2012 Legislative Session Could Finish Today

Posted on Author WKVI
Senator Jim Arnold

The 2012 legislative session could end by as early as today, making it just in time for the March 14 deadline. Democrat Senator Jim Arnold of La Porte late yesterday afternoon explained the possibility of an early finish.

“Right now they’re moving at a pretty good pace. We should have a full day Friday. There are rumors though that we may decide to just adjourn Friday and come back and finish up on Monday, but we do have to finish by Wednesday, March 14, at the latest,” Arnold said.

Whenever they finish, the session will be remembered for the fight over the “Right to Work” bill. That bill brought thousands of labor union members to the statehouse to protest making Indiana the 23rd “Right to Work” state. Governor Mitch Daniels and the Republican majorities in both the House and Senate made it a priority, and in the end it passed.

Indiana General Assembly to End Session March 9th

Posted on Author WKVI
Senator Jim Arnold

The most recent session of the Indiana Legislature could be coming to an end sooner than it’s cut-off date, according to Democrat State Senator Jim Arnold, of LaPorte.

“We are required to be out of session by March 14th,” stated Senator Arnold. “The strong rumors and all indications are they are going to shoot to be out of here no later than March 9th which would be a week from Friday. There are still plenty of work to be done and a lot of issues to be discussed and voted on. I think it’s a real probability and most of us are hoping that’s the case.”

Senator Arnold was asked if the right to work measure was too time consuming and pushed back many important pieces of legislation.

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Governor Daniels Signs Right to Work Bill

Posted on Author WKVI
House Speaker Brian Bosma signs right to work bill

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels signed the right to work bill into law yesterday afternoon at 1:45 p.m. ET.

The bill was passed after 40 hours of testimony, debate and discussion over House Bill 1001. The law prohibits a business and a union from agreeing to charge fees to nonunion employees for union-provided representation and grievance services. Governor Daniels said the bill will bring jobs and opportunity for the young citizens of the state and for all of those looking for a better life.

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Final Vote on Right to Work Bill Expected Today

Posted on Author WKVI
Indiana Statehouse

The Right to Work Bill has come down to one last vote to take place today, and the outcome is all but certain. If the bill is passed, Indiana will be the only state in the industrial Midwest with this kind of law.

The bill, House Bill 1001, is almost guaranteed to pass on Wednesday, since an identical bill was approved by the Senate earlier this year, 28-22, and Senate President Pro Tem David Long is confident he has the votes necessary for the bill to pass.

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Right to Work Bill Could be Law this Week

Posted on Author WKVI
Indiana Statehouse

With the House’s recent approval of the right to work bill drumming up a lot of heat, State Senator Jim Arnold told WKVI that the bill is now on the fast track through the legislative system, and he expects it to land on the governor’s desk by Thursday but first, Arnold says, the bill will be heard today at 9:00 a.m. in the Senate during a Pensions and Labor Committee meeting. Following that, the bill will be voted on again on Tuesday with an opportunity for amendments to be heard on the floor of the Senate.

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State Representative Nancy Dembowski Discusses Right to Work

Posted on Author WKVI
Indiana Statehouse

The right to work bill passed the Indiana House Wednesday and the debate on the bill lasted five hours. Democrat State Representative Nancy Dembowski said it was grueling.

“It was one of the worst things I’ve ever been through,” she said. “They’ve got all of the people demonstrating in the hallways and they shut off the speakers so the people out there can’t hear what’s being said. We insisted that they have a right to hear and we demanded they open the doors because the Constitution says that you have to have the doors open unless you want to do something in secrecy. Our people were trying to open the doors and they instructed the police to stop us. People have no idea what it was like. Person after person after person just pleaded with them that it was going to hurt the common working man and stop and they stuck together and they got it accomplished.”

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Right to Work Bill Passes Indiana House

Posted on Author WKVI
Indiana Statehouse

The right to work bill passed the Indiana House yesterday.

The final vote was 54-44. The bill gives workers the freedom to choose whether or not to financially support a union. It states that an employee cannot be forced to join to financially support a union in order to get or keep a job.

House Bill 1001 was heard on third reading yesterday after the majority of the Democrat Caucus boycotted the first few weeks of session by failing to show up to work. Members of the House Republicans attempted to address right to work last session, however the Democrats denied the House a quorum by fleeing to Illinois for five weeks. The issue was tabled and further studied in the Interim Study Committee on Employment this summer.

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Some Republicans are Voting Against Right to Work

Posted on Author WKVI
State Representative Tom Dermody

Even though Republican Governor Mitch Daniels has made right to work his number one priority item for this session of the Indiana General Assembly, some Republicans are voting against the measure. One was Senator Ed Charbonneau, of Valparaiso, who voted against the bill Monday.

Republican Representative Tom Dermody, of LaPorte, has said he will vote against the measure.  Continue reading →

House Democrats Fined $1,000

Posted on Author WKVI
Indiana Statehouse

The right to work squabble at the Statehouse kicked into high gear Wednesday with House Democrats again staying away from the chamber. For the second day, the Democrats held an open caucus in the rotunda. With that, Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma fined the 33 of the 40 lawmakers $1,000 for not coming back to the chamber.

17th District State Representative Nancy Dembowski was one of the Democrats who stayed away.

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Democrats Want Right to Work on a Referendum

Posted on Author WKVI
Indiana Statehouse

Facing long odds, House Democrats are trying to slow down approval of Governor Mitch Daniels’ right to work legislation, House Minority Leader B. Patrick Bauer is asking that the measure go to a referendum.

Representative Nancy Dembowski agrees with Bauer.

“The problem is that people just don’t understand what the right to work bill does,” stated Dembowski. “We’re trying to get it off the fast track and trying to hold it back a little bit so that people can begin to understand it. Ideally, the best way to handle this situation would be to put it on a referendum. I doubt very seriously if we’ll be able to get that done.”

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Democrats Meet to Discuss Right to Work Legislation

Posted on Author WKVI
Indiana Statehouse

The 2012 short session of the state legislature didn’t get off the ground yesterday as Democrats stayed behind closed doors for almost two-and-a-half hours.

The Democrats are discussing how to derail proposed right to work legislation that Governor Daniels has put forward as one of the most important pieces of legislation.

The tactic wasn’t completely unexpected as Democrats fled to Illinois last year over the same issue.

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2012 General Assembly to Convene Wednesday

Posted on Author WKVI
Indiana Statehouse

The 2012 Indiana General Assembly convenes Wednesday with a contentious labor bill topping the legislative agenda.

GOP lawmakers and Governor Mitch Daniels say the law is needed to make Indiana more attractive to companies looking for a place to do business.

Union leaders and Democrats call it a transparent attempt to dismantle organized labor and say such a law drives down wages.

Some Republican Senators with many union members in their districts are placed in a tough spot going into an election year. One of those Senators, Ed Charbonneau of Valparaiso, has said that he is going to study the bill long and hard before placing a vote one way or the other.

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Year in Review – Part Four

Posted on Author WKVI

We’re down to the final three top 10 stories of 2011.

One of the top stories of the year involved State Representative Nancy Dembowski, who with 43 Democrat legislators, fled to Illinois to avoid voting on anticipated right to work legislation. After staying out for weeks, the legislators finally returned to the cheers of union workers and jeers from their Republican colleagues. The issue is coming back to the legislators in the 2012 General Assembly. The Republican majority party imposed fines on those who left.

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Governor Daniels Supports Right to Work

Posted on Author WKVI
Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels

Governor Mitch Daniels confirmed yesterday what everyone has been expecting. He said in a statement that after a year of study and reflection, he will push for Indiana to join the 22 states which have enacted right to work laws.

Here is his entire statement:
“Right to work says only that no worker can be forced to pay union dues in order to keep a job. Lack of that simple freedom to choose costs some workers money they’d rather keep, but it also costs something even larger: countless middle-class jobs that would come to Indiana if only we provided right to work protection,” said Daniels.

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Senator Arnold Discusses Right to Work with Knox City Council

Posted on Author WKVI
Senator Jim Arnold

Democrat Senator Jim Arnold, of LaPorte, visited with the Knox City Council this week. Senator Arnold has picked up five townships in Starke County with redistricting, and he wanted to alert the council and other city officials of possible issues coming up in the 2012 session of the legislature.

Of course the biggest issue is the right to work legislation.

“This issue is going to be coming up again. It’s going to be House Bill 1001. Speaker Bosma has already set it as a priority issue to the Senate in this session. It’ll probably be brought up on Tuesday, January 4th and begin consideration of it because they want to get it addressed and get it out on the floor for a vote and hopefully put it to rest. I would encourage you to pay particular attention to this issue because it could be a session killer.”

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Right to Work Legislation Bills Filed in the Indiana House

Posted on Author WKVI
Indiana Statehouse

With sizeable majorities in both Houses, will State Republicans push for legislation that would prevent workers from being required to pay union dues? House Labor Committee Chairman, Doug Gutwein (R-Francesville), has indicated that he personally likes the idea, but would not predict whether it will be debated this session. Bills have already been filed in the House on Right to Work legislation.

Governor Mitch Daniels, though, is not too excited to promote the legislation, wanting the legislators to concentrate on school, local government, and criminal justice reform.

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