While the Wisconsin legislative fight over union rights has devolved into a rhetorical Cold War, the similar struggle between Democrats and Republicans in the Indiana state House is positively cordial by comparison.
Though Republicans, led by Gov. Mitch Daniels, are firm in their insistence there will be no negotiation with the group of AWOL House Democrats currently cooling their heels in Urbana, IL, a member of the Republican House leadership tells TPM there will be no hard feelings if and when the Democrats finally return.
“None,” Rep. Eric Turner, assistant GOP leader in the House told TPM Thursday morning. “Certainly, at times, members of the opposite party are our opponents, but they’re not our enemies.”
“We’re legislators, we’re colleagues, we’re respectful of one another,” he added. “We can have a difference of opinion on a piece of legislation and work on another piece of legislation together.”
As a twenty-plus year veteran of the state House, Turner has spent plenty of time in the minority — Republicans just retook House control from Democrats in November. He said the experience has led him to understand how hard it can be at times.
But he says that doesn’t mean he’d skip town if the majority did something he didn’t like.
“I’d like to think that wouldn’t be an option for us,” he said. “I’ve certainly had to vote on legislation I disagreed with and disagreed with strongly. I’ve tried to amend that legislation, I’ve spoken against that legislation…it’s a part of like when you’re in politics: you’re either in the majority or the minority and you have to face those facts.”
Democrats told TPM on Wednesday night that they made a run for the border this week to scuttle the Republicans’ “extreme” agenda — the right-to-work bill they opposed is now dead. Daniels chastised his party for bringing the bill forward, as he had back when it was first brought to the table.
Daniels is a strong supporter of right-to-work, but he told his party that engaging in such a battle now would derail his, Republicans say, less controversial education reforms. Daniels suggested that because Republicans didn’t run on right-to-work in 2010, it was not surprising that there’s backlash to the proposal now.
Turner’s response to that view:
“Certainly jobs was part of our agenda, and people in our caucus feel the right-to-work legislation will significantly improve jobs,” he said. “Was the right to work bill a specific part of our [electoral] agenda? It was not. But I can tell you many members of our caucus, when they ran, talked about right to work.”
“It would be fair to say it wasn’t as out-front as education reform,” he said. “No doubt about that.”
Turner said he still thought bringing the bill forward this session was “the right thing to do.” The issue is not dead, he said, and promised that Republicans will make it a bigger part of their campaign rhetoric in the future.
For now, though, right-to-work legislation will no longer be on the legislative calendar. And Turner said that means the Democrats should check out of their Urbana Comfort Suites.
“It’s really time for the Democrats to come back and offer amendments on bills they don’t like and vote against bills the don’t like,” he said.
Turner said the Republicans will wait them out for as long as it takes. But they won’t hold a grudge.
