INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana’s House Democratic leader said Wednesday that party lawmakers will stall work in the chamber until certain demands are met over a Republican right- to-work bill that was blocked last year by their five-week boycott.
House Democratic Leader Patrick Bauer said they want the GOP to hold more public hearings on the divisive bill that would ban unions from collecting mandatory fees for representation. He did not say how many, however, adding that he wants to meet with Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma first to discuss what it will take for Democrats to return to their seats.
“I think it’s a filibuster until we get the truth,” Bauer said of Republican plans to hold a hearing Friday on the measure. He said Republicans were “railroading” the measure through the House, although Bosma and other Republicans have contended that it got a thorough vetting by the public last summer during a series of hearings.
When asked how long the Democrats will stay out, Bauer said, “that time schedule is not in our hands.”
Most Indiana House Democrats had been no-shows on the floor Wednesday when Bosma tried to start the new session. Their absence left the House short of two-thirds of members present to continue.
Instead Democrats holed up inside a conference room just steps from the House chamber and spent more than three hours debating tactics on the first day of the 2012 session.
Last year, House Democrats left the state to block the measure, but Bauer said this year his members would not leave Indianapolis.
