INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosma has invoked Winston Churchill’s “Keep calm and carry on” mantra so often that his staff has framed a poster of the quote and posted it next to his Statehouse office desk.
It’s advice he says he’ll follow as he leads legislators into a political firestorm that may have consequences beyond Indiana.
On Tuesday – the day before the Indiana General Assembly launched into what’s expected to be a contentious session – Bosma said he’ll fast-track the controversial Right to Work legislation that’s already generated ample heat.
The Republican leader set a hearing on the bill for Friday – in front of a joint meeting of the House and Senate labor committees that serve as the first stop in the legislative process.
“There have been past sessions where we’ve had to wait weeks for legislation to get out of committee,” Bosma said. “That’s not going to happen.”
Bosma made the announcement the same day that The New York Times ran his picture, accompanying a story headlined:
“A Gathering Storm Over Right to Work in Indiana.”Democratic and union opponents of the bill want to dodge the storm: They’ve argued that the legislation, which prohibits employers from entering into union contracts that require employees to pay union dues, is a time-wasting attack on labor.
But supporters, including GOP legislative leaders and Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, claim it’s a job-creator that would bring more new businesses to Indiana.
Both sides agree the stakes are high: As noted in the Times story, if the bill passes, Indiana would become the 23rd Right to Work state and the first state in the nation’s union-heavy “manufacturing belt” to adopt such a law.
A similar bill introduced in the 2011 session was taken off the legislative agenda, after House Democrats staged a five-week walkout and union protesters turned out in force to loudly occupy the Statehouse.
In an interview Tuesday, Bosma said opponents of “right to work” weren’t the only ones who hoped to avoid the storm.
He said some members of the Republican caucus didn’t want to see the issue taken up during an election year, when state legislators will have to face the issue during their campaigns. A recent Ball State University poll showed the legislature’s approval rating plummeted after last year’s session that was marked with animosity over labor issues.
“There are plenty of people who would like this to go away, but not because they don’t support it,” Bosma said. He said it was “human nature” for legislators to want to avoid contentious issues that lack what he called consensus-building “Kumbaya moments.”
“But that’s not the way life is and certainly not the way the legislature is,” Bosma said.
The fight over the legislation is expected to be so contentious that the Indiana State Police and the Indiana Fire Marshal have for the first time ever capped the number of people who can enter the Statehouse, and imposed new “code of conduct” rules for persons inside the Statehouse.
That’s in response to Indiana union leaders who’ve called on their members to flood the Statehouse with thousands of protesters.
Meanwhile, House Democrats may try to shut down House business with another boycott, and rumors are rampant that bill opponents may try to upstage the Feb. 5 Super Bowl, to be played in Indianapolis, with a publicity-seeking stunt.
Bosma said he’s ready for all things. “In the midst of protests and walkouts and whatever else may come this year, we’ll just keep calm and carry on the business of the state.”