Indiana Democrats return triumphant

Some 30 Democratic house legislators left the state of Indiana Feb. 22 to prevent Republicans from passing a deluge of bad bills that would harm workers and middle-class families. On Wednesday, the lawmakers returned after winning important compromises on the worst of the bills.

The Republicans, who hold the majority in the state House, have agreed to drop a right-to-work (RTW) bill and also promised not to make permanent the ban on collective bargaining for state workers that Gov. Mitch Daniels enacted right after he took office in 2005.

GOP leadership also agreed to scale back the governor’s No. 1 legislative priority: a publicly-funded school voucher system. A plan to privatize some public schools was also scrapped.

The Democrats’ maneuver, bolstered by massive protests throughout the state over the past five weeks, forced Republicans to concede on key pieces of their anti-worker agenda.

"We've protected working people from a march to the minimum wage,” House Minority Leader Rep. Patrick Bauer told Talking Points Memo. “We've protected collective bargaining rights for Hoosier workers and teachers. We've softened the blow to public schools and prevented a bill for private takeover of public schools. This timeout gave millions of Hoosiers a real voice in their state government."

Other commitments from Republicans include their support for a measure that would allow project labor agreements for referendum projects, and to retain prevailing wage mandates for public schools and projects over $250,000 in 2012 and over $350,000 in the following years.

It’s unlikely the Democrats will vote for the final bills, even with the concessions because there are still a number of items that hurt working families. But, as UAW Region 3 Director Maurice (Mo) Davison points out, the standoff has opened the eyes of Hoosiers to the stark differences between Republicans and Democrats. “There are hundreds of UAW members who have become activists because of this battle,” Davison said. “They see that these [Democratic] state legislators are willing to stand up and fight for working men and women.”