The first hearing of the 2012 Indiana General Assembly on a controversial labor bill will be held Friday.But for the second straight year, the issue has prompted a boycott by Democrats in the Indiana House.Just a few of them showed up in the chamber on Wednesday and most were absent for two more quorum calls on Thursday, forcing Republican Speaker Brian Bosma to postpone business.Democrats now say they may hold their own hearings across the state on the “right-to-work’ proposal, which would prohibit private unions from collecting mandatory fees.AFL-CIO spokesman Jeff Harris says Republicans are trying to rush the legislation without sufficient public input."The fact is that not everybody can take a day off work and drive two, three hours to the Statehouse, wait in line and may or may not get a chance to testify. So why not go around the state on this controversial issue?" he said.Republicans say the matter is being sufficiently vetted.The House and Senate Labor committees will hold a joint hearing on the issue at 9:00am at the Statehouse. If Democrats continue to stall, they could soon be hit with fines of $1,000 per day.
Rick Howlett was midday host and the host of LPM's weekly talk show, "In Conversation." He was with LPM from 2001-2023 and held many different titles, including Morning Edition host, Assignment Editor and Interim News Director. He died in August 2023. Read a remembrance of Rick here.
