General Assembly

“The main problem with this [legislation],” says Mangan, “is that it’s creating legal tension between legitimate constitutional and human rights versus behavior-based groups that want to achieve a special status in the law.”

“Right now, in the majority of the state, if somebody wanted to hang up a sign that says, ‘No Gays,’ or whatever other term they decided to use, they could do that and be completely within the law.”

“The LGBT worldview and the Judeo-Christian worldview are opposites. When you try to reconcile sexual license with religious liberty, those two things don’t go together.”

“It’s not a Republican or a Democrat issue. It’s a fairness issue. I think Hoosiers want to be known as fair, because we are fair.”

On Saturday Indianapolis protestors (“thousands,” according to some estimates) marched from Monument Circle to the Statehouse. Photographer Darryl Smith was on hand to capture the rally.

“We take security very seriously,” says Jay Ricker of Anderson-based Ricker Oil Co.

“Yes, I’ve carried a gun into the Statehouse in the past. Why? Because I can. It’s America.”

It might not generate the same headlines as some other policy issues, but this understated 2015 legislative item is hardly the least important.

For the most part, lobbying in Indiana now seems to be less about quid pro quo than it is about finding a soft spot in the heart of a legislator who can help your cause. And while that might not be as sexy as outright corruption, it still gives watchdog groups cause for concern.

The lobbying laws used to have loopholes so big you could drive a Brinks truck through them. The process is a lot more transparent than it used to be.

The Hoosier livestock industry makes more than $2.5 billion a year and “has seen growth in almost every livestock sector.” But for a group that’s doing so well, animal-farmers sure seem defensive.