INDIANAPOLIS —A right-to-work measure looked primed for passage when it won the state Senate's approval Monday night. Twenty minutes later, another House Democratic walkout threw the session back into turmoil.
Clearing the Senate is ultimately of little consequence for the legislation that would allow workers to opt out of union dues, since minority Democrats are only able to stall action in the House. But it offered clarity on how members there would cast their final votes.
Now, there are two unknowns: Does House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, have the votes to pass "right to work" in his chamber? And, will Democrats eventually return and allow that vote to take place?
If the answer to both questions is yes, the most likely process for a right to work bill to land on Gov. Mitch Daniels' desk now involves House Bill 1001 winning passage with exclusively Republican support in the House, and then passing the Senate without any changes.
For that to happen, though, Democrats have to come back.
The Senate vote was 28-22, with nine Republicans joining the 13 Democrats who voted against the measure. Most Republicans, including Senate President Pro Tem David Long, R-Fort Wayne, supported it.
"I don't believe this state can afford to ignore this opportunity to bring new and better jobs to Indiana," Long said. "It can be a game-changer for our state."
The Senate's approval of "right to work" came after hours of debate, with most Democrats lining up to lambast it.
"Let's not kid ourselves: Right to work is about a downward spiral. It's about lower wages for the people we represent," said Senate Minority Leader Vi Simpson, D-Ellettsville. "Right to work is nothing more than a race to the bottom, and that is not a race we want to win."
Democrats said it would be unfair to require unions to represent workers who do not pay dues in labor negotiations and workplace disputes.
Republicans and their allies in the business community disagree – especially the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, although groups airing television advertisements in support of the bill have refused to identify their funders.
They say unions specifically seek to represent all employees, whether they are union members or not, in labor deals, and seek to require all of those workers to pay dues.
"It's not a free rider issue, it's a forced rider issue," said Sen. Carlin Yoder, R-Middlebury, who carried that chamber's version of the right to work measure – Senate Bill 269.
"The reality is, unions choose these exclusive contracts. They could choose to go to members-only contracts, and they don't do that," he said.
In the House, the debate started Tuesday after Democrats arrived, ending at least for now a boycott they'd started last week.
Seconds into the debate, Democrats offered a motion that forced a vote on whether to kill the bill immediately. Rep. Kreg Battles, D-Vincennes, said it was a way for lawmakers to stop "messing with this stuff that can lead to nothing but trouble."
However, that motion was defeated, 39 to 59, in a chamber that Republicans control 60 to 40. None of the handful of amendments Democrats then offered garnered a single Republican vote – including one that would have sent the issue to a statewide referendum.
Four and a half hours after the debate started, Democrats walked out. The series of events that led to the move were less than clear.
As Rep. Win Moses, D-Fort Wayne, stood up to offer his statewide referendum amendment, another House Democrat – Rep. John Bartlett of Indianapolis – indicated he had one to propose, too. Bosma told Bartlett he could go after Moses.
After about two hours of debating the statewide referendum, it was rejected, 39-59, on party lines.
Bosma then asked twice if House members wanted to offer any more amendments. For six seconds – a long time for this step, when lawmakers are usually ready to line up one after another with amendments – Democrats were silent.
At the same time Bosma pounded his gavel, Rep. Terry Goodin, D-Austin, stood up to try to prod Bosma to consider the amendment from Bartlett, who had evidently not indicated he was ready to offer it when Bosma asked. Bosma said it was too late.
Democrats immediately stood up and left the House floor, and went into a behind-closed-doors caucus meeting. Meanwhile, Bosma went into his office to review video of what had transpired. He emerged half an hour later saying he believed he had given Democrats ample opportunity to offer more amendments, and they hadn't taken it.
He said he was ready to move on to other bills on the House calendar, and that he was through with amendments on "right to work." He said the bill would be eligible for a final vote as soon as Tuesday.
Democrats did not return to the chamber Monday night, and afterward, House Minority Leader B. Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, said he was not sure they'd come in Tuesday, either. "I have to tell you, our members are very disappointed, and they feel shut out and shut down," he said.
Rep. Gail Riecken, D-Evansville, said she was more sure Democrats would come back.
"I think we'll definitely be in tomorrow," she said. "I don't think that's an issue. I just think we're all recuperating right now."
House Republicans did approve two minor amendments of their own. As a result, the House bill that's slated for a final vote, if Democrats will allow it, is in the exact same form as the version the Senate passed Monday.
Therefore, if the bill clears the House, it would likely proceed through the Senate, where its outcome is far more certain, without any changes. Then it would head to Daniels' desk.