IN Budget Update

Republican Statehouse leaders say they want to increase funding for Indiana’s embattled child welfare agency and find a way to pay teachers more, but that money will be tight when they craft the state’s next two year budget. Insiders say it’s hardly a surprise that lawmakers are prioritizing a larger appropriation for the Department of Child Services. Long-festering problems at the agency exploded into public view last year, when its former director resigned in a letter, accusing Gov. Eric Holcomb of making management changes and service cuts that “all but ensure children will die.”