Daniels visits Jeff to sign book, talk right-to-work

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• See how some local residents feel about Indiana’s right-to-work law ... page A6 in our print edition

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A group gathers outside the Jeffersonville Township Public Library on Wednesday to protest right-to-work legislation signed into law by Gov. Mitch Daniels earlier this month. Daniels was in Jeffersonville for a book signing. Staff photos by Braden Lammers
Gov. Mitch Daniels signs a copy of his book “Keeping the Republic: Saving America by Trusting Americans,” during a presentation at the Jeffersonville Township Public Library on Wednesday. Staff photo by Braden Lammers

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February 9, 2012

Governor predicts Sherman Minton Bridge will ‘open early’

By BRADEN LAMMERS Braden.Lammers@newsandtribune.com The News and Tribune Thu Feb 09, 2012, 12:04 AM EST

JEFFERSONVILLE — Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels was at the Jeffersonville Township Public Library Wednesday to greet constituents and sign copies of his book.

But before walking into the library it was evident that, while many may have been there to get the governor to sign “Keeping the Republic: Saving America by Trusting Americans,” others still had the recently passed right-to-work legislation on the top of their minds.

Daniels signed the right-to-work bill into law Feb. 1 after a contentious fight in the Indiana legislature, including a boycott by House Democrats. The right-to-work labor law made Indiana the 23rd state to prohibit labor contracts that required workers to pay mandatory union representation fees.

As he began to introduce his book, a group of protesters stood outside the library windows and chanted “right-to-work has got to go.” A library employee sealed out the protesters by closing the shades in the room holding the event.

But that did not stop the argument from spilling inside the library.

Jeffboat employee Rick Stevens asked why Daniels and Republicans denied the right-to-work legislation from going to a ballot referendum to allow the voters to decide.

“Our system is a representative government system ... it says we elect people [and] they reflect the views of the population at any given time,” Daniels said. “It’s their job to go pass those laws. If you don’t like it, vote them out ... [and] vote in some people who will change those laws in the way you prefer.”

Daniels continued and said, “If there would have been a referendum ... it would have been sustained.”

Stevens disagreed and said, “every poll I’ve ever seen disagrees with that.”

Daniels apologized and told Stevens he was wrong. He said polls showed that 74 percent of Hoosiers supported the right-to-work legislation that was passed.

A representative from the Carpenters Industrial Council asked the governor who paid for the right-to-work commercials he appeared in. But the governor said it was not his place to say and did not have a full list of people who paid for the TV ads.

“I don’t think it makes any darn difference,” Daniels said. “I told the truth; I said what I thought the right arguments were. The only aim [was] at the people without jobs and the young people coming up, just trying to build a better climate for them. I bet it will not change one thing for the carpenters.”

Uric Dufrene, Sanders Chair in Business at Indiana University Southeast, agreed that he does not think the legislation will have a major impact on businesses coming to the state.

“Ultimately, companies locate in a region for a variety of reasons,” he said. “A company may want to locate in a particular region due to closeness to customers, suppliers, general logistical reasons, quality of the work force, or the general business and regulatory environment. When we factor all that into consideration, right-to-work is not going to have a significant positive or negative impact.

“Right-to-work could potentially change the competitiveness or attractiveness for Indiana, but in order for Indiana to continue to diversify away from a manufacturing base, it needs to grow jobs in industries that have been traditionally nonunion. Indiana might be better served if it became a destination for industry due to a highly skilled or educated work force.”

Others said that the legislation will create lower wages and create a lower quality of jobs for Hoosiers.

Kay Tillow, with the Nurses Professional Organization, said to Daniels: “Don’t you think that the most Democratic way for the issue of union security clauses to be decided is that the majority of the workers make their decision, and they bargain with the employer, and if they reach an agreement to have a union shop, then that’s democratically determined and then that goes into contract? And, in fact, such a situation has resulted in higher wages and a higher standard of living for all the states in which that is allowed?”

“No I don’t,” Daniels briefly replied.

HEALTH CARE

The debates and questions raised were not limited to right-to-work legislation and spilled over into health care. Daniels explained that health care as it is structured on the federal level and in many states is set up for over-consumption.

“It’s like a prepaid buffet,” he said. “It’s already paid for, I might as well eat everything in sight. Well, that’s the single biggest reason health care costs too much in this country.”

Daniels touted the changes that have been made to the state’s health care coverage and said Indiana is leading the country in consumerist health care.

“The essence of it is ... you make the decisions about basics in health care, whether to spend the money or not,” he said. “But you are protected, in true insurance style, if that money runs out.”

He said the system sets up for Hoosiers to be better consumers and seek out lower costs for the basics of health care.

Tillow again disagreed.

“The health savings accounts and the high deductibles have really led to a massive decline in the quality of care ... and decline in accessibility to care,” she said.

Daniels admitted the system is not perfect and changes need to be made.

“We will absolutely break this country if we don’t reintroduce some degree of consumerism into health care,” he said.

BUILDING AND REPAIRING BRIDGES

Daniels also touched on the ongoing projects to repair the Sherman Minton Bridge and construct the Ohio River Bridges Project.

“Sherman Minton, I predict, will be open early,” he said.

The Interstate 64 span between Louisville and New Albany has been shut down since Sept. 9 when a critical crack was discovered in a support beam. Contractors have been working on the repairs with an incentive-laden contract that will pay the company $100,000 for every day the bridge is opened before the March 1 deadline.

“We’ve been aiming at March 1 ... from the last report I had, Sherman Minton will be back in operation a little sooner,” Daniels said.

“On the other one, we’re ready to go,” he added.

Daniels was referring to the Ohio River Bridges Project, which has been split between Kentucky and Indiana, with each portion of the project totaling $1.3 billion. Indiana has been tasked with constructing the east-end portion of the plan to build two new spans across the Ohio River and reconstruct Spaghetti Junction. But he said the state is still waiting on the approval of the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement to be returned by the Federal Highway Administration.

“We had been told it might be ready around March 1. Now apparently it’s going to be ready somewhat later than that, a few weeks,” he said. “We’re ready to go. We need the federal government to give that last green light and we still need our good friends in Kentucky to get themselves organized.”

— Staff Writer Daniel Suddeath contributed to this report.