INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — House Republicans levied more fines
Tuesday against Democrats who resumed their boycott over divisive
right-to-work legislation.
Most of the House's 40 Democrats skipped an afternoon
session of the House on Tuesday. The move comes one day after Democrats
lost an effort to put the right-to-work measure on the ballot.
Democrats have stayed off the House floor to prevent a
67-member quorum needed to conduct business. Republican House Speaker
Brian Bosma says he hasn't heard from Democratic House Minority Leader
Patrick Bauer since Monday evening.
Bosma said if he can get a handful more Democrats to
split from the caucus then he can achieve the quorum needed to conduct
business. Although he said he is not lobbying Democrats to return to the
floor and is "still counting on people to wake up."
Five Democrats split with the caucus early in the 2012
session, showing up to the floor routinely for sessions. They say they
oppose the right-to-work bill, but don't agree with the stall tactics.
The Republicans want to make Indiana the 23rd state to
bar unions from collecting mandatory representation fees.
The measure passed the Senate Monday. But Democrats
walked off the House floor Monday after losing a series of bruising
party-line votes in an effort to change the measure.