Lawmakers must be held accountable for failing to perform elected duties
Estimates show that Indiana’s House Democrats have cost taxpayers nearly $40,000 in per-diem expenses since they abandoned the state and fled to Illinois two weeks ago.
Beginning today, Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma will reportedly withhold their current $155 daily expense allowance and impose fines of $250 per day for all lawmakers who refuse to perform their elected duties in Indianapolis.
We believe it’s the right thing to do.
In recent elections, Indiana taxpayers overwhelmingly supported leaders with an earnest commitment to addressing Indiana’s serious budget and education issues. By electing reform-minded candidates, voters made it clear that they expect lawmakers to change the focus of Indiana’s educational system from one that favors the special interests of the state’s teachers unions to what’s really important – students.
Indiana House Democrats who remain in exile are not only defying their conservative counterparts by denying them a quorum necessary to conduct the public’s business, they are snubbing their noses at hard-working Hoosiers who voted in recent elections.
Their decision to hold that process hostage is a form of political extortion, and it is inexcusable. Thankfully, taxpayers will no longer be forced to subsidize the cowardly behavior.
We believe, however, that the antics of AWOL lawmakers will ultimately cost the state much more than the salaries and expenses of those who refuse to live up to their oath of office. We believe that the run-and-hide philosophy erodes the effectiveness and credibility of the General Assembly in the eyes of the state’s residents.
The troublesome situation sends the message to Hoosiers that their votes really don’t matter, because those in the minority can simply take their ball and go home if they don’t like a particular proposal.
That’s a recipe for government malfunction well into the future.
The necessary decision to impose financial penalties on lawmakers who refuse to return to their posts is a clear sign that inaction isn’t an option, that the state of Indiana won’t tolerate lawmakers who shrink from their elected duties. No one would have tolerated this delay tactic from Congressional Republicans who vehemently opposed ObamaCare, and no one should be tolerating this.
It’s no secret that many of the missing House Democrats are beholden to the Indiana State Teachers Association and its political clout, but that shouldn’t supersede their responsibility to participate in the legislative process to create a better education system, and future, for Indiana students.
After all, who are these lawmakers paid to represent: the ISTA or taxpayers?
