(Indianapolis, Ind.) - Lawmakers at the Indiana Statehouse have been busy so far this week.

On Monday, the House Education Committee passed a bill expanding charter schools on a party-line 8-5 vote.

Charters are public schools that are free of certain state regulations and union contracts.

The legislation removes caps on them, eases rules for a traditional school to convert to a charter, and allows more entities to create a charter.

The bill could be considered by the full House this week.

House members will also have to consider a bill to cut unemployment benefits as it passed the Employment, Labor and Pensions Committee Tuesday on another vote split among Republicans and Democrats, 8-5.

The cuts would begin in 2012 if House Bill 1450 passes. It seeks to put new restrictions on who can receive the benefits, but does not lower the maximum amount of $390 a person can receive each week.

Indiana owes more than $2 billion to the federal government for the state’s bankrupt unemployment benefits fund.