Indiana’s Senate yesterday passed—and Governor Mitch Daniels (R) signed—the state’s long-awaited right-to-work law, making it the 23rd state in the nation and the first state in the union-heavy Rust Belt to give workers the right to choose whether or not to pay union dues. Meanwhile, 1,700 miles away, Arizona is considering a bill that would restore voter control over government by, among other measures, stripping government unions of their collective bargaining power. Indiana’s move is a victory for the state’s workers—and the state’s economy. Now Hoosiers cannot be forced to …
In 22 states in the Union, workers have the freedom under “Right-to-Work” laws to decide whether or not to pay union dues, and now Indiana is poised to become the twenty-third state on that list, bringing the workers there renewed hope in an economy that has seen few glimmers of light. Last week, Indiana’s House and Senate passed a right-to-work bill after weeks of political maneuvering by pro-union politicians hoping to stop the proposal in its tracks. Today, the legislation returns to the state’s Senate for a final vote, and …
Indiana lawmakers are bracing for another high-profile fight over a right-to-work bill when the legislative session opens Wednesday. Last year Democrats fled the state in protest, preventing the legislature from conducting business for five weeks. The right-to-work bill would end forced unionization for private-sector workers in Indiana. Its supporters say the bill would increase jobs and choices in the Midwestern state with a 9 percent unemployment rate. Unions complain it threatens their existence. Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) is speaking out in favor of the bill, even recording a 60-second …
The Justice Department’s lawsuit against South Carolina has rekindled political war over state voter identification laws. While the merits of the suit will surely be hashed out in the political arena, the Supreme Court has in fact weighed in on the constitutional arguments offered by opponents of voter ID laws, and found them wanting. In light of the issue’s prevalence, it’s worth revisiting that decision to see what the nation’s highest court had to say about voter ID laws. Opponents of those laws usually make a pair of arguments against them: they claim …
A most remarkable “year of school choice” may be edging to a close, but the momentum for school choice is far from over. On the heels of Indiana’s success, states like Tennessee are looking to introduce educational options for their students in the upcoming year. The discussion surrounding school choice isn’t a new one for the state, but as the Education Action Group (EAG) reports, the success of Indiana in passing the most expansive school choice program in the nation—one which has attracted nearly 4,000 students in its first year …
Tuesday in South Bend, Indiana, Governor Mitch Daniels (R) faced a question that’s been bubbling to the surface in the Hoosier State: Is making Indiana a “right to work” state a priority for his last year in office? It’s an issue that came to the fore in New Hampshire this year, too, where the state legislature passed a right-to-work law, only to see it vetoed by the governor. An override vote may succeed, and the measure could come up before the end of this year’s legislative session. And in Ohio, …
Children in Indiana born to single parents are more than six times more likely to live in poverty than children born to married parents. In fact, nearly three-quarters of all poor families in the state are headed by single parents. According to a new Heritage report, the breakdown of marriage in Indiana is a major cause of the state’s poverty. Unfortunately, as the data reveal, the rate of unwed births in the Hoosier State has grown dramatically over the last five decades, from just over 5 percent in 1960 to …
Former President Bill Clinton recently compared voter identification laws to Jim Crow-era statutes that suppressed the black vote after the Civil War. “There has never been in my lifetime, since we got rid of the poll tax and all the Jim Crow burdens on voting, the determined effort to limit the franchise that we see today,” Clinton told liberal activists in July. Not so, says John Fund, author of “Stealing Elections: How Voter Fraud Threatens Our Democracy.” Speaking at Heritage this week, Fund said voter ID laws have won the …
A new poll from the Manhattan Institute reveals 77 percent of Hoosiers rate Indiana’s government as “efficient.” That’s the highest percentage of any state surveyed and a stark contrast to neighboring Illinois’ 23 percent. Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-IN), now serving in his seventh year as the state’s CEO, has clearly left his mark on Indiana. This year, with Republicans in control of the state legislature, he’s continued to reform government, enacting landmark education reforms. Daniels shared stories of his policy accomplishments in a wide-ranging speech last week at Heritage. He’s …
This is a guest post by Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) for our special blog series on 9/11. Like every American, I will never forget where I was on the morning of September 11, 2001. As a Member of Congress from Indiana, that day my duties took me to Capitol Hill and to sights and sounds I will never forget. I witnessed the U.S. Capitol literally hemorrhaging with people running in every direction. I heard the deafening sounds of sirens all around and thunderous booms of military aircraft going supersonic at …
