House Speaker Brian Bosma to retire after 34 years

Chris Sikich | IndyStar

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With thousands of teachers rallying at the Statehouse as a backdrop, House Speaker Brian Bosma announced today he will retire at the end of the 2020 legislative session.

While educators clearly feel the state has unfinished business, Bosma leaves office having accomplished the majority of Republicans' to-do list since taking total control of the General Assembly earlier this decade.

In a 40-minute floor speech, Bosma ticked off lowering taxes, reducing regulations, enacting school choice and fostering a business environment as accomplishments. He received a bipartisan standing ovation.

"It's time for someone else to create their things-to-do list for Indiana," he said.

Bosma, 62, made the announcement during Organization Day, the ceremonial first-day of the legislature before the 2020 session starts in earnest in January. He is the state's longest-serving House Speaker, holding the reins of the chamber since the 2011 session, after previously leading from 2004-06.

Bosma pledged to work during what will be his 34th session with a Speaker-elect, who will be chosen by the Republican caucus in about two weeks.

"You're not done with me yet," Bosma joked. "I'm going to be here until the end of the next session."

As a potential replacement, insiders point toward Fishers Rep. Todd Huston, who stepped in to co-chair the House's budget-writing committee last year after chairman Tim Brown was involved in a motorcycle crash. It's unclear who else might run for the job.

Bosma's time at the helm has not been without controversy. IndyStar reported in 2018 that a former intern alleges that she had a consensual sexual encounter with Bosma during her 1992 internship for House Democrats. She accused Bosma of spending campaign funds in 2018 to dig up embarrassing information about her in order to silence her account of the alleged incident.

Bosma has denied the encounter took place and any wrongdoing. A House ethics panel dismissed a complaint alleging he had acted improperly, citing insufficient evidence.

Bosma seemingly emerged politically unscathed, winning his current 2-year term in 2018.

He said he's been thinking of leaving the office for about a year. He said he and his wife, Cheryl, decided a few months ago that now was the right time.

Bosma will take over as national chairman of the Republican Legislative Campaign Committee, where he will play a key role in fundraising for Statehouse races across the country. The state legislatures elected in 2020 will have the chance to draw state and Congressional districts that will last a decade.

He only recently began reaching out to tell others of his decision. He told Gov. Eric Holcomb last week and Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray on Tuesday. He filled in his caucus before taking the rostrum.

"There are people who probably view me as their stop point for whatever their pet project is," Bosma said. "You want to leave when people still want more."

He has guided the Republican caucus as its burned through its agenda the past decade, perhaps most notably to make Indiana a Right to Work state despite Democrats fleeing, at first, to Illinois to stop the bill.

Thousands of union members flooded the Statehouse in 2011 and 2012 to protest the legislation, which allowed workers to join unionized companies without paying dues. Bosma held Republicans together despite thundering chants of opposition in the building and public marches through the streets Downtown.

During the ensuing 2012 elections, voters seemingly rewarded the GOP by electing supermajorities in each of the two chambers. Democrats have yet to recover.

He's also guided the House through controversies, often with his patented sense of humor. After a GOP lawmaker in 2013 likened the Girl Scouts to a radical group, drawing national attention, Bosma casually munched on Thin Mints from the front of the chamber.

Democrats often have countered that the state has not done enough under GOP leadership, in particular, for K-12 schools and to uplift the embattled Department of Child Services.

Minority Leader Phil GiaQuinta praised Bosma for his public service, but said he hopes the new House Speaker is more willing to consider legislation by Democrats.

“There are some legislators there on the other side that we've all worked with, particularly on committees," he said, "while others have not, honesty. We’ll have to see who the new person is."

Senate Minority Leader Tim Lanane also thanked Bosma for his service, but noted their differences.

“While we may not have always agreed on the issues," Lanane said, "I have enjoyed working with him in leadership as we have always fought respectably to make the best path forward for Indiana."

Others will miss Bosma more deeply.

Bray, his counterpart in the Senate, said he enjoyed working with Bosma. Bray took over from longtime Senate leader David Long in 2019.

"He has a lot of passion and a lot of vision," Bray said of Bosma, "and his leadership is going to be deeply missed."

The governor called Bosma a trusted friend.

“So many know Brian Bosma for his contributions of unparalleled consequence at a time when our state needed strength in the speaker’s chair," he said in a prepared statement. "Others know him for his incredible capacity to give to causes serving those most in need."

Despite disagreements between the political parties, Bosma himself noted the vast majority of votes are passed with bipartisan support.

"This is a remarkable place," he said. "Now, I may change my mind at the end of the session, right? But this is a remarkable place where we get along. We may disagree. We may disagree very much so, very strongly, but we cast a vote and we move onto the next item."

Bosma has been a House lawmaker since 1986, currently representing parts of Hamilton, Hancock and Marion counties in the northeast corner of the metro area.

He will vacate that seat some time in 2020, at which point a caucus of Republicans from his district will select a replacement to fill out his term through year's end.

Democrats, pointing to their gains in Hamilton County in the 2019 municipal election, have said they think that seat will be vulnerable.

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Bosma will remain a partner at Kroger, Gardis & Regas law firm, where he has an office on Monument Circle. He's also a founding board member of Bosma Enterprises, a nonprofit that helps the visually impaired and the blind.

Call IndyStar reporter Chris Sikich at 317-444-6036. Follow him on Twitter: @ChrisSikich.