Governor rescinds new Statehouse occupancy rules
By Chelsea Schneider Kirk cschneider@post-trib.com January 4, 2012 10:42AM
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Updated: January 4, 2012 11:31PM
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels restored unlimited access to the Statehouse on Wednesday by rescinding the 3,000-person capacity limit set by the state fire marshal.
The statehouse was under stiff security Wednesday morning as lawmakers prepared for the Indiana General Assembly to reconvene at 12:30 p.m. Central time. Union members protesting the proposed right-to-work legislation were already filing into the building and standing outside the House and Senate chambers.
“Some good points were made and having reflected on them, we’re going to operate on the traditional basis as long as that works,” Daniels said.
Democrats had contended the policies were anti-union and a tactic to keep protesters outside the Statehouse.
Daniels said the fire marshal and other state public safety officials were just doing their jobs. If safety and security seems to be in jeopardy, Daniels gave state officials the authority to entertain new safety measures.
“This may be the only major public building in the state of Indiana or elsewhere that doesn’t have some kind of limit,” Daniels said. “That’s all right, we’ll treat it as a special case and a special place and we’ll do that unless until there’s a problem.”
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