Indiana

Capital Concessions?

By Abdul Hakim-Shabazz

As the Statehouse Standoff enters into its third week, soon to be followed by its fourth, I noticed something interesting during the daily media availability with Democratic Leader Pat Bauer, a most interesting concession.

Yes, I know there’s a lot of talk about concessions and compromise but this one was a little different.  If I am reading my tea leaves correctly, the South Bend Democrat threw House Republicans a bone with the Indianapolis City-County Council Democrats attached to it. To fully understand this you have to do something that very few media types in the Statehouse do, cover both ends of  Market Street.

The concession the Democratic leader threw out was opposition regarding HB 1538.  The bill would prohibit a local government unit from establishing, mandating, or requiring a minimum wage that exceeds the state minimum wage unless federal or state law provides otherwise. It would allow the locals to set wage rates as a part of a contract.  It’s sponsored by Mike Speedy, a Republican and former City-County Council member.

Democrats had argued that it was legislation that would harm working families because it would keep labor at a minimum wage level.  But Monday, Bauer said opposition was ending and they would have to fight that battle another day.  What’s important about this is not only does it take the number of bills Democrats find objectionable from four down to three, but it also, for all intent and purposes, throws City-Council Democrats under the bus.

This is where covering both ends of  Market Street comes in handy.  The word on the street for a while has been that Council Democrats were expecting a ton of cash from labor unions in exchange for raising what could be considered the “county minimum wage” should they retake the Council this election.  By taking HB 1538 off the table, the bill can go forward when Democrats return.  There is reportedly very strong Republican support for the measure in both the House and Senate so it would pass easily if it were to come up for a vote.

So it looks like Bauer is slowly giving in to the Republicans.  Remember, there were originally 11 objectionable bills.  That number was lowered to four when Bauer and House Speaker Brian Bosma met last week.  Now the number seems to be three, with the added bonus of City-Council Democrats thrown in for good measure.

I know some of my critics will accuse me of engaging in wild speculation.  Unfortunately for them, I happen to be in the unique position of actually showing up and keeping a close eye on stuff like this.  And I get the added bonus of being pretty close to the mark.

House Republicans will attempt another quorum call at 11 a.m.

Full post as published by Indiana Barrister on March 08, 2011 (boomark / email).