Dwindling ranks worry Indiana lawmakers

INDIANAPOLIS -- A decade after Indiana voters boosted the number of women serving in the General Assembly to a record 33, that figure has dwindled to just 25 -- a decline that has discouraged the state's female lawmakers.\n"I thought by now we'd have many more women," said Rep. Phyllis Pond, R-New Haven, the longest-serving woman in the legislature.\nIn 1978, when Pond was first elected, there were only 13 women -- four in the Senate and nine in the House. After those ranks swelled by 20, she and others expected the numbers to continue growing.\nInstead, some women left, while others lost elections. And one, former Republican state Sen. Becky Skillman, became the state's first elected female lieutenant governor.\nOther lawmakers said Skillman's election, coming after the appointment of Kathy Davis as Indiana's first female lieutenant governor, is a reason to believe women are making gains.\nWith 11 women in the 50-member Senate and 14 women in the 100-member House, Indiana's legislature is 16.7 percent female -- the 36th-lowest percentage of women lawmakers in the nation, The Indianapolis Star reported Sunday.\nSen. Earline Rogers, D-Gary, was first elected in 1982, and came at a time when she said it seemed advances were being made in politics for women and minorities -- and she's both, as one of only 12 black lawmakers.\n"I thought that trend would continue," she said. "I absolutely did. Instead, it's either remained stagnant, and in some cases it's gotten worse."\nLegislators said they aren't sure why the number of female lawmakers has fallen.\nBoth Republican and Democratic leaders say they have tried to recruit more women but without as much success as they would like.\n"If someone has a suggestion, my door is open, because we need more women in the General Assembly," said House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis.\nSue Crosby, a former Democratic state representative who served from 1990 to 2002, is now the executive director of the bipartisan Washington-based organization Women in Government, which provides a network of support and services for women officeholders.\nShe said that unlike men, women generally come to the legislature interested in pursuing an issue, rather than building a political power base. Often, those issues reflect women's lives.\n"Ninety percent of women legislators serve on one of two committees -- health and education," Crosby said. "That's where our heart and core is."\nShe and others said the lack of female Hoosier lawmakers could be due in part to women's unwillingness to leave hard-won professional careers.\nBut potential female candidates with small children or elderly parents are often reluctant to run, they said, because of those family responsibilities, particularly if they don't live near Indianapolis.\n"The guys, they know they have a wife at home," said Rep. Mary Kay Budak, R-LaPorte. "They come down here with a free conscience, without feeling guilty about being here."\nIn addition to the low numbers of women in the legislature, there are also few women in leadership positions. Six female senators have leadership positions, but all are assistant slots, with men holding the more powerful jobs.\nIn the House, only one woman, Rep. Kathy Richardson, R-Noblesville, holds a leadership job. She's the majority caucus chairwoman.