Today, a standoff that has lasted for five weeks between Democrats and Republicans in the Indiana State House has finally reached a satisfactory resolution. Democrats have continuously denied Republicans the 2/3rds quorum required to move forward with any official business since February 22nd. Now, at last, the Republicans conceded the more contentious parts of their agenda in order for the Democrats to return and forward business. The school voucher bill was scaled down, private firms will not be allowed to privatize any schools, right-to-work is dead, and Mitch Daniels' executive order against public sector collective bargaining will not be codified.
More below the fold.
Talking Points Memo has the news and lists the concessions:
Republicans have agreed to scrap the controversial right-to-work law that led the Democrats to shut things down back on Feb. 22. Republicans have also pledged not to pass a law making the state's existing ban on collective bargaining for state workers, created by Daniels executive order, permanent.
Daniels' signature policy agenda for this legislative session was a proposal to create a state-funded private school voucher system for low- and middle-income families. That plan will be curtailed considerably in the deal with House Republicans.
The compromise calls for strict caps on the number of vouchers the state can give out the program's first two years, denying, as a Democratic source put it, "the largest voucher program in the nation the Republicans originally wanted." Under the new plan, vouchers will be limited to 7,500 students in the first year and 15,000 in the second year.
Other concessions in the deal call for the abandonment of plan to let private companies take over failing public schools.
So, while the battle rages on in Wisconsin, I want you all to take heart in this good news. Luckily, it seems Republicans in Indiana are far less devious than the ones in Wisconsin.