INDIANAPOLIS —If Democrats return to the Indiana House floor today, the chamber could vote as soon as late this afternoon on the contentious right-to-work bill that has scuttled much of the first four weeks of 2012’s legislative session.
House Minority Leader B. Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, said his caucus would return unless there are “ill winds” that give them a reason to stay out for what would be their 10th day this year.
If they are on hand when the House tries to adjourn at 12:30 p.m. CST, it would mean the chamber could proceed with amendments to a long series of bills, followed by final votes on right to work and a handful of others.
The House vote is the only real obstacle in the way of right to work’s passage. Because the Indiana Constitution requires the two-thirds presence of all the chamber’s members before it can do business, minority Democrats can stop all progress by boycotting.
However, House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, has a weapon in his arsenal, too: $1,000-a-day fines. He’s imposed them four times so far.
Democrats were angry Monday when Republicans rejected on a party-line vote their effort to send the issue to a statewide referendum. As a result, they left the floor, and refused to come back Tuesday.
Still, Bauer said Tuesday afternoon that they “could” be back Wednesday, and added that the only reason they wouldn’t be on hand is if “ill winds” blow. He did not explain what those ill winds might be.
If the House passes the right-to-work bill, it would move on to the Senate, where a Republican supermajority would be unaffected by a Democratic boycott.
The exact same language that the House is considering has already passed the Senate on a 28-22 vote. Thus, the question of its passage there isn’t if, but when.
Then, the bill would move to Gov. Mitch Daniels’ desk. He has included it in his legislative agenda for the year, a clear sign that he would sign it into law.