Bill would regulate Ohio contractors

COLUMBUS - Home improvement contractors - the No. 2 target of consumer complaints to the Attorney General's Office - would be required to register with the state under legislation proposed by Rep. Jim Trakas.

The bill revives legislation Attorney General Jim Petro could not get passed during his tenure in the House in the 1980s. More consumers complain to his office about home improvement than any service besides auto sales, Petro said.

The bill would create a board in the Ohio Department of Commerce that would license home-improvement contractors and salespeople. It would also authorize the attorney general to file civil suits on behalf of defrauded customers.

Ky. senators seek highway oversight

FRANKFORT - Following a new report criticizing past management of the state's Transportation Cabinet, Senate Republicans said Wednesday they want more legislative oversight of the agency.

Under their proposal, cabinet officials would report to a legislative Transportation Cabinet Oversight Subcommittee with authority to review all the agency's operations, Senate President David Williams said at a press conference. The proposal is "one of the highest priorities," said Williams, R-Burkesville, the bill's sponsor.

Among other things, the oversight panel would review the cabinet's spending and work to boost the competitiveness of its bidding process, Williams said.

The proposal comes mostly due to findings in a report by Dye Management Group Inc., which the Legislative Research Commission accepted Tuesday.

The report found, among other things, that the state had spent millions more than it had to because projects went to single bidders. .

Bill to limit tuition dies in Ind. Senate

INDIANAPOLIS - A bill that would have prevented steep tuition increases for students at Indiana's state-supported colleges and universities did not have the support it needed to pass the Senate.

Sen. Luke Kenley, the bill's sponsor, said he did not call for a vote on the proposal by Wednesday's deadline because it could have gone down to defeat. .

" Tuition and mandatory fees for entering freshmen have more than doubled, on average, for four-year universities over the past decade, according to the state Commission for Higher Education. First-year fees at IU's main campus in Bloomington have risen 110 percent to $6,567, while Purdue engineering majors pay $6,372.