Rep. Clere removed as chairman of GOP House state health committee

While Clere claims it was his controversial stances on issues that caused his removal, House Speaker Brian Bosma (R-Indianapolis) said he made an administrative change because of Clere’s behavior.

Clere said Bosma called him last Monday to warn him of his removal, referencing an earlier conservation the two had in September.

“He told me that he and other members of the house Republican caucus were upset with me about a number of controversial issues and my stance on those issues,” he said, specifically referring to issues including needle exchanges and statewide Medicaid expansion.

But Bosma said his decision “had nothing to do with his position on issues and everything to do with how he has treated other people and his role as chairman.”

Bosma continued that he sets high standards for his chairpersons, including how they work with committee members, members of the administration and Senate and the public.

“I have had more complaints about how a chairman deals with those entities .... about Ed than I have about any other committee chairman or ranking member that I have appointed in my 15 years as the Republican leader,” Bosma said, specifically referring to “rudeness.”

Clere said he was surprised to hear Bosma’s response.

“I’m not denying that Brian and I talked about conflict I had with other members and certain lobbyists and others, but for him to say that that was the reason he removed me as chair is disingenuous, to say the least,” Clere said.

He added that most people he’s interacted with as chairman would have an “entirely different” characterization of him.

“[Legislating is] an intense process, and I think some conflict is natural or expected,” Clere said. “I don’t think that’s a fair characterization at all, and I’m sorry that the speaker feels the need to engage in character assassination.”

Bosma also said he didn’t want to publicly state his reasons for removing Clere but changed his mind “since Ed has chosen to paint a different picture.”

Bosma announced his decision to replace Clere with Vice Chairwoman State Rep. Cindy Kirchhofer, R-Indianapolis, last Tuesday during the legislature’s Organization Day, Clere said.

The speaker pointed out that Kirchhofer has held the same positions as Clere on some of these controversial issues. Like Clere, Kirchhofer voted in favor of the needle exchange bill and against the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Most of the issues Clere cited were health-related — including Senate Bill 461 that authorized county-wide needle exchange programs that Clere championed in the spring, Medicaid expansion known as Healthy Indiana Plan 2.0 and a bill that would have required the Indiana State Department of Health to increase its rate of HPV immunization.

However, Clere said Bosma also referenced the New Albany resident’s outspoken stance on same-sex marriage. Clere was the only Republican to vote against adding a same-sex marriage ban in the state constitution in 2011.

“I have supported the speaker on many issues, and that’s part of why his decision was so surprising ... but I’m also not afraid to step out when I think it’s in the best interest of my constituents and the state,” Clere said.

It’s unusual for a chairman to be removed from his position in the middle of a term, Clere added.

Though Clere will remain a member of the public health committee, he will no longer set the agenda for the committee that dictates which bills will be heard in each legislative session.

“I’m the first to admit that I set a bold agenda as chairman,” Clere said. “I always tried hard to build consensus, and one of the things that I’m proudest of is in three years as chairman, every single bill that passed out of the committee passed with bipartisan support, and most of them passed with unanimous bipartisan support.”

The needle exchange bill is one example of an issue that Clere was able to introduce to the committee in his capacity as chairman.

Clere worked closely with Beth Meyerson, co-director of the Rural Center for AIDS/STD Prevention for the Indiana University School of Public Health, on the needle exchange and HPV vaccination bills. The close marriage between academia and public policy that Clere worked toward is “ideal,” Meyerson said.

“He really worked very hard to make sure the science was clear so his colleagues would know how to make decisions,” Meyerson said.

She called Bosma’s decision to remove Clere a “vendetta” for not marching to the an “ideological drum.”

“He is a great public health leader. We were so lucky to have him as chair,” Meyerson said. “I am absolutely flummoxed and deeply disappointed in Speaker Bosma and the governor for removing him as chair.”

Clere has won more than a dozen public health-related awards, including legislator of the year in 2014 from the Indiana Health Industry Forum, honorary recognition in 2015 from the Indiana State Nurses Association and legislator of the year in 2015 from the Indiana Council of Community Mental Health Center.

But Meyerson said his work as public health chairman is measured in more than state awards. Clere’s needle exchange bill, for example, has helped shift the national conversation on a federal funding band of such programs.

“It’s going to have an impact for many years to come,” she said. “Not only did this bill have the potential to change the health of populations across the state but across the country.”

It took a Republican legislator to advocate for needle exchange programs — Republicans have traditionally opposed them — to persuade others across the country to rethink them, Meyerson said.

An article published in June by the New York Times titled “House Republicans Ease Opposition to Needle Exchanges” mentions the recent HIV outbreak in Scott County and Gov. Mike Pence’s signing of Clere’s bill.

“When [legislators] saw Indiana step forward with a law, they knew that they could do it, too,” she said.

Now, Meyerson is concerned about the future of Indiana’s public health arena because she believes members of the committee will “sit on their hands” so they don’t meet the same fate that Clere met.

“We all pay that price, not just Ed Clere ...” she said. “We’re going to lose now because that’s going to set a pall across the public health committee.”

Bosma said he doesn’t agree with Meyerson’s position but would not elaborate further.

Though Meyerson called Clere a moderate Republican, Clere shies away from such labels.

“I don’t know that I call myself moderate,” he said. “Some people may and that’s fine, but I like to think of myself as reasonable and thoughtful and I take the time to study issues and talk with my constituents, and I try hard to represent all of my constituents, and that’s difficult to do.”

Clere said he’s disappointed he will no longer be chairman of the public health committee.

“I’m proud of the work that I’ve done and I’m grateful for the opportunity to serve as chairman, and I look forward to continuing my work in the legislation in other ways,” he said. “I certainly would have liked to remain chairman, but I’m still going to be very active and involved in lots of legislation.”