Lawmakers renew effort against illegal immigrant workers
As unemployment in Indiana has climbed past 7 percent, state lawmakers have renewed last year’s failed efforts to crack down on businesses that knowingly hire illegal immigrants. If a company is cited three times for employing illegal immigrants, it could lose its business license to operate in Indiana, under three similar bills introduced this year. Supporters of the legislation say those penalties would keep businesses from employing illegal immigrants at below-market wages, and would dry up opportunities for illegal immigrants.
House speaker cool to several hot issues
Most lawmakers say the biggest issue before the Indiana General Assembly this year is passing a balanced budget during tough economic times. But there are a few hot topics that some legislators also want addressed this session. They include taking the next step toward amending caps on property tax bills into the state constitution, starting over on trying to put a ban on gay marriage in the constitution and cracking down on illegal immigration.
Feds to state: Not so fast
All those changes — and cuts — at the Indiana Department of Environmental Management have caught the attention of environmental activists — and others. Mayors in several cities have complained to the legislature about the sweeping moves, which include suspending recycling and pollution prevention funding to localities, narrowing the definition of a violation, and closing IDEM’s Office of Enforcement as a separate entity. Now the federal government has weighed in. A letter sent last week to IDEM Commissioner Thomas Easterly from Bharat Mathur, acting regional administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency, says, in so many words: We’d better talk.
Bill would allocate money for road projects
State Rep. Scott Pelath, D-Michigan City, reported this week that a bill he co-authored that would provide millions of dollars in immediate funding for state and local road projects cleared the House Roads and Transportation Committee and is on its way to the House Ways and Means Committee, which he chairs. Pelath said the bill, House Bill 1656, would help put thousands of Hoosiers back to work. It would use undedicated Major Moves funds, state budget reserves and revenue generated by state fuel taxes to speed progress on large-scale road construction projects and give local units of government the ability to work on road and street repairs and renovations.
