Once more this session, Pat Bauer and his Democrat caucus have walked off the job in order to prevent debate and discussion on Right to Work legislation in the Indiana House.
After several weeks of failing to report for work, House Democrats finally took part in second reading amendment debate on this issue Monday, only to stage yet another work stoppage after over 5 hours of discussion. Attempts to convene session in the House Tuesday failed due to lack of quorum, as House Democrats remained delinquent in their duties.
Hoosiers are watching Pat Bauer’s antics this session and are upset with what they see. After all, did voters not elect their legislators to represent them at the Statehouse? Doesn’t that, by definition, require them to be present?
The bottom line is this: a majority of Hoosiers (some 65% or more) support making Indiana the 23rd Right to Work state to promote worker freedom and vital job creation. Rather than listen to Hoosiers, House Democrats have hijacked the legislative process on behalf of labor unions that represent 9% of Indiana’s population but have provided tens of millions of dollars in campaign funding to Pat Bauer and his candidates in the past decade. Enough is enough.
Right to Work legislation awaits a final vote in the House. As Speaker Bosma stated this fall, “Bipartisanship by definition requires both parties to participate, but successful democracy requires more—civil participation, debate and votes, even when we strongly disagree on an issue.”
