011 Session in HEA 1216 as a compromise to passing legislation that would have banned the use of union-only PLAs for public works projects in Indiana.
PLAs are a pre-hire collective bargaining agreement with one or more labor organizations that establishes the terms and conditions of employment for a specific construction project. Before any workers are hired on the project, construction unions and contractors negotiate with each other to determine the wage rates and benefits of all employees working on the project and agree to prevent any strikes, lockouts, or other work stoppages for the length of the project. Indiana law currently does not regulate the use of PLAs or what can and cannot be in those agreements.
Recent large scale construction projects built under PLAs in Indiana. From the Central Indiana Trades Council.
The Commission on Military and Veterans Affairs met on August 23 to discuss the needs of Hoosier service men and women returning from conflict abroad and heard testimony from the Indiana National Guard and the Indiana Department of Veterans’ Affairs.
View the Indiana National Guard’s presentation here.
Download the Indiana Department of Veterans’ Affairs presentation here.
The Adjutant General of the Indiana National Guard, R. Martin Umbarger, presented the commission with an Indiana National Guard deployment update and an overview of the programs currently in place supporting Indiana’s service men and women.
Deployment
The Indiana National Guard currently employs 14,738 soldiers and airmen with 64 readiness centers, two aerial gunnery ranges, one intelligence wing and one air base. Approximately 580 Guardsmen are currently deployed in Germany, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Middle East and around the United States. Over 3,200 soldiers are scheduled to deploy within 18 months.
From the Indiana National Guard's Family Assistance brochure, a map of current (green) and planned (red) Family Assistance Centers.
Veteran Resources
The Indiana National Guard and the Indiana Department of Veterans’ Affairs have taken action and put programs in place to provide assistance to veterans throughout their service. Indiana has 13 Family Assistance Centers around the state providing services, programs and assistance locally. Resources are also available for crisis intervention, including suicide prevention. The National Guard has realigned their focus to put emphasis on decentralizing suicide prevention efforts and including members of a soldier’s unit and community to assist with the Guard’s effort.
The committee hopes to visit the Indiana National Guard’s Camp Atterbury, a joint maneuvers training center, and the Indiana Veterans’ Home in the future. Interim committees must make recommendations for legislation for the 2012 legislative session by November 2011.
The General Assembly annually convenes interim study committees and permanent commissions to conduct in-depth research and analysis of issues affecting the state. Most study committees must complete their work by November 1. Recommendations from these committees are often the basis for future legislation. More information about committee topics, schedules and agendas is available online at www.in.gov/legislative/interim.
Indiana’s Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) is responsible for providing administrative services and funding to meet the needs of citizens that require long term, developmental or rehabilitative care
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As the preferences of those requiring care shift, as federal reform efforts take shape and as the administration continues to focus their budgetary priority on fewer programs, FSSA’s ability to provide appropriate care has become more difficult.
FSSA is broken down into five divisions:
The Division of Family Resources (DFR) is responsible for determining eligibility for Medicaid and managing Indiana’s food stamps (SNAP) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs. DFR also inspects and licenses Indiana’s child care facilities and oversees Headstart, a federal program that provides early education to low-income children.
In the FY12-13 biennium, DFR offset a 77 percent decline in dedicated funds with a 22 and 10 percent increase in general and federal funds respectively as compared to the previous biennium. The division’s total combined FY12-13 appropriation stood at $1.3 billion. Continue reading ‘Budget Briefs: FSSA Budget Breakdown’
