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INDIANAPOLIS – An argument over procedure and rules that started last week and led to a short House Republican walkout ended Monday with members moving legislation on illegal immigration forward and returning to business as usual.
The problem started Thursday when House Democrats – the majority caucus – killed an immigration bill to avoid debating a minority committee report House Republicans had filed that would have taken the bill in a different direction.
Then the Democrats tried to amend the agreed-upon wording into another bill to keep it alive – a move the minority Republicans tried to block.
In the middle of the argument over various House rules, the Republicans left the floor and refused to come back.
On Monday, they returned and the chamber placed the wording that targets employers for knowingly hiring illegal aliens into Senate Bill 345. It is now ready for a debate and vote today.
But House Republican leader Brian Bosma filed an official protest – which is noted in the House journal for future reference.
“The situation we face today, where the rights of millions of Hoosiers represented by the minority party are denied, presents a dark view of the future of this institution,” he said. “The right of the minority to participate equally and fairly in the legislative process is a fundamental principal in a free democracy. You have egregiously disregarded these rights in a fashion that harkens back to the bully politics of decades ago.”
But Democrats repeatedly reminded Republicans that they are the minority caucus and don’t get to establish the agenda for the chamber.
“While the minority has rights, this side of the aisle does, too, and we are going to govern this chamber,” said Rep. Scott Pelath, D-Michigan City.
House members are working under a deadline this week to pass Senate bills out of the chamber by Thursday. The Senate deadline for passing House bills is Wednesday.
nkelly@jg.net
