PUA benefits expected to restart in Indiana on July 16th
Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb lost his appeal and now the state must continue the Federal PUA benefit program that he illegally ended on June 19th. The Federal PUA program offered an additional $300 per week to residents suffering unemployment due to government employment restriction as well as offering benefits to self-employed gig employees whose employment was interrupted as a bi-product of the state forcing regulations on the entertainment industry. The Indiana Court of Appeals has issued the ruling which will be enacted by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development with an estimated restart date of July 16th.
Indiana Attorney General sues to recover more than $154 million on behalf of taxpayers fleeced by virtual schools
Attorney General Todd Rokita has filed a lawsuit against a consortium of virtual schools and affiliated entities seeking more than $154 million in monies misappropriated from the State of Indiana. Indiana’s lawsuit targets Indiana Virtual School (IVS); Indiana Virtual Pathways Academy (IVPA); Indiana Virtual Educational Foundation (IVEF); and other related entities and individuals. IVS and IVPA operated online charter schools that were sponsored by the Daleville Community School Corp. from July 22, 2015, to Aug. 26, 2019, when Daleville officials revoked the charters. Daleville officials revoked their sponsorship of the schools because IVS and IVPA failed to meet minimum academic standards and failed to comply with accounting and related provisions required by Indiana law, among other reasons.
The State Board of Accounts (SBOA) conducted a special investigation and concluded that public funds were misappropriated through malfeasance, misfeasance, and/or nonfeasance. Because the virtual schools misrepresented the number of enrolled and attending students, the SBOA found that the schools wrongfully received more than $68 million collectively from the State of Indiana. Attorney General Rokita is also seeking recovery of the audit costs SBOA incurred to conduct the investigation along with other penalties and punitive relief (amounting to three times the actual loss by the state). Attorney General Rokita also is seeking an order that the defendants disgorge any other ill-gotten gains unjustly and wrongfully received and diverted. This matter has also been referred to federal and state criminal investigative agencies.
Indiana State Police to Partner with Indiana Motor Truck Association for “Trooper in a Truck”
The Indiana State Police Commercial Motor Vehicle Enforcement Division (CVED) along with the Lowell, Toll Road, Indianapolis, and Sellersburg Posts will be conducting a Trooper-in-a-Truck enforcement patrol on July 14, 2021. In the Pendleton District, CVED is teaming up with the ISP Aviation Section and district troopers to focus on the enforcement of unsafe and aggressive driving behaviors around commercial vehicles.
The Trooper-in-a-Truck initiative places a trooper in a commercial motor vehicle operated by a highly trained and qualified CDL driver. The trooper will observe for violations as the CMV driver drives the selected route. While no dangerous traffic violation will be ignored, the trooper-in-a-truck will be observing primarily for violations of Indiana’s “hand free” law. Despite the fact the most recent version of this law, prohibiting the use of hand-held communication devices in all but emergency situations, has been in effect for over a year, distracted driving continues to be major problem on Indiana’s roadways.
CVED has conducted Trooper-in-a-Truck type patrols for the last few years, except in 2020. Most have been small events in the vicinity of Indianapolis. This year’s event will be much larger and, for the first time, will take place simultaneously in several areas across the state.