Did Indiana Republicans vote for challenger Richard Mourdock or against incumbent Richard Lugar in their primary election for a U.S. Senate seat?It’s hard to tell, because voters don’t have to give a reason.INDIANAPOLIS – The two House caucus leaders seemed lost in a battle of semantics over negotiating Monday as a boycott by House Democrats dragged into a second week.
House Minority Leader Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, tried to make clear that an earlier list of bills released by the Democrats was not a demand that they all die. Instead, he called them a list of concerns about anti-labor and anti-education legislation that he would like to talk about with Republicans.
A bill creating state-paid vouchers for private school students seems to be causing the most heartburn in the Democratic caucus.
“I’m willing to negotiate anytime, anywhere,” Bauer said in a teleconference from Urbana, Ill.
But House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, said he won’t agree to any backroom deals to get the Democrats back to work. This includes not agreeing to certain amendments in advance of votes.
“If they are holding the process hostage, I’m not responding in a positive way to that. I’m just not going to reward the behavior,” he said. “I’ve been clear through all of this. Get back here, get to work, we’ll deal with these issues in the light of day.”
Bosma also said that some of his own caucus members aren’t comfortable with the voucher bill. Amendments that might be added include reducing the income threshold and capping the program, both of which would likely ease Democratic concerns as well.
The standoff in the House started last Monday when a controversial labor bill was heard in committee. Tuesday, the House Democrats fled to an Illinois hotel, where they remain.
House Republicans have been unable to conduct business without them because 67 members are needed for a quorum.
The right-to-work bill that started the trouble has since been killed, but Democrats say they have several other concerns.
Monday’s union protests at the Statehouse were smaller than at any time last week, with just a few hundred gathered to hear actor and activist Danny Glover.
In other ways, pressure increased on House Democrats, though. Bosma said starting Monday there would be no per diem of $155 for any legislator not in the building to sign a voucher.
And the governor’s personal political action committee, Aiming Higher, released two radio ads.
One of them is set to ragtime music and says, “won’t you come home Pat Bauer, won’t you come home. You’ve been a bad, bad boy. You took your public paycheck, you took our reps and ran to Illinois. Remember the last election. We threw you out. The law is not your toy. You’re not paid to shirk, get on back to work.”
There are also new concerns about the Indiana Democratic Party continuing to pick up the hotel tab in Illinois.
Legislators are prohibited by law from taking donations during the long budget session, and some political observers believe the hotel costs would be considered an in-kind contribution.
“We are aware of that concern. If in fact it is not possible we will pay our own way,” said Rep. Win Moses, D-Fort Wayne. “We will make sure it’s done properly.”
Many House Democrats stayed in Illinois over the weekend, with spouses and family members coming for a visit.
Rep. Phil GiaQuinta, D-Fort Wayne, said he escorted two female House Democrats to church Sunday.
“The mood is pretty good over here,” he said. “We have had different teams break down the education and labor bills for those of us not on those committees so the group discussions have been very interesting.”
