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Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry has passed away after a brief battle with cancer.

Pence's Agenda Survives the Long Session -- Mostly

Brandon Smith
/
Indiana Public Broadcasting

Governor Mike Pence was able to declare almost total victory Thursday in the wake of the 2015 session despite early skepticism from the General Assembly for much of his agenda.

There were several items on the governor’s agenda that lawmakers were at least hesitant to fully support.  That includes a significant boost to charter school funding, dollars for next year’s state Bicentennial celebration, a major investment in Pence’s Regional Cities Initiative, along with the proposed balanced budget amendment to the state constitution.

But the General Assembly ended up delivering all of them, including full funding for the Bicentennial and the Regional Cities program. 

Pence says he pushed hard for the latter in the final weeks of session.

“I really came to the conclusion that encouraging cities across the state of Indiana to think regionally and plan regionally could have a transformational effect on our economy in the long term,” Pence explained.

House Speaker Brian Bosma was asked if the figurative beating Pence took over the religious freedom bill controversy had any impact on delivering so much of the governor’s agenda.

“Well, I don’t know that anybody said that.  I might have,” Bosma joked. “You know, it…yes.”

Bosma says it’s not unusual to give a governor – of either party – some deference.

Brandon Smith is excited to be working for public radio in Indiana. He has previously worked in public radio as a reporter and anchor in mid-Missouri for KBIA Radio out of Columbia. Prior to that, he worked for WSPY Radio in Plano, Illinois as a show host, reporter, producer and anchor. His first job in radio was in another state capitol, in Jefferson City, Missouri, as a reporter for three radio stations around Missouri. Brandon graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a Bachelor of Journalism in 2010, with minors in political science and history. He was born and raised in Chicago.