Right-to-work bill causes deadlock in Statehouse

This sort of thing just doesn’t happen in Indiana.

A Democratic walkout during the governor’s State of the State address, hundreds of protesters swarming the Statehouse lobby, daily press conferences and back-and-forth drama between opposing parties seem more like a political thriller cooked up for Hollywood than the first two weeks of legislation in Indianapolis.

Nevertheless, a political battle is taking place at the Statehouse.

It’s all about controversial right-to-work legislation, which Republicans say will help job growth, while Democrats call it anti-union and anti-worker.

The bill would make it a Class A misdemeanor for employers to require union membership. It would make Indiana the 23rd right-to-work state and has been fraught with controversy since it was first considered last spring.

In February 2011, a walkout of Democratic lawmakers put the bill on hold. As Democrats fled the state, Republicans were unable to take a vote.

Last month, Gov. Mitch Daniels announced his official support for right to work and urged legislators to pass the bill as soon as possible.

Democrats didn’t agree.

Instead, when the House was gaveled into session Jan. 4, 2012, Democrats were not present. They stayed in the caucus room and refused to leave until the issue of right to work was brought to public attention.

Last Friday, a joint hearing with senators and representatives present took place with testimony from supporters and opponents of right to work. After the hearing, the Senate quickly passed the bill and sent it to the deadlocked House.

Union members from across the country came to Indianapolis to speak against the legislation.

On Wednesday, members of the AFL-CIO in Oklahoma, the last state to adopt right to work, had a press conference to urge Hoosiers to avoid the legislation.

“There is no doubt that the law has resulted in job loss and lower wages,” said Jesse Isbell, an Oklahoman who lost his job at Bridgestone Tires after right to work was passed. “Fewer jobs and lower wages have meant fewer dollars being pumped into local economies. Right to work has a negative ripple effect that continues to plague our state economy.”

On Monday, Democrats returned to the House floor long enough to assign the bill to committee for Tuesday morning.

Committee Chairman Rep. Douglas Gutwein, R-Francesville, and the other Republicans shoved the bill through committee, not allowing any debate or discussion of amendments from Democratic lawmakers.

“I felt like that committee hearing did not show respect to the institution, to the Constitution, to the rules and legislative tradition,” Rep. Peggy Welch, D-Bloomington, said to the Indianapolis Star on Tuesday. “This goes beyond right to work. It was a total disrespect for the democratic process.”

Welch was one of a handful of Democrats who did make it to the floor last week and Tuesday.

Democrats once again failed to show up for the full session of the House after the committee hearing, and many didn’t even come to the governor’s final State of the State speech Tuesday night.

On Wednesday, Speaker of the House Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, said cooperation could have been better in the two parties, especially during the committee hearing
Tuesday morning.

Bosma said action about the right-to-work bill would be delayed until Tuesday, and Democrats would be allowed to testify against the bill in the meantime.