The Indiana Law Blog has a good round up of State House access issues. The upshot is that the State House has new restrictions on who can get into the State House, how many can do so, and the process for getting into the “People’s House.” It appears to be a response to last year’s labor protests and anticipation for this year’s; given the state G.O.P.’s apparent intention to double down on “right to work” legislation.
The trouble with the access requirements is that they are swiss-cheese full of holes with exceptions for preferred groups; e.g., lobbyists, today’s prayer group, attendees of special events, school tours, people given special dispensation by lawmakers. We all know that lobbyists have better access to lawmakers, but institutionalizing the disparate treatment by way of giving lobbyists the State House equivalent of a fast pass while forcing ordinary schmoes to wait in line and hope for a spot is a step too far.
If the governor and a majority of the General Assembly is determined to limit permissible conditions of employment and interfere with contracts by forcing through “right to work,” they should probably hunker down for the backlash; because the optics on this State House access restriction are just horrible.
Update The Governor seems to have taken my suggestion to heart and rescinded the new access rules.
I love this — the governor undoubtedly was the one behind the ban in the first place, but we’ll never know for sure (although the story I read slyly points-out he appointed all the department heads behind the 3,000 limit; as anyone who knows the character of the governor, you don’t jump until Mitch specifically tells you how hi). Then, after a public outcry, Mitch the Hero comes in and orders the ISP Superintendent to release the restriction. Mitch looks good because he’s rescinded this order from his underlings. Like his “I didn’t know anything about IBM/FSSA” argument, it’s bunk.