Governor Pence Announces Advance Payment to Unemployment Insurance Loan
Indiana to eliminate the tax on hiring
Indianapolis – Governor Mike Pence today announced that the state of Indiana will advance funds to the Department of Workforce Development (DWD) to eliminate the outstanding federal unemployment loan and avoid the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) penalty facing employers in January. If the loan balance is paid off by November 10, 2015, businesses will avoid $327 million in taxes, equating to $126 per employee in the state.
“I’m proud today to announce that because of our prudent fiscal management and financial planning, Indiana will eliminate the tax on hiring for Hoosier employers,†said Governor Pence. “By advancing funds to the Department of Workforce Development to pay off the outstanding loan to our unemployment trust fund, Indiana is demonstrating the importance of growing and maintaining economic achievement in our state. Removing this tax penalty for employers frees up resources that can be invested in hiring new employees, growing existing companies, raising wages, and more, and I’m confident that by removing this financial impediment to hiring, Hoosiers will continue to see economic opportunity all across our state.â€
The state of Indiana first began borrowing from the federal government to pay unemployment benefits in 2008. If a state borrows for two consecutive years, Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) tax credits are decreased by the federal government, resulting in a tax increase to employers. This tax continues to increase for each successive year the loan is outstanding.
Today, Indiana employers face the highest FUTA penalty in the country at 1.8 percent.
Employers pay both federal and state unemployment taxes to fund the unemployment insurance system, and this advance of funds will significantly decrease the penalties for federal taxes. The advance will be repaid to the State from the collections of existing state unemployment taxes. It is expected that the advance will be repaid by the end of fiscal year 2016. Once repaid, the funds used to eliminate the outstanding FUTA penalty will be available to be used for other priorities.
A fact sheet outlining the process for how the payment advance will work can be found attached.
AG Zoeller, Rx Task Force to Host 6th Annual Prescription Drug Abuse Symposium on Oct. 28, 29
|
Two-day conference will focus on new challenges to Rx drug addiction in Indiana INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller will host the sixth-annual Indiana Prescription Drug Abuse Symposium next week on Oct. 28 and 29 to focus on new challenges in the fight against prescription drug abuse, particularly in light of unprecedented HIV and Hepatitis C outbreaks this year triggered by intravenous abuse of diverted medications. This year’s symposium, titled “In the Trenches, A Community Approach,†will offer sessions on arming communities with strategies for curtailing abuse and providing treatment. The annual two-day symposium is the pinnacle event for the Indiana Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Task Force, which Zoeller founded in 2012 and which he co-chairs alongside Dr. Joan Duwve, chief medical officer for the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH). “This year, a small community in Southern Indiana saw an unprecedented spike in HIV infections and became the face of the national opioid epidemic,†Zoeller said. “This crisis was in addition to reports that show prescription drug abusers are turning to heroin, and the continued rise in heroin overdose deaths. Though the state’s efforts to stem the flow of prescribed opioids into communities are working, we now have new challenges to address in our ongoing battle to reduce abuse in Indiana and save Hoosier lives.†According to a 2015 ISDH report, the number of heroin overdoses in Indiana more than doubled from 2011 to 2013. A 2014 study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that approximately three out of four new heroin users report having abused prescription opioids prior to using heroin. Setting record attendance each year, the Indiana Prescription Drug Abuse Symposium is the largest statewide collaboration of professionals from local, state and federal agencies, academia, clinicians, pharmacists, treatment providers, counselors, educators, state and national leaders, and advocates impacted by prescription drug abuse. The two-day symposium will feature several prominent speakers including the nation’s “drug czar,†Michael Botticelli, who is acting director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Other speakers include Dr. Wilson Compton, deputy director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Indiana State Health Commissioner Dr. Jerome Adams, and Attorney General Zoeller. Symposium sessions will cover the following topics among others:
A full agenda for this year’s symposium is available here. Additional symposium information is available at http://www.in.gov/bitterpill/symposium.html. “Every community in Indiana has been touched by opioid misuse, addiction and overdose. Opioid misuse is preventable, opioid addiction is treatable, and opioid overdose is reversible,†Dr. Joan Duwve said. “This symposium is a way for all of us to come together to learn from one another, and from national experts, and then take what we’ve learned back to our local communities where families are struggling to keep children alive and get loved ones into treatment and recovery.†Zoeller created the Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Task Force in 2012 to reduce the abuse of controlled prescription drugs and decrease the number of deaths associated with these drugs in Indiana. The Task Force has grown to approximately 100 members including legislators, state and federal regulators, clinicians, pharmacists, treatment providers, educators and law enforcement. The Task Force holds quarterly meetings in addition to meetings held by the following individual committees: Education, Enforcement, INSPECT (state prescription drug monitoring program), Treatment & Recovery and Drug Take Back. The Task Force has advanced a number of initiatives to reduce prescription drug abuse in Indiana. A key achievement was developing safer prescribing guidelines for physicians and working with the Legislature and Medical Licensing Board to adopt new rules consistent with the guidelines. Since these rules took effect in December 2013, there has been an 11 percent decrease in the amount of opioids prescribed in Indiana. Significant legislative accomplishments include providing more oversight for pain clinic operators, stronger reporting requirements to the state’s prescription drug monitoring program INSPECT, greater access to addiction treatment services and to the overdose antidote naloxone, and – most recently – allowing communities with an HIV or Hepatitis C outbreak to establish syringe exchanges that discourage shared needle use and direct people to treatment options. Other key legislative successes from the 2015 legislative session include ensuring that Medicaid and the state’s Healthy Indiana Plan cover addiction treatment services and appropriating new funds for the growth of mental health and addiction services. For more information about policies advocated by the Task Force, click here. Visit www.BitterPill.IN.gov for more information about the Indiana Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Task Force and resources for the public. Note: Media will be invited to attend the symposium at no cost. Contact Molly Gillaspie at molly.gillaspie@atg.in.gov or 317-232-0168 for information about receiving a press pass.  |
AG Zoeller settles with Aspen Dental Management, Inc. over allegations of deceptive advertising, unfair tactics
The Indiana Attorney General’s Office reached a settlement agreement today with Aspen Dental Management, Inc. resolving allegations that the national company used deceptive advertising and other unfair tactics to promote services at Aspen Dental branded practices in Indiana.
Under the settlement filed in Marion County Circuit Court today, affected customers will receive a total $15,000 in restitution and the company agrees to reform its advertising techniques, which they began to do over the past year following the Attorney General’s investigation.
Aspen Dental Management – based in New York – licenses the Aspen Dental brand name to independently owned and operated dental practices across the country, and provides these practices with business and administrative support, including marketing services and customer billing. In Indiana, 30 dental practices are licensed under the Aspen Dental brand. These practices are located in cities across the state, including Indianapolis, Greenwood, Kokomo, Marion, Warsaw, Fort Wayne, Muncie, Columbus and Richmond. The individual dental practices are not part of this settlement.
The Attorney General’s Office alleged that Aspen Dental Management marketed free or discounted denture consultations, dentures, initial exams and x-rays at Indiana practices without adequately disclosing limitations or qualifications for these offers. Additionally, these advertisements promoted interest-free payment plans through third-party creditors without adequately disclosing the limitations or qualifications of such lending agreements.
The Attorney General’s Office received 73 consumer complaints against Aspen Dental Management, Inc. based on these advertising-related allegations. Many of the complainants were over 60 years of age.
“Misleading customers about the true cost of dental services is deceptive and unlawful, and this behavior placed unanticipated financial burden on Hoosiers, many of which were senior citizens,†Zoeller said. “Today’s settlement will protect customers of Aspen Dental branded practices in Indiana and help ensure they have full information before making decisions about costly procedures.â€
Under the terms of the settlement agreement, Aspen is required to fully disclose the terms and limitations of its advertised promotions, stop advertising products or services as “free†that are not, and provide training to employees at its affiliate dental clinics in Indiana on terms and conditions of third-party credit agreements so that full information is passed on to consumers.
Additionally, Aspen must pay $95,000 to the State, $15,000 of which will be used to repay affected consumers with the rest going toward state investigative costs and future consumer protection enforcement. Consumers who previously filed complaints with the Attorney General’s Office related to these advertising allegations and who did not previously receive restitution from Aspen Dental Management will be offered restitution. Consumers receiving restitution will be contacted by the Attorney General’s Office within 30 days from the date the court approves the settlement.
A copy of the settlement agreement is attached.
USI dedicates 50th anniversary sculpture
Commissioned piece is work of nationally-renowned sculptor Richard Hunt
A new sculpture commemorating USI’s 50th anniversary now graces the USI campus. The 14-foot, 2,000-pound stainless steel piece, created by nationally-renowned sculptor and Chicago-based artist Richard Hunt, and titled, “From Our Past Toward Our Future,†was dedicated Thursday, October 22.
The welded and fabricated abstract stainless steel sculpture sits atop a 2-foot high base, and is situated near the southeast side of the main lawn of the Quad, facing the Liberal Arts Center. An artist reception was held preceding the event in the Ruth M. Kleymeyer Hall of Presidents in the David L. Rice Library.
“It’s a spontaneous creation that was inspired by my experience of the environment, feeling and history of the campus,†said Hunt.
Born in Chicago, Illinois, on September 12, 1935, Hunt, an internationally-acclaimed artist has become one of the most prolific artists working in America today. With more than 125 major public commissions across the nation to date, he is considered a master of welded steel sculpture.
Hunt developed an interest in art from an early age; from seventh grade on attending the Junior School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). He went on to study there at the college level, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Education in 1957. A traveling fellowship took him to England, France, Spain and Italy the following year. While still a student at SAIC, he began exhibiting his sculptures nationwide and, during his junior year, one of his pieces, “Arachne,†was purchased by the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In 1962, he was the youngest artist to exhibit at Seattle’s World Fair.
In 1967, Hunt’s career in sculpture began to take him outside the studio with his first large-scale public sculpture commission, “Play†(the first sculpture commissioned by the State of Illinois Public Art Program). The piece marked the beginning of what Hunt refers to as “his second career,†one that gives him the opportunity to work on sculpture that “responds to the specifics of architectural or other designed spaces and the dynamics of diverse communities and interests.â€
Hunt has received honors and recognition throughout his career and, in 1971, was the first African-American sculptor to have a major solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. His work can be found in numerous museums as well as both public and private collections, including the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Gallery and National Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C., the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
In 1968, he was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson as one of the first artists to serve on the National Council on the Arts, the governing board of the National Endowment for the Arts. He has received numerous fellowships, prizes and awards and holds 16 honorary degrees from universities around the country. He holds memberships in the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the National Academy of Design. In 2009, he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the International Sculpture Center. This year he is receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award from Partners for Livable Communities in Washington, D.C.
The commissioning of the 50th anniversary sculpture was made possible through a generous gift of James A. Sanders. Sanders, an honorary degree recipient of the University of Southern Indiana, has been a friend of the University for over 40 years and deeply involved with the arts and humanities. He is a Life Director of the USI Foundation Board of Directors, and currently serves as an honorary chair of Campaign USI: Elevating Excellence. He also served as director of Historic New Harmony from 1985 to 1995. An American antiques expert, he lectures and teaches widely and is a sought-after consultant and appraiser. In 2005, he received the Arts Council of Southwestern Indiana’s Arts Advocate of the Year Award. Sanders had a distinguished career in education. He taught English and journalism in the Henderson, Kentucky, public schools, was a teacher and coordinator for the Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corporation, and served as the district state supervisor for marketing instruction.
Plaza Park Assembly Planned to Reveal Total Raised for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
Friday, October 23
7:35 a.m.
Plaza Park International Prep Academy
They’ve done it once again. Plaza Park International Prep Academy has once again collected thousands of dollars for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) and tomorrow, Oct. 23, the school will have its annual “reveal†ceremony to highlight all the fundraising efforts and to let the school know how much money was raised. Also at the ceremony will be Claire Scheller, a Lymphoma survivor, who will speak about her experiences and what the fundraising means to those who are currently fighting cancer. A special video also will be shown of Plaza’s Honored Hero Christian Canfield, a former Plaza student who is battling the disease.
Throughout the past few months, the school has come together to raise money to try and meet its $10,000 goal. Fundraising efforts included:
- Run at the Mounds Middle School Cross Country Meet: This year’s theme was “Some Kids Run So Others Can Live.†This year’s turnout saw the largest number of schools, participants and spectators since it began five years ago.
- Cross Country members gathered donations totaling nearly $3,000
- Student Council members have been collecting pennies and spare change
- Special incentives: Multiple teachers and administers have joined in the fun and offered special incentives. For instance, teacher Nick Coronato has volunteerd to have his head shaved by the student with the highest fundraising total; Cross Country Coach Becky Stegemoller and Coronato will take pies to the face if the goal is reached.
COA affirms sanctions for lawyer’s misrepresentation of invoices
Jennifer Nelson for www.theindaianalawyer.com
The Indiana Court of Appeals called out an attorney for the errors in her appellate brief and considered requiring her to prove she attended continuing legal education on appellate practice before filing anything else before the appeals court.
Eric Brazier filed a lawsuit against Maple Lane Apartments I LLC, claiming that the company owed him more than $63,000 for painting services he completed at the apartment complex. Brazier was authorized by Sue Papaj, Maple Lane’s property manager, to perform some painting projects, but after she informed him the company no longer would use his services, he submitted invoices claiming to have performed work on every building in the complex. Brazier’s practice was to submit invoices with the date he created the invoice, not when the work was done.
Maple Lane did not pay him for the work because it believed he had not performed it nor did they authorize it. Brazier sued, but lost his claim, with the trial court imposing sanctions against his attorney for misrepresenting evidence. The invoices Brazier and his attorney, Kristin R. Fox, originally said were copies of those submitted to Maple Leaf were actually created by Brazier in preparation of this lawsuit after meeting with Fox. The trial court ordered Brazier to pay $5,000 in attorney fees to Maple Leaf.
The COA affirmed in Eric Brazier d/b/a Brazier Painting v. Maple Lane Apartments I, LLC, 71A04-1406-CC-278, because Brazier’s attorney signed numerous pleadings and motions asserting the authenticity of the invoices of copies and knowingly misrepresented or failed to correct any misrepresentations of the evidence. Brazier testified at trial that he created the invoices after meeting with Fox.
The appellate judges had issues with Brazier’s corrected appellate brief, which Fox said was going to address page numbers and citations. But what was filed was “at best, an abject failure to understand the most basic requirements of appellate briefing†and “(a)t worst, (was) a blatant attempt to make additional argument without complying with the page and word limitations of a brief,†Judge Margret Robb wrote.
The table of authorities also failed to inform the court of the cases cited in the brief.
In a lengthy footnote, Robb wrote, “Counsel’s failures to follow even the simplest rules regarding the content of an appellate brief have made our review of this case unnecessarily difficult. We commend Maple Lane for largely refraining from comment on the quality of the brief and endeavoring to respond to the legal arguments. Were it within our purview to do so, we would order Brazier’s counsel to verify to this court her attendance at a continuing legal education program regarding appellate practice before submitting any further briefs to this court. Although it would be within our purview to order counsel to show cause why she should not be held in contempt for willful violation of this court’s order granting leave to amend the brief to correct technical errors only and specifically prohibiting any substantive changes, counsel does not appear to frequently represent clients on appeal nor has she been previously cited for poor briefing practices. Therefore, we have chosen not to take such extreme measures at this juncture. Nonetheless, we admonish counsel in the strongest possible terms to carefully review the appellate rules and fully conform her briefs to their requirements in the future.â€
Sheriff’s Office Conducts 13th Annual Domestic Violence Sweep October 21, 2015
On Wednesday, October 21, 2015 the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office worked simultaneously with agencies from across the country in an effort to arrest persons with outstanding warrants for family violence and domestic related issues. The 13th Annual Family Violence Apprehension Detail is coordinated by the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office in Oregon and includes agencies from every state in the United States. The participating agencies work to serve outstanding arrest warrants with charges ranging from harassment to murder that originated from a family violence incident.
This collaborative effort hopes to raise awareness about the problem of family and domestic violence in our communities and demonstrate that this social problem is important to law enforcement and our citizens. It also demonstrates to offenders that they will be held accountable for their violent actions and/or their non-compliance with court orders.
Six (6) people were arrested and eight (8) warrants were served during today’s sweep. Those arrested and their charges are listed below.
ARRESTED:
Marcia Leeann Rudisill, 33, of Evansville. Unlawful Sale/Transfer of a handgun
Charles Edwin Winters, 31, of Boonville. Petition to Revoke Probation for Domestic Battery
Steven Lindsey Chappell, 56, of Evansville. Petition to Revoke Probation for Invasion of Privacy (2 counts)
Maurice Kenyatta Joyce, 37, of Evansville. Failure to Appear for Battery and Possession of Paraphernalia
Dylan Tyler Woodall, of Evansville, Violation of Probation for Possession of Methamphetamines
Scott Allen Bastain, of Evansville. Petition to Revoke Probation for Theft