The bill is a follow up to a sentencing reform law that puts lower level felons in community-based programs instead of sending them to prison. But that law included no funding to boost those programs.

House Bill 1358 allows companies such as banks, credit card company, service providers and other firms to seize a person's tax refund - only after paying the state $8 to see if the debtor is getting a refund check.

A House committee Tuesday unanimously approved a bill creating what Speaker Brian Bosma calls the first major ethics code revision in at least 20 years.

A change in committee to this year's version restricts permits to facilities that existed before the start of 2015, essentially limiting the number of preserves in the state to only a handful.

The State has hired a veteran from Grissom's 434th Air Refueling Wing to be the new Indiana Women Veterans Coordinator.

Lower income Hoosiers could keep their child care aid even as their incomes increased modestly under legislation a Senate committee considered Monday.

President Obama Friday visited Ivy Tech's Indianapolis campus where he advanced a theme of bipartisanship laid out in his State of the Union Address. The president said his relationships with some Indiana Republicans up as proof that bipartisanship works.

A Senate committee Monday will hear two versions of legislation that Senate GOP Leader David Long says will help protect Hoosiers' religious liberty. Senate Minority Leader Tim Lanane calls it a measure allowing discrimination.

Among the many provisions of Pence's bill is a change to a sales tax exemption for Hoosier businesses. Initial estimates by the governor's administration put the cost around $35 million, but LSA, the legislature's bipartisan research agency, calculates a revenue loss of anywhere between $130 and $240 million a year.

The leaders of the Indiana House and Senate said Thursday they are skeptical of Pence administration claims that the state needs more prison space to accommodate a projected increase in inmates.