An Indiana loan fund that aims to bring down the cost of new housing would get more money under a bill approved by a House committee Monday.

Indiana House Roads and Transportation Committee Chair Jim Pressel (R-Rolling Prairie) proposed a bill Monday that provides a variety of new or expanded options for state and local road funding.

Lawmakers are discussing raising the minimum teacher salary from the state’s current mandate of $40,000. Nearly all Marion County school districts offer at least $50,000.

Gerald Williams was one of thousands of Hoosiers placed on a waitlist for services. This isn’t the first time Indiana has implemented a waitlist for these services. In fact, advocates warn this could be the return to a decades-long wait for services and that wait is already having a human cost.

A bill that would raise the floor for teacher pay in Indiana passed out of the Senate Education and Career Development Committee this week. Lawmakers disagreed on how much to raise the pay floor, but the bill still passed committee unanimously.

Indiana has at least 600 rape kits waiting to be tested at the state’s crime labs. And there are potentially many more in local law enforcement agencies, waiting to be sent to the labs.

Health care facilities are barred from hiring employees who have been convicted of certain criminal offenses, including felony convictions within the last five years related to “controlled substances.” Lawmakers want to introduce an exception for peer support professionals.

A Senate committee advances a bill banning diversity, equity and inclusion. Legislation heads to the Senate floor to continue cutting the state individual income tax rate. And a measure banning non-compete clauses for physicians clears a committee.

The Indiana Senate advanced a measure Thursday that would require children younger than 16 to get parental permission before creating social media accounts. Despite some concern about the bill's implementation, it was supported by most of the Senate.

A bill concerning additional skill tests for people who received a non-accredited, non-public high school diploma received robust debate in the House Education Committee this week and passed out of committee.