• 

  Banks of the Wabash Festival kicks off

  The 2013 Banks of the Wabash Festival, scheduled May 23 through June 1 in Fairbanks Park, celebrates 40 years along the banks of the Wabash River, 30 under the sponsorship of the Terre Haute Parks and Recreation Department.

• 

  Banks of the Wabash Festival is more than just yearly entertainment

  Pioneers think counterintuitively. Where others see widespread apathy, they focus on the possibility for progress. In a way, the 2013 Year of the River celebration began in the 1970s.

• 

  North baseball pulls away from South in sectional opener

  In high school baseball little things mean a lot, and the crack in the door doesn’t have to be open very wide.
  Terre Haute North burst through that crack in the bottom of the second inning Wednesday evening at Terre Haute South, scoring seven two-out runs and going on to a surprisingly easy 12-2 victory over the host Braves.

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January 24, 2012

GOP rejects House Dems’ vote on RTW referendum

Democrats walk out again; Senate passes RTW bill

Anonymous Associated Press Tue Jan 24, 2012, 05:02 AM EST

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana House Democrats walked off the floor Monday after losing an effort to put a right-to-work measure aimed at unions before voters, possibly resuming an off-and-on boycott strategy aimed at derailing the measure for the second straight year.

Democrats ended a previous boycott earlier Monday and spent close to five hours debating the right-to-work measure with Republicans. But they left the House floor shortly after losing a party-line vote on the referendum proposal and losing close to a dozen votes to change the measure.

Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma and Democratic House Minority Leader Patrick Bauer quibbled over who was responsible for the renewed tensions. Bauer accused Bosma of cutting debate short before Democrats had finished offering amendments. Bosma accused Democrats of looking for a reason to resume their boycott.

Bauer said Democrats would meet again Wednesday to decide whether to return.

Meanwhile, Senate Republicans had little trouble giving final approval to the right-to-work proposal, which would ban unions from collecting mandatory representation fees from workers whether or not the employees are members.

The Senate voted 28-22 to send their right-to-work measure to the House.

Republicans, who have a 60-40 majority in the House, had little trouble beating back the series of  Democratic proposals to tweak the measure.

Some of those proposals would have automatically sunset the right-to-work bill if unemployment climbs too high and mandate that the state’s economic development corporation disclose terms of business agreements.

Lawmakers did approve a pair of Republican amendments to exempt building and construction trade unions form the measure and giving the Department of Labor enforcement authority. The two changes align the House measure with the Senate plan.

Republicans’ efforts Monday prefaced what could be a relatively easy final House vote for the right-to-work bill, if Democrats end their boycott.

If the measure is adopted, Indiana would become the first state in more than a decade to approve right-to-work legislation. National advocates have tried without success to push the measure in New Hampshire and other states following a wave of Statehouse victories by Republicans in 2010.

Supporters say the right-to-work measure would bring more jobs to Indiana, where unemployment has crept up to around 9 percent. Opponents say it is aimed at breaking unions and claim it would depress wages for all workers.

Democratic Rep. Scott Pelath of Michigan City opened the lengthy debate Monday with a procedural move designed to kill the measure. Democrats supporting the motion said the legislation is the most divisive bill the Legislature has ever seen.

“This institution is best served if we just end this right here and right now,” said Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Indianapolis. “If you look at the collateral damage that this institution has suffered ... you have to ask yourself, at what cost?”

Republican Rep. Jerry Torr of Carmel said the proposal was premature and the GOP-led House rejected the motion, 59-39, as union protesters chanted outside the House chamber.

Republican lawmakers were largely quiet throughout the hours-long debate, rising only occasionally to rebut Democrats. Republican Rep Ralph Foley of Martinsville argued that just because a measure is controversial does not mean it should be avoided.

“I think this is what we do, we don’t avoid controversy,” Foley said.

Indiana Democrats, who blocked similar legislation with a five-week walkout last year, are seeking a statewide voter referendum in November that would decide the fate of the right-to-work bill. Bauer introduced a version of the referendum on Friday that he said was designed to pass constitutional muster.

Republican leaders maintain that such a referendum isn’t allowed under the state constitution and that the Legislature must decide what becomes state law. The Republican-led Senate rejected such a referendum last week.

The right-to-work battle has disrupted the legislative session that began Jan. 4 and has brought large crowds of union protesters to the Statehouse. Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma last week imposed $1,000-a-day fines against absent Democrats, but a Marion County judge issued an order Thursday blocking those fines from being deducted from the state paychecks of boycotters who have sued.

If the legislation passes, Indiana would become the 23rd state to approve a right-to-work law, handing national conservatives and business groups a major win on an issue that has recently eluded them elsewhere. It also would deal another blow to organized labor, which has seen mixed results in its fight against initiatives to curb union rights nationwide that followed the Republican victories in 2010.

The last state to enact a right-to-work law was Oklahoma in 2001.

——

Tom LoBianco can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/tomlobianco

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Indiana Legislature

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  INDIANAPOLIS — An overhaul of Indiana’s criminal sentencing laws aimed at sending fewer nonviolent offenders to prison has been approved by the Legislature.

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• Budget deal calls for 5 percent income tax cut

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  April 5, 2013 1 Link  

• Pence: Indiana Senate GOP income tax cut not enough

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  April 4, 2013  

• Indiana Senate leader against school guns mandate

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  April 4, 2013  

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  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.

  April 1, 2013  

• 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.

  February 21, 2013  

• Bill for tougher Indiana abortion pill law advances

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  February 20, 2013  

• 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.

  February 19, 2013  

• 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.

  February 19, 2013  

• Indiana school voucher expansion scaled back

  INDIANAPOLIS — Republican lawmakers have scaled back a large proposed expansion of Indiana’s private school voucher system.

  February 18, 2013  

• 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.

  February 15, 2013  

• 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.

  February 14, 2013  

• 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.

  February 13, 2013  

• Indiana bill targets undercover video ‘vigilantes’

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  February 13, 2013  

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  February 12, 2013  

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  February 11, 2013  

• Indiana lawmakers push for Sunday alcohol sales

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  January 29, 2013  

• 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.

  January 29, 2013  

• Bill aims to tighten Indiana laws over ‘bath salts’

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  January 29, 2013  

• 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.

  January 29, 2013  

• Indiana senators seek new social networking ban

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  January 28, 2013  

• Indiana House OKs looser rules on selling old schools

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  January 28, 2013  

• 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.

  January 28, 2013 1 Photo  

• 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.

  January 28, 2013  

• Top Indiana senator seeks gas plant contract review

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  January 24, 2013  

• More Indiana Legislature Headlines

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