Right to work continues to stall in Indiana House

The Indiana House Democrats continued to stall passage of the contentious right to work bill yesterday by again boycotting the chamber and preventing the House from coming into session due to a lack of quorum. (See our previous coverage of the right to work bill here.)

Some progress had been made on the bill after Democrats participated in legislative debate on Monday, but Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma’s order to close the bill for amendments at the end of the session Monday upset Democrats who claimed that they had additional amendments to offer and weren’t given time to do so. This led to another walkout by the Democrats who have since refused to return to the chamber. Speaker Bosma has imposed $1,000 fines for each session missed by the House Democrats, but so far, the Democrats appear to be willing to pay the fine (totaling $4,000 per representative so far) rather than allow the bill to come to a vote.

Meanwhile, the Indiana Senate passed its version of the right to work bill on Monday, with a 28-22 vote. It remains to be seen how long the Democrats in the House can hold out.

See also :

“More fines for Indiana House Democrats as they extend ‘right to work’ boycott” (The Indianapolis Star)

“Finally! (Some) Action on Right-to-Work” (Indiana Chamber of Commerce)