by Casey Smith, Indiana Capital Chronicle July 22, 2025 Indiana drivers will soon have a new option at the license branch: the state’s first all-black license plate. The Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles officially revealed the “blackout” plates on Monday, joining a growing number of states offering the “minimalist” design. Beginning Aug. 8, the plate…
by Whitney Downard, Indiana Capital ChronicleJuly 9, 2025 Indiana officials are assessing the financial impact on the state budget of the nearly 1,000-page priority megabill President Donald Trump signed into law Friday. Formerly known as the “big, beautiful bill,” it will reform the nation’s welfare programs, extend 2017 tax cuts and invest billions of dollars…
by Whitney Downard, Indiana Capital ChronicleJuly 7, 2025 An Indianapolis business owner will lead the state’s new Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, with a focus on supporting Hoosiers’ launching the next generation of Main Street businesses. Brian Schutt, the co-founder of Refinery46 — a co-working space and startup incubator in Indianapolis — and co-founder of…
by Leslie Bonilla Muñiz, Indiana Capital Chronicle June 27, 2025 Indiana’s cigarette tax is set to increase for the first time in nearly two decades, following a late April legislative scramble for additional revenue. Separately, a gasoline excise tax will continue its annual one-cent climb. The changes take effect July 1, with the beginning of…
by Madelyn Hanes, Indiana Capital ChronicleJune 30, 2025 A decade after Indiana overhauled its criminal code to reduce incarceration, lawmakers approved more than a dozen new crimes and sentencing enhancements. The new laws, set to take effect July 1, were passed in this year’s long legislative session. Among the changes are stricter sentences for fentanyl-related…
by Casey Smith, Indiana Capital ChronicleJune 24, 2025 Indiana’s 15 public colleges and universities will freeze in-state undergraduate tuition and mandatory fees for the next two academic years, Gov. Mike Braun announced Monday morning. The Republican governor called the move a “historic” step toward making higher education more affordable. The freeze applies to all flagship…
by Niki Kelly, Indiana Capital ChronicleJune 19, 2025 Gov. Mike Braun said Thursday he has no idea who came up with the swirling rumor that he is interested in a presidential run. “That’s had nothing to do with anything I’ve said,” Braun told the Indiana Capital Chronicle. “I’m concentrating on being governor, and have no…
by Casey Smith, Indiana Capital Chronicle June 17, 2025 A new academic year is still weeks away, but Indiana educators are already working to implement a slate of new laws passed during the 2025 legislative session — including changes to classroom instruction, attendance policies and teacher pay. More than two dozen K-12 education laws are…
by Casey Smith, Indiana Capital Chronicle June 10, 2025 An early review of Indiana’s 2024 infant death records showed a year-over-year decline — potentially reaching a historic low, according to provisional data from the state health department. Indiana’s Department of Health (IDOH) reported an infant mortality rate of 6.3 deaths per 1,000 live births, down…
The most disruptive technology in human history was almost certainly the wheel. That economic shock, and all the others that followed, give us useful insight into labor market effects of artificial intelligence. The invention of the wheel cut transportation costs by 80% or 90%, dramatically reducing demand for workers who carried goods across and between…
