Indiana union members gather outside the state Senate chambers on Tuesday. | AP Photo Daniels wants Ind. GOP to abandon labor bill

Mitch Daniels suggested Tuesday that Republicans drop their push for the right-to-work legislation that has sparked a Wisconsin-style fracas at the Indiana statehouse, saying it would be a shame if other bills are impacted by the flap.


"I thought there was a better time and place to have this very important and legitimate issues raised," Daniels told reporters at the statehouse, audio of which was released by his office.

The Republican governor and presidential hopeful also said he won't send out state police to round up absent Democratic state lawmakers, who fled the state to stall Republican action on the bill. It's the first time Daniels has spoken since the Republicans passed the bill out of committee Monday. He's opposed the bill coming up right now, saying it's the wrong time for it.

Daniels is taking a much more conciliatory tack than Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. A Republican sweep in Indiana last year gave him the power to push forward an ambitious legislative agenda. But with no clear end-game in sight in Wisconsin, some are cautioning about a GOP overreach on the labor-rights issue — and such a fight in Indiana could be a distraction for any national ambitions Daniels has.

"Even the smallest minority... has every right to express the strength of its views and I salute those who did," Daniels said.

Labor unions watched on and cheered the sudden gridlock from the gallery, the Indiannapolis Star reported, as Republican efforts to push the bill were stymied. By Tuesday afternoon, about 4,000 people had gathered in protest. An afternoon quorum call passed with Democrats still out of sight.

The Democrats have "taken a page out of the Wisconsin Senate playbook apparently," said Republican state House Speaker Brian Bosma. “They are shirking the job that they were hired to do.”

Just two of the 40 Democrats showed up — the number needed to be present just to make sure that Republicans aren't moving ahead without a quorum present.

Bosma, who the Indianapolis Star quoted as declaring himself "flummoxed," adjourned the session for a few hours as he tried to figure out the next path.

This article tagged under: 2012

Mitch Daniels