Indiana

Budget officials in the two Midwest states report good news heading into fiscal 2013, as the states benefit from better-than-expected revenues. Both states will deposit the surpluses into rainy-day funds.

With the final step in the federal environmental review process completed this week, the $2.6 billion Ohio River Bridges Project will allow Kentucky and Indiana to award construction contracts before the end of the year and the spans will serve to ease congestion across the Ohio River, said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

CHICAGO — Indiana budget officials will hire Deloitte to conduct an audit into how the state’s Revenue Department lost track of $526 million of tax revenue in a pair of high-profile accounting errors that embarrassed Gov. Mitch Daniels’ administration.

Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard’s former chief of staff has joined Faegre Baker Daniels LLP.

WASHINGTON — Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels made the rounds in the nation’s capitol Thursday, urging lawmakers to pass a transportation bill friendly to public-private partnerships and telling reporters that he fears there might not be a bill at all.

The Indianapolis Public Schools board last week approved a plan to lay off 163 employees to help close a $27 million shortfall.

As Indiana spends down $3.8 billion generated by its 2006 lease of the Indiana Toll Road, the state has a series of new public-private partnerships in the pipeline that underscore its continued reliance on the technique to provide financing for transportation infrastructure projects.

Moody’s Investors Service last week affirmed its A1 rating on the Parkview Health System and revised the outlook to stable from negative, noting the system’s improved operating performance.

Indiana on Monday announced a list of four possible teams for the Ohio River Bridges project.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Federal Highway Administration Friday approved a supplemental environmental impact statement that is a significant milestone toward starting construction on portions of the $2.6 billion Ohio River Bridges Project later this year.

CHICAGO — Indiana is bracing for the loss of up to $300 million of annual revenue as neighboring Ohio prepares to open four new high-profile casinos in major cities later this year.

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels last week tapped a new commissioner of the Department of Revenue after the outgoing commissioner and two of his top deputies resigned in the wake of a pair of high-profile accounting errors.

It's the second high-profile mistake by the Indiana Department of Revenue in the last year, and prompted the resignation of Revenue Department Commissioner John Eckart.

The Indianapolis office of Faegre Baker Daniels LLP announced last week that the firm has hired Jonathon Weinzapfel, the former mayor of Evansville, as counsel.

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels appointed Sen. Connie Lawson as the new secretary of state after Charlie White was convicted of six felonies, including voter fraud.

Indiana lawmakers ended their brief 2012 session Friday after passing controversial labor legislation, an automatic taxpayer refund, and a phase-out of the estate tax, among other measures.

Indiana collected less revenue than expected last month, though revenues remained up for the first eight months of the fiscal year, officials said this week.

CHICAGO — The governors of Kentucky and Indiana Monday released the first comprehensive financing plan for a massive $2.6 billion bridges project that will rely heavily on tolls.

The mayor of Hammond, Ind., said last week he won’t move forward with a plan to sell the city’s water company due to costly legal fees and an uncertain market.

The Indiana Senate and the House have both passed separate measures that would eliminate or significantly reduce the state’s inheritance tax, which generates roughly $150 million annually.