Daniels delivers final speech

Just outside the chamber of the Indiana House of Representatives Tuesday night, the noise was deafening.

People were chanting, yelling and screaming against the controversial right-to-work legislation that has been the cause of a democratic walkout in the House last week and yesterday. Whistles pierced the eardrums of everyone present.

Union workers in helmets and jackets decorated with union membership decals held signs that proclaimed slogans such as “We oppose punitive legislation” and “Hoosiers want life lines, not bread lines.”

“This legislation does absolutely nothing to create jobs. It’s nothing but an effort to destroy labor unions,” said Oather Duncan, a member of the United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers.

Inside the chamber of the House, however, it was nearly impossible to hear them. Only a low murmur echoed from the chamber beyond.

The dull roar of hundreds of protesters chanting “No right to work!” and “Mitch is a liar!” was hard to make out from inside as Gov. Mitch Daniels took to the podium to deliver his annual, and final, State of the State address.

“As it’s my last such chance to express my appreciation for the public service you each perform, and to Hoosiers for hiring me twice so I could try to perform my own, I’ll start with a heartfelt thank you,” Daniels said.

The governor set up his final year in office by talking extensively about what he had accomplished during his term.

“Tonight, while other states elsewhere twist in financial agony, Indiana has an honestly balanced budget, a strong protective reserve in our state savings account (and) the first AAA credit rating in state history,” he said.

“Our credit is better — imagine this — than that of the federal government.”
Daniels also talked about his goals for the year, following the same path as his legislative goals set out in December.

He talked about eliminating “credit creep,” which Daniels said keeps college students from graduating on time because of programs that require more than 120 credit hours.

He talked about increasing the amount of conservation lands in the state, including creating a protected Wabash Corridor that would make most of the river a protected wetlands.

He only briefly mentioned the issue that was causing the rumble of protests outside the chamber.

“In survey after survey after survey, by margins of 2-to-1 or more, Hoosiers support the principle known as right to work. After a year of studying the proposal, I agree,” Daniels said.

“The idea that no worker should be forced to pay union dues as a condition of keeping a job is simple and just.”

Daniels ended by acknowledging the struggles in the General Assembly over the issue but expressed hope that lawmakers would come to a compromise for the
benefit of the state.

“That is the state we have dreamed of. A state that magnetizes people of talent and the risk-taking capital that seeks to employ them,” Daniels said. “We are not fully that state, but we are so much closer to it. ... We are certainly, irrefutably different.”

Duncan and the other protesters outside didn’t seem to care. They continued to shout “Mitch is a liar!” and to blow piercingly-loud whistles throughout the whole speech, and they continued into the night, missing the speech entirely.

“We’d stay here longer if they’d let us. We’ll be here until the job is done,“ Duncan said. “I recorded (the speech), so I can laugh at it later.”