Rep. Banks talks Jan. 6 committee| Holcomb wins battle with Rokita

IndyStar sat down with U.S. Rep. Jim Banks in Washington, D.C. Thursday afternoon ahead of the first in a series of public Jan. 6 Congressional hearings.

When asked whether there was value into looking into whether former President Donald Trump played a role in inciting violence on Jan. 6, Banks argued he thinks Trump did no wrong.

"President Trump said go down to the Capitol and peacefully and patriotically make your voice heard," Banks said. "Emphasis on peacefully. I don't know how you can be any more clear than that."

Instead, he criticized the committee for turning the hearings into a primetime "spectacle."

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FEC: Braun broke campaign finance rules

Remember the draft audit report the Federal Elections Commission released regarding Sen. Mike Braun in November? Well, the final report is now out, and yes the FEC says Braun did break campaign finance rules. But the allegations aren't near as severe as those presented in the draft.

He still could face fines.

The commission ruled that the Indiana Republican overstated the amount he received and spent by over $6 million each, didn't properly disclose the required information of about 1,363 contributors and improperly disclosed more than $11.5 million worth of loans.

Here's why some of the earlier allegations aren't in the final report.

Special session for another taxpayer refund

Gov. Eric Holcomb and Republican legislative leaders are hoping for a special legislative session that will give another $225 to taxpayers to combat inflation. 

The special session call comes after pressure from Indiana Democrats to pause the state's gas taxes amid soaring gas prices.

But the special session could also another way to address another issue Republicans have been calling for in the heat of the impending Roe v. Wade decision: abortion restrictions.

Indiana launched new tourism campaign

Indiana is launching a statewide tourism campaign under the banner "IN Indiana" thanks to $5.5 million in federal funding.

To put it bluntly, "research has shown that people have no perception of Indiana," Amy Howell of the Indiana Destination Development Corporation said this week.

The pandemic obviously hurt the state's tourism industry, and the goal  is to help disseminate marketing materials to attract people from border states.

A pay raise two decades in the making

Indianapolis city-county councilors finally gave themselves a raise this week, the first one since 2002.

It was a relatively quiet passage for a topic that had once featured mayoral pushback from current and past administrations and was pulled last minute from various council agendas. The key: the pay raise of 173% doesn't begin until the new council takes office in 2024.

Republicans voted against the proposal.

Supreme Court win for Holcomb

The Indiana Supreme Court unanimously sided with Gov. Eric Holcomb in his battle with fellow Republicans, most notably Attorney General Todd Rokita.

House Bill 1123 would have given the legislature the power to call itself into session even in a state of emergency. Holcomb argued the ability to call a special session lies strictly with the executive branch, and filed a lawsuit against members of his own party.

Opinion columnist James Briggs' take: Rokita is bad at lawyering.

"It must be frustrating to be victimized by judges so often as our hapless attorney general," Briggs writes.

Police back Republican prosecutor candidate

To no one's surprise, the local Fraternal Order of Police in Indianapolis threw its support to Republican candidate Cyndi Carrasco for Marion County prosecutor.

Carrasco is challenging incumbent Democrat Ryan Mears, who said last week he wouldn't be seeking a police endorsement.

Cities back on board with opioid settlement

All of Indiana's cities, towns and counties have agreed to sign on to the $507 million settlement with opioid providers, meaning millions in potential settlement funding is no longer at risk. 

Cities like Indianapolis initially opted out of the settlement offered through Rokita's office until a new state law gave municipalities a larger share of the money and the freedom to pursue their own litigation.

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Hoosier Politics is compiled and written by the IndyStar politics and government team. Send us tips or let us know what you think of the newsletter by emailing Kaitlin.Lange@IndyStar.com.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Rep. Banks talks Jan. 6 committee| Holcomb wins battle with Rokita