Money for schools.

3 let's get into what the bill did and didn't include.the $6 million required to maintain the hoosier state line for two years was not included in the state budget plan approved as news 18 previously reported, this is one of two amtrak lines that run from indianapolis to chicago.

Legislators from around the viewing area have been very vocal about this lack of funding.they have come together to fight hard in these last few weeks of the session to get it into the state budget, with no success.

They say losing the line will be a major loss to constituents.they are also concerned about losing jobs at the amtrak maintenance facilty in beech grove.service is scheduled to end july 1 due to lack of state funding.

3 a quick update on how some other bills have fared at the statehouse.a bill to lower the age at which an attempted murder suspect can be tried as an adult has failed.it was proposed after a school shooting in noblesville last may, where the 13- year old suspect had to remain in the juvenile court system.a bill to create an amnesty program for unpaid traffic fees was approved.it will allow people to pay lower fines than what they were originally issued in some cases.the bill was co-authored by local representative sharon negele.

Also passing, a gambling bill, that legalizes sports betting in the state, as well as opening the doors for new casinos in gary and terre haute.

3 another important pass - a bill to create harsher punishments for drivers who pass a stopped school bus.

State senator randall head wrote the bill after three young children in his district were killed as they boarded their school bus.it raises the penalty of recklessly passing a stopped school bus from a class a misdemeanor to a level 6 felony.

3<"schools have been very cooperative.

A lot of schools have been getting cameras and redoing their bus routes with an eye toward safety since this happened.

A lot of good things have come from this horrible, horrible tragedy."> he also says that he has been in contact with the family of the children who were killed.

He says they had "tears of joy" knowing that the bill was successful.

3 hoosier lawmakers also voted on a historic increase in education funding during wednesday's session.more than 500 million dollars will be used to fund k-12 in 20-20 and 20-21.theew budget will increase school funding by around two-and-a-half percent each year for the next two budget years.but the increase still falls short of the nine- percent education advocacy groups estimate is needed to boost the state's average teacher pay to the midpoint of surrounding states.the budget will pay off 150 million dollars of schools' teacher pension obligations.the payoff will be funded from state reserves.it would help save schools up to 70 million dollars per year.while state representative sheila klinker says there is still work to be done on the budget.

3<"we do want to make sure that those dollars go to teacher pay raises where it's supposed to go."> an additional 74 million dollars each year would used for various statewide education programs. this includes various grants and teacher training programs. 3 purdue university got a major win from lawmakers.the state budget includes the funding purdue president mitch daniels asked for to rebuild the veterinary teaching hospital.

The university will receive 133 million dollars for two different capital projects on campus.73-million will go to the new vet hospital.the current facility was built in 1959 facility was the current facility was built in 1959 and is no longer up to regulations.

The program is at risk of losing its accreditation.the price tag for the new hospital is 108 million dollars.

35-million has already been raised.daniels says the university was treated well in this bill.

3<"i think it's probably fair to say that this is the most successful session of the general assembly for purdue in memory," said daniels.

"principally because we not only secured support for one, but two major capital projects and i just don't know when that's happened for any state university."> that second project is purdue's new 145-thousand square foot stem teaching lab facility.

60-million dollars was included for that building.

However, purdue was not awarded the 2-million dollars requested to grow programs at purdue ft.

Wayne.

3 and governor eric holcomb weighed in on the conclusion of the session saying in part quote "with the investments we'll make over the next two years, we'll be able to make our strong state, even more so.

We're making historic investments in k-12 education, expanding our school safety efforts, and implementing all the recommendations to improve our child services.we passed a bias crimes law and modernized our tax code.we'll help more babies reach their first birthdays.

Indiana is