State Dems caucus, keeping House closed
By Chelsea Schneider Kirk cschneider@post-trib.com January 4, 2012 3:27PM
House Minority Leader B. Patrick Bauer speaks during a news conference at the Statehouse Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012 in Indianapolis. Indiana's House Democratic leader said Wednesday that party lawmakers will stall work in the chamber until certain demands are met over a Republican right-to-work bill that was blocked last year by their five-week boycott. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
Related Stories
Updated: February 6, 2012 9:32AM
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana House Democrats stayed in caucus Wednesday stalling the ability of the House to come into session.
A majority of House Democrats remained outside of the chamber in a Statehouse meeting room. House Democratic Leader Pat Bauer said Democrats would continue to deny a quorum until the public can gain knowledge on the proposed right-to-work bill. The legislation restricts unions from charging fees or dues to employees.
A joint meeting of the House and Senate labor committees is planned for 8 a.m. Central time Friday where identical right-to-work bills are scheduled to be heard.
Union members protesting right to work filled the Statehouse on Wednesday chanting and applauding House Democrats outside of the party’s caucus room.
Earlier in the morning, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels lifted a 3,000-person capacity limit on the Statehouse stressing the state’s record of protecting the rights of the minority.
“Fewer than 9 percent of Indiana workers are represented by organizations funding these rallies,” Daniels said.
Meanwhile, Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosma said he made repeated requests to meet with Bauer on Wednesday. He pointed to a poster reading “Keep Calm and Carry On” when asked about the session that met a troubled start.
“They just refuse to be here to debate the issues,” Bosma said. “They are in the state that doesn’t mean they are here doing business right now. They’ve known for weeks the time we were going to start today.”
Bauer wants lawmakers to take the right-to-work issue on the road, similar to the hearings conducted on the Illiana Expressway.
“This is such an important bill, such a controversial bill, the whole state ought to hear,” Bauer said.
State Rep. Linda Lawson, D-Hammond, said interim study sessions were unable to prove that right to work is better for the state.
Supporters of right-to-work legislation, including the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, argue the policy will broaden Indiana’s economic development opportunities.
“For those of us living in Northwest Indiana, people have had a good working, living wage raising their families and their children … because they’ve lived in a community where unions are very popular,” Lawson said.
The House will attempt to reconvene Thursday afternoon.
As for Wednesday’s impact on the rest of the session, Bosma doesn’t know whether Democrats’ actions set a tone.
“It’s the same folks doing the same thing,” Bosma said. “I’m not sure the tone has changed any. We’ll do our very best to encourage them to do what’s right and show up at work and do what they were elected to do.”
Bosma said the joint hearing on Friday wasn’t unprecedented for the state, though state Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Ogden Dunes, disagrees.
“Nobody really knows how this joint committee is supposed to function,” said Tallian, who sits on the Senate labor committee. “This is strictly for the purpose of ramming this thing through as fast as possible so we get all the dissent out of the hallways and off the statehouse lawn.”
Comments Click here to view or make a comment