The Republican stranglehold on the Indiana General Assembly didn’t protect our lawmakers from failing to complete their work on time. That means they failed to complete our work — the work of Hoosiers who elected them.
Some of what Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb wanted did not get done as the session ended in chaos and fingerpointing. In a post-session statement, he noted things he saw as accomplishments while adding he would “look at all that can be done to complete unfinished business — whether that’s by administrative or legislative authority, if needed.”
That could include a special session.
Please, only burden Hoosiers with a special session if it can be held to one day and limited to one bill that addresses ways to make Indiana schools safer.
Yes, that was one of the bills legislators simply didn’t get to as the clock ran out at midnight Wednesday.
The Associated Press reported even Republican Senate leader David Long (R-Fort Wayne) called the last day “chaotic” and cited a Republican colleague for most of the last-minute problems.
House Minority Leader Terry Goodin (D-Austin) took advantage in blaming the Republicans, who hold 74 percent of the seats in the House and Senate combined.
“They are a group that has complete and total control of the chambers and they can’t get the work done,” he said.
Facts are facts.
The Senate, which has 41 Republicans and 9 Democrats, adjourned midafternoon Tuesday when many bills still were waiting for action. They spent more than an hour Wednesday listening to kind words about colleagues who are retiring.
They weren’t working.
For his part, Long said the Senate could have finished, but members of the House were the real culprits in delaying the process. He singled out Republican Rep. Ed Soliday of Valparaiso for making “things extremely difficult” and having a “meltdown” during 11th-hour negotiations. Other Republicans blamed Democrats for “slowwalking” toward the end of the session.
That’s the kind of bickering that ended the session. On Friday, state Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington, invoked a “keystone cops” reference and said “you could see the whole system melting down.”
Thankfully, legislators passed a few decent bills this year, such as one late in the session that allows DACA recipients or “Dreamers” to obtain professional licenses in the state. They also added more school funding to address an anticipated shortfall, fixed a too-specific law to allow wider use of CBD oil, and passed a law that allows carryout alcohol sales on Sundays. Failure to pass a hate crimes law was a particularly narrow-minded miss.
Key lawmakers, including House Speaker Brian Bosma (R-Indianapolis), said before the session that it lacked big issues that draw a lot of attention. In other words, Hoosiers shouldn’t expect much.
And then they delivered.