INDIANAPOLIS — In legislative speak, it's sometimes called "the nuclear option" — and Democrats in the Indiana House of Representatives are using it.
The party's members left the House during a recess Monday afternoon and then left the state altogether Tuesday in protest of about a dozen education and labor bills that majority Republicans are pushing in the General Assembly.
The move has prevented the House from conducting business for a day and a half during a week filled with deadlines attached to the midpoint of this year's legislative session.
More than 20 bills -- including "right to work" restrictions on unions -- died Tuesday evening when a deadline passed to transfer bills from committee reports to the full House schedule. The language in those bills, however, could still be amended into other bills alive in the House or Senate.
Republicans criticized Democrats on Tuesday, accusing them of shirking their responsibilities to the people who elected them.
"This has real consequence here," said House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis. "It's just an extraordinary waste of taxpayer time for the last two days."
But Democrats, who hold just 40 of the House's 100 seats, said they used the only tool available to them to slow what they consider an agenda that will hurt Indiana schools and workers. The General Assembly's rules require at least two-thirds of a chamber's members to be present for a quorum to conduct business.
"The only way the minority can stop bad things from happening is to deny a quorum," Rep. Craig Fry, D-Mishawaka, said in a phone interview Tuesday night. "We're prepared to stay out of the state for as long as it takes."
Democrats decamped to a hotel in Urbana, Ill. — 125 miles from Indianapolis — out of concern that Gov. Mitch Daniels might send state troopers to bring them back to the Statehouse. The Republican governor said he doesn't plan to do that.
"I trust that people's consciences will bring them back to work," Daniels said. "I choose to believe that our friends in the minority will, having made their point, come back and do their duty and the jobs they are paid to do."
Rep. Ryan Dvorak, D-South Bend, said Democrats haven't stopped working. They're studying the legislation, crafting amendments and "trying to restore some sanity" to the proposals.
Rep. David Niezgodski, D-South Bend, said the right-to-work bill, which would prohibit employers and unions from entering into agreements to make all of a company's workers pay collective-bargaining fees, "was really the straw that broke the camel's back." A House committee approved that measure, House Bill 1468, on Monday morning.
But Dvorak, Fry and Niezgodski said the Democrats' actions Monday and Tuesday were not just about one bill.
They also pointed to the state budget in House Bill 1001, which would change the funding formula for public schools, and other bills that would limit the influence of organized labor and enact other historic changes to education, such as increasing the number of charter schools and creating tax-funded vouchers for private school tuition.
In November, Indiana voters gave Republicans a majority in the state House and a supermajority in the Senate. Dvorak said Democrats believe those voters were frustrated by unemployment and the down economy, but they weren't asking for sweeping changes in education and labor.
"If we don't do something to change this, it's going to hurt people in Indiana for generations to come," he said. "Everyone in the caucus wants to get back and finish the work people want us to do. Nobody's enjoying being here (in Illinois)."
Hundreds of union members rallied Monday and Tuesday at the Statehouse in opposition to the various labor bills under consideration in the Legislature, and they cheered Democrats' efforts to counter the Republican proposals.
"They're doing what they need to do to protect Indiana workers," said Bob Warnock, a Lakeville resident and president of Teamsters Local 364.
Warnock added that union members are prepared to continue making noise in the Statehouse as well. "We're going to stay here until these issues are put to rest," he said.
Many Republicans compared the situation in the General Assembly with that in Wisconsin, where unions also have rallied against labor legislation and Democratic lawmakers have left the state in protest.
Rep. Tim Neese, R-Elkhart, said Tuesday that there seems to be "an epidemic" in the Midwest.
"The only symptom is that you don't show up for work, and it makes my heart hurt," Neese said while addressing the remaining House members before they adjourned at 9 p.m.
The members of the Indiana House Democratic Caucus have issued the following statement:
"The past few days have seen an unprecedented attack on Hoosier families by a radical House Republican agenda that will hurt millions in both the classroom and the pocketbook.
"House Democrats find it hard to believe that these proposals affecting so many are being advanced in the name of 'reform.' In point of fact, they are anti-child and anti-worker, and there needs to be sufficient time for the people of this state to examine the length and depth of what is being attempted here.
"The House Republicans are pursuing legislation that is diverting state tax dollars toward for-profit private schools through programs like charters and vouchers. This comes at a time when public schools already have been reeling from $600 million in spending cuts ordered by Gov. Mitch Daniels over the past two years.
"As more public money goes toward for-profit private schools, the funding available for public schools grows smaller and smaller. That means larger classes, as well as cuts in programs, instruction and materials that will adversely affect children who will never have a chance to attend a private school. In addition, House Republicans are seeking legislation that enables private schools to avoid many of the rules and regulations imposed on public schools.
"But the attacks do not stop there. House Republicans have advanced a second set of proposals that declare war on working families across this state. They attempt to portray these attacks as efforts to create jobs, but proposals like right to work have a documented history of driving down incomes for working men and women.
"We are pleased Gov. Daniels agrees with us that right to work does not need to be heard now, although it must be pointed out that he doesn't rule out future consideration of this issue.
"Right now there are close to 300,000 Hoosiers who find themselves without jobs, and are desperately looking for ways to support their families. To date this session, the only thing the House Republicans have told these people is that if they lose their jobs, their unemployment benefits are going to be cut 25 percent.
"Hoosiers already make only 85 cents for every $1 earned by the average American, and these anti-worker proposals have been proven to slash wages by an average of $5,500 each year. They have had enough, which is why thousands of working men and women have appeared at the Indiana Statehouse these past few days. Their voices need to be heard.
"Indiana House Democrats will continue to deliberate on these issues until their full implications are grasped and debated.
"Despite his recent statements, the governor still has the ability to compel our attendance, which is why we have relocated to Urbana, Illinois, for the immediate future. By staying here, we will be giving the people of Indiana a chance to find out more about this radical agenda and speak out against it.
"We will remain here until we get assurances from the governor and House Speaker Brian Bosma that these bills will not be called down in the House at any time this session. Our leader, State Rep. B. Patrick Bauer (D-South Bend), is ready to talk to the Speaker any time. All the Speaker has to do is call."
The bills of concern to House Democrats:
Education
HB 1002 Charter School Expansion. Diverts state funding to experimental schools at a time when the state has cut funding to local schools by $600 million over the past two years.
HB 1003 School Vouchers. Allows a family of four making over $80,000 a year to receive taxpayer dollars to send their children to a private school.
HB 1479 Private Takeover of Public Schools. Allows the state of Indiana to take over poorly performing schools and for these schools to be managed by for-profit companies. It removes local decision making in schools.
HB 1584 Public School Waiver of state laws. Allows school boards to seek waivers of almost any school law or regulation.
Labor
HB 1468 Right to work. Places the government between employers and their workers. It weakens the ability of working people to bargain for fair wages and safe work environments.
HB 1216 Public Works Projects and Common Construction Wage. Weakens the ability of government to ensure that tax dollars are paid to the best and most qualified workers on public works projects, and that these tax dollars are spent at home.
HB 1203 Employee representations. Ends employee rights to join a union by secret ballot and opens employees up to retaliation and firing by an employer who finds out they are trying to use their right to bargain. This is preempted by federal law. Will require the state to use taxpayer dollars to defend this legislation.
HB 1450 Unemployment Insurance. Shifts hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes from big businesses to small business and will cut benefits for unemployed workers by 25%.
HB 1585 Right to work for Public Employees. Removes collective bargaining rights at the local level.
HB 1538 Minimum wages. Precludes a community from determining what wages are appropriate for its area.
HB 1001 Budget Bill. Allowed no public testimony on a school funding formula that cuts state support for K-12 across Indiana.
(This statement was sent as a release from the Indiana House Democrats.)
