Making their case

No minds were changed.
Opponents of a proposed right-to-work bill gave State Rep. Bill Davis (R-District 33) and State Sen. Travis Holdman (R-District 19) an earful Saturday morning at a the John Jay Center in Portland.
But both Davis and Holdman held firm in support of the bill which would allow Hoosier workers in union shops to opt out of paying union dues.
The bill passed the Indiana Senate, with Holdman’s backing, last week on second reading. A third reading was expected today or Tuesday.
But it has been stalled in the Indiana House, where minority Democrats have resorted to repeated caucuses as a delaying tactic.
“We want them back to work,” said Davis of the Democrats. “I think Brian (Bosma, speaker of the House) has done what he can to encourage them to get back to work.”
Many of the more than 100 people on hand, however, supported House Democrats in their move to slow the bill.
“They’re doing their job, trying to stall the Goliaths,” said Ken Bost, rural Portland, drawing a round of applause from the largely union crowd.
“The fact of the matter is,” said bricklayers’ union member Ted Champ, Redkey, “20 of the 22 states that have right-to-work have a higher poverty level than the state of Indiana. … I believe you have your focus in the wrong place.”
Davis countered that the focus should be on the 250,000 Hoosiers who are out of work.“We need to do whatever we can do to make Indiana more attractive (to new industry). … We want them to look at Indiana. If they look at Indiana two-thirds of them come to Indiana,” he said, citing the lack of a right-to-work law as an impediment to economic development.
“Name three plants that have not come to Indiana due to right to work,” responded Champ.
“Boeing,” said Davis, saying that testimony on the bill indicated a third to one-half of companies won’t consider locating in a non-right-to-work state.
Holdman said that for him the issue comes down to a citizen’s rights of association. “If you don’t want to belong, you shouldn’t have to,” he said.
Holdman, who lives in Wells County and is Jay’s new senator as a result of redistricting, said 62 percent of his survey respondents back right-to-work. “You can say you’re fudging the numbers, you’re stacking the deck,” he said. “But that’s what the numbers are telling us.”
Though the issue has sent hundreds of union members to the Statehouse to protest, the two Republican lawmakers said they believe the proposed law has broad support.
Both Holdman and Davis also said the issue has been the subject of a fair debate.
“We talked about this last year in the General Assembly,” said Davis. “We talked about it the year before. … We’ve had more testimony on right-to-work than any (other) bill since I’ve been in the legislature.”
But most of those on hand Saturday morning were not convinced.
“This is nothing but union-busting,” said Tom Laux, rural Bryant. “You want to make us the next Alabama or Mississippi.”
Holdman, earlier, insisted that was not the case. “My dad was a union guy,” he said. “I’m not anti-union.”
Davis and Holdman also rejected the Democrats’ call for a referendum on the issue. “The Indiana Constitution says laws shall be made by the state legislature,” Holdman said. “There is no provision in the Indiana Constitution to do that.” Some states, Ohio and Oklahoma, for example do allow for voter referenda on issues such as right-to-work.
On other issues at the Third House Session sponsored by the Jay County Chamber of Commerce:
•Davis said House Bill 1006, which would have exempted barbers, beauticians, and cosmetologists from licensing, is being dramatically amended so that those licenses will state in place. “It hit the wall about 90 miles per hour yesterday,” Davis said of public protest over the bill. He added, however, that the legislature will continue to review the state’s existing licensing laws. “Maybe we don’t need 900 licenses,” he said.
•Holdman defended the Daniels administration’s explanation of events leading to $320 million in state funds being misplaced during a time of tight budgets. “I think there’s been a plausible, logical explanation for what took place,” Holdman said. “I think an answer has been given.”
“That’s unacceptable as a response,” countered Ken Bantz, a former auditor for the state who lives in rural Portland. “There would be heads rolling” if something similar happened in the private sector.
•Both Davis and Holdman said they support continuing the system of township trustees. “I believe there’s a place for township government,” said Holdman. “If townships want to get together and merge, I have no problem with that.”
The issue was raised by Lloyd Wright, Salamonia, a longtime volunteer firefighter. “If you do away with the trustees,” Wright warned, “you’re going to lose about half the fire departments in the state of Indiana.”[[In-content Ad]]