State Democrats end right-to-work walkout

Indiana House Democrats have ended a walkout, which has kept right-to-work legislation off the floor since the General Assembly began the 2012 session last Wednesday.

On Friday, the state Senate and House hosted a bicameral public hearing on the issue, which led to the Senate promptly passing the bill and sending it to the deadlocked House.

House Minority Leader B. Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, said earlier in the week that the goal of the walkout was to bring right-to-work to the public’s attention. He did not rule out the possibility of another walkout to keep the bill off Gov. Mitch Daniels’ desk.

The right-to-work bill, which would prohibit contracts that require union membership, will be in House committee tomorrow morning, only hours before Gov. Daniels visits the statehouse to deliver his annual state of the state address.

— Charles Scudder