Daniels: We will not be bullied out of GOP agenda

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels says Republicans will not be "bullied or blackmailed" out of pursuing their agenda despite a boycott from House Democrats over contentious labor and education proposals.

Daniels told reporters Wednesday that Democrats will not keep him from pursuing his agenda even if it means calling special legislative sessions "from now to New Year's."

Democrats have fled to Illinois and their absence denies the House the quorum it needs to conduct business. Their actions have killed one bill already and threaten to derail several others if they do not return to work by Thursday.

Daniels said he was still hoping that Democrats would return and said he would "let bygones be bygones."

But Democrats say they won't return to the Statehouse until Republicans stop pushing their "radical agenda." House Minority Leader Patrick Bauer says Republican Speaker Brian Bosma declared "war" this legislative session and he doesn't expect to hear from him soon to discuss 11 pieces of legislation the Democrats are demanding negotiations over.

Democrats want Republicans to drop efforts to push a voucher bill that would direct taxpayer money to private schools and a so-called "right-to-work" bill that prohibits union membership from being a condition of employment.

Bauer says that when he told Bosma in a telephone call that the absent Democrats insisted on the talks before they'd to return to the Statehouse, the Indianapolis Republican replied "Nuts" — like a U.S. general's response to the Germans demanding the Allies surrender at World War II's Battle of the Bulge.

Bauer says that language sounds like war to him — something he says Bosma "declared all this session."

Bosma, meanwhile, said he was looking into options to fine the absent lawmakers.

"As Rep. Bauer started going through his list, I just told him that we weren't going to concede to a list of demands, and that he needed to get back here," Bosma told reporters, adding that if those were the requirements for Bauer to return, "I said, 'Have fun in Illinois.'"

The right-to-work bill died Tuesday when it failed to meet a legislative deadline because Democrats were gone, but Democrats fear it could be resurrected in another bill later this session. They also want Republicans to drop the voucher bill, but Bosma said he would not negotiate to take items off the House agenda.

"The negotiation takes place on the floor of the House," Bosma said. "This isn't the old back room deals that Rep. Bauer's used to cutting."

Bauer also says Democrats are collecting their legislative pay while at an Illinois hotel.

Also Wednesday, Indiana's Senate president said the House should have never taken up the contentious anti-labor bill and said the Senate won't push the issue this year.

Senate President Pro Tem David Long said it was a "mistake" for his fellow Republicans in the House to take up the issue. But he said it's water under the bridge now and he wants House Democrats to return to work. Long says the Senate will instead propose a study committee to look into the matter over the summer.

The voucher bill faces a procedural deadline Thursday, so if Democrats came back by then it could proceed. Bosma said he hoped that cooler heads prevail in the Democratic caucus and that at least enough members for a quorum would return to the Statehouse soon.

"Pat Bauer needs to get back here and do his work," Bosma said. "He's led his caucus down a path that I'm sure many of them are very uncomfortable with."

Democrats say Republicans are overreaching and are pushing a "radical" agenda that amounts to an attack on education and workers.

"Indiana House Democrats will continue to deliberate on these issues until their full implications are grasped and debated," Democrats said in a statement Tuesday.

Bosma tried to convene the House again Wednesday morning, but most Democrats were again absent. Several hundred union workers who support the Democrats' boycott packed the hallways outside House chambers and crowded the gallery looking down on the House floor. Demonstrating seemed to escalate.

Workers outside the House chanted "Save our schools!" as a rabbi was delivering a prayer before House members. Bosma later apologized to the rabbi for the "disrespect." Workers chanted "Hell no, we won't go!" as lawmakers recited the Pledge of Allegiance.

After Bosma drew a standing ovation from Republican lawmakers when he said he wouldn't concede to Democrat demands, union members in the House gallery quickly started booing. Bosma later had the gallery cleared and said he may order it closed during House meetings later Wednesday because of the vocal demonstrations.

Union groups planned rally events throughout the day at the Statehouse.

"We're getting our voices heard, which is our objective," Indiana AFL-CIO President Nancy Guyott said. "We want to make sure it's the people's business that's being done rather than the business of the large corporate CEOs."

Daniels had urged fellow GOP legislators not to act on the right-to-work bill this year for fear that the contentious issue would derail other parts of his agenda. He reporters Tuesday he would not use state troopers to compel Democratic legislators to return.

"I trust people's consciences will bring them back to work," Daniels said.