INDIANAPOLIS —
If there was any doubt about how the next session of the Indiana General Assembly was going to play out, legislative leaders cleared that up with a dose of hot rhetoric Monday.
Starting the verbal fisticuffs: A hastily called press conference in which the top two GOP leaders in the House and Senate declared that making Indiana a “right to work” state will be their top legislative priority for the 2012 session, which begins Jan. 4.
House Speaker Brian Bosma and Senate Pro Tem President David Long announced plans to file identical bills that would ban Indiana employers from negotiating contracts with labor unions that require workers to pay union dues as part of their employment.
A “right to work‚” bill filed in the last session set off a five-week boycott by House Democrats and filled the Statehouse with angry union protesters who dubbed it the legislation the “right to work for less.”
The bill was pulled and was expected to return in the 2012 session, but the way it was laid back on the table Monday came as a surprise.
Long said making Indiana the 23rd state with a “right to work” law would remove the “final barrier” to the state’s economic prosperity, while Bosma declared: “Today the campaign for the freedom of workers begins.”
Those are fighting words for Indiana Democrats and labor leaders.
House Minority Leader Pat Bauer, a South Bend Democrat, called the GOP plan an assault on workers.
He said Statehouse Democrats would act to stop what he described as legislation that “could be the eventual decline and fall” of the Indiana economy.
Nancy Guyott, the president of the Indiana AFL-CIO issued a statement scorning Bosma’s words. “It’s laughable that Republican leaders in the Statehouse actually have the gall to cite ‘freedom’ in their renewed push for the so-called ‘right to work’ law given that its already the law of the land that no one can be forced to join a union,” she said.
The Republican leaders started their press conference just an hour before House Democrats were scheduled to unveil their top legislative priorities.
The latter press conference proceeded as scheduled, with Bauer laying out an ambitious agenda for a minority caucus.
The South Bend Democrat said his members would push for:
• tax credits for small businesses to hire unemployed workers
• more money for early childhood education
• a sales tax holiday and other tax breaks for middle class families
• a ban on “pay-to-play” by barring contractors from making political donations
• and a provision to give Hoosier workers preference for jobs created by state contracts.
But the talk of the day was about the “right to work” proposal and its proposers.
At an Indiana Chamber of Commerce luncheon where Statehouse leaders were asked to give a preview of the upcoming session, both Long and Bosma defended the decision to put the contentious issue back on center stage. Bosma said, “Nothing important happens without a lot of intense conversation.”
But Senate Minority Leader Vi Simpson, a Bloomington Democrat, was sharply critical of the GOP leaders and criticized them for failing to brief Democratic leaders in the House and Senate about their decision to push “right to work” to the top of the agenda.
“You have to wonder about what that means for the future of this legislative session,” Simpson said.
Legislators may get a taste of it today when both chambers convene for their ceremonial Organization Day. The state’s labor leaders have called for union members and supporters to turn out in force to protest the “right to work” legislation.
Maureen Hayden is Statehouse bureau chief for the Tribune-Star. She can be reached at maureen.hayden@indianamediagroup.com.
Indiana Legislature
GOP eyes ‘right to work’ as top issue
Divisive issue rises for repeat
- Indiana Legislature
-
-
Legislature approves Indiana sentencing laws overhaul
INDIANAPOLIS — An overhaul of Indiana’s criminal sentencing laws aimed at sending fewer nonviolent offenders to prison has been approved by the Legislature.
-
Budget deal calls for 5 percent income tax cut
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana taxpayers will see their personal income tax rate reduced by 5 percent over the next four years under a budget plan agreed to by state lawmakers.
-
Revoked charters could be forgiven $12M in loans
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana lawmakers are considering forgiving $12 million in loans that “failing” charter schools accepted from the state.
-
Indiana House set to vote on school safety grant plan
INDIANAPOLIS — A stripped-down proposal that would start a state grant program toward helping school districts hire police officers and buy safety equipment is set to be voted on by Indiana legislators.
-
Indiana Senate approves minimal voucher expansion
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Senate is signing off on a limited expansion of the state’s school voucher program.
-
Group, bill promote natural gas fueling stations
INDIANAPOLIS — Natural gas advocates want to create incentives for building fueling stations across the state in hopes that more people will operate vehicles using alternative fuels.
-
Senate OKs smaller tax cut than Pence wants
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence appears to be holding firm to his demand for a 10-percent income tax cut, despite some movement from Senate Republicans who are willing to give him a smaller slice of what he wants.
-
Pence: Indiana Senate GOP income tax cut not enough
INDIANAPOLIS — Gov. Mike Pence says an income tax cut in the Indiana Senate’s proposed budget is a start but he’ll still push for the $500 million cut he has proposed.
-
Indiana Senate leader against school guns mandate
INDIANAPOLIS — The leader of the Indiana Senate has come out against a proposal that would require all public schools in the state to have an employee armed with a loaded gun.
-
House panel approves HIP expansion, strips grants
INDIANAPOLIS — An Indiana House panel has altered a plan that would use the state’s Healthy Indiana Plan to expand Medicaid coverage in the state.
-
Bill seeks in-state tuition for some immigrants
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana lawmakers are considering rolling back the state’s two-year-old immigration law so that illegal immigrants who were attending public colleges then would again be eligible for in-state tuition rates.
-
Bill for tougher Indiana abortion pill law advances
INDIANAPOLIS — A legislative committee has endorsed a proposal that would make Indiana clinics that provide only abortion drugs face the same requirements as clinics that perform surgical abortions.
-
Bill to ban Indiana teacher union deductions advances
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana public schools would be prohibited from handling paycheck deductions for teachers union dues under a proposal endorsed by a Republican-led legislative committee.
-
Bill advances shifting Indiana voucher oversight
INDIANAPOLIS — A Republican-controlled legislative committee has approved a proposal to shift administration of Indiana’s private school voucher program away from the new Democratic state schools superintendent.
-
Indiana school voucher expansion scaled back
INDIANAPOLIS — Republican lawmakers have scaled back a large proposed expansion of Indiana’s private school voucher system.
-
Pence unhappy with GOP budget, Dems seek tax vote
INDIANAPOLIS — Gov. Mike Pence is deriding House Republicans’ state budget plan that would replace his proposed tax cut with more spending on roads and education.
-
Grants proposed to add police at Indiana schools
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana lawmakers say they hope to improve security at schools around the state by offering grants toward hiring police officers and buying safety equipment.
-
Indiana Sunday alcohol sales ban likely to remain
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana’s longtime ban on Sunday retail alcohol sales will likely continue for at least another year as a vote isn’t being scheduled on a bill to lift it.
-
Indiana bill targets undercover video ‘vigilantes’
INDIANAPOLIS — A Senate panel has approved a bill that would make it a crime to take photographs or shoot footage at Indiana’s farms and businesses without the owner’s permission.
-
Bill would give high-performing schools more flexibility
After focusing on failing schools in recent legislative sessions, some Indiana lawmakers say it’s time to reward high-performing schools with more money and more flexibility.
-
Indiana Senate approves right to hunt, farm proposal
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana voters would decide in next year’s election whether to add the right to hunt, fish and farm to the state constitution under a proposal approved by state senators.
-
Indiana lawmakers push for Sunday alcohol sales
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana lawmakers hoping to allow stores to sell alcohol on Sunday are facing opposition from liquor store owners, who worry the policy could put them out of business.
-
Bill advances to loosen Indiana superintendent rules
INDIANAPOLIS — School superintendents would no longer have to hold an Indiana superintendent’s or teacher’s license under a bill endorsed today by an Indiana House committee.
-
Bill aims to tighten Indiana laws over ‘bath salts’
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana legislators are again trying to toughen state laws that prohibit businesses from selling synthetic drugs known as “bath salts” and other nicknames.
-
Cold medicines could face tighter Indiana limits
INDIANAPOLIS — An Indiana Senate committee has backed tougher limits on quantities consumers may buy of cold medications that can be used to make methamphetamine.
-
Indiana senators seek new social networking ban
INDIANAPOLIS — Two Republican lawmakers are looking for a new way to keep registered sex offenders off social media one week after a federal appeals court found a previous ban unconstitutional.
-
Indiana House OKs looser rules on selling old schools
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana House has approved a bill that would shorten the time that school districts must hold onto vacant buildings in case a charter school operator wanted to move into the building.
-
Indiana lawmakers don sneakers for anti-cancer effort
INDIANAPOLIS — Numerous Indiana lawmakers and staff members are wearing sneakers around the Statehouse as part of the Coaches vs. Cancer activity sponsored by the American Cancer Society.
-
UPDATE: Indiana lawmakers consider protecting right to hunt
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana lawmakers have delayed action on a proposed state constitutional amendment that would guarantee the right of residents to hunt, fish and farm.
-
Top Indiana senator seeks gas plant contract review
A top Indiana senator is calling for a review of Indiana’s plans to subsidize a proposed coal-gasification plant.
- More Indiana Legislature Headlines
-
Legislature approves Indiana sentencing laws overhaul




