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Thursday, February 24, 2011

Ind. Gov't. - "Daniels vows to make sure lawmakers get work done"

Updating yesterday's ILB entry, Mary Beth Schneider and Scott Elliott have a long report in today's Indianapolis Star. Here is an interesting tidbit, from far into the story, that indicates how unlikely a quick resolution has now become:

"I can tell you I don't know what will happen," Daniels said. "I can tell you what won't happen: We will not be bullied or blackmailed out of pursuing the agenda we laid in front of the people of Indiana. That agenda is going to get voted on. If it takes special sessions from now to New Year's, we will hold them. We will send the bill to (former) Speaker Bauer and to the Democratic Party of Indiana."

How far apart are they? Miles.

Bauer called House Bill 1003, the voucher program for private school tuition, and Senate Bill 575, the bill limiting teacher collective bargaining to only wages and wage-related benefits, "deal breakers."

Daniels called those bills "non-negotiable."

If Democrats stay out today, as seemed likely late Wednesday, the voucher bill, along with the proposed state budget, are two of 25 bills that will die because they won't have cleared a necessary procedural step. If Democrats stay out through Friday, 25 other bills and resolutions will die.

Maybe.

Bosma said if Democrats return "with a smirk" Monday, thinking they've succeeded, Republicans may simply enact a rules change, extending the deadline to pass those bills to March 4.

And that rules change, he said, can be done with a simple majority vote. Only 51 representatives need to be there, not the 67-member quorum that Democrats currently are denying the GOP.

Even without that, derailed legislation can be revived by being amended into other bills later in the session.

Meanwhile, Eric Bradner of the Evansville Courier & Press, reporting from Urbana, Illinois, writes today:
Though they have not said when they will come back, Bauer sent a strong signal that his caucus could return to the Statehouse on Monday.

That is when bills that have passed the House and the Senate will switch chambers, and those that have not yet passed will have died – “a fresh start,” said House Minority Leader B. Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend.

“Monday would be a good day,” he said. “But I’d rather them call me up and say ‘Yeah, you know, we understand that this is too radical.’”

Posted by Marcia Oddi on February 24, 2011 09:02 AM
Posted to Indiana Government