Goodin on GOP’s 2018 special session: “The joke is on working Hoosiers”

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana House Democratic Leader Terry Goodin from Austin today issued the following statement on the Republican-driven special session of the Indiana General Assembly:

“The Legislature is supposed to go into special session to handle emergencies. There are certain definitions that constitute an emergency. An emergency comes when a child’s life is in danger. A shareholder’s profit statement being in danger doesn’t meet the definition of a ‘state emergency.’

“Everything that was addressed today could have been handled through administrative action or enacted retroactively next year. We are here because a few special interests demanded it.

“It continues to amaze me that the Republicans want to enjoy all the advantages of having a supermajority…except when they screw up. They are more than willing to take all the credit, but much more eager to shift the blame.

“It is the Republicans’ fault that we are in a special session. They could not handle their responsibilities in a regular session, because they couldn’t get along with each other. For all the carping about ‘slow-walking’ and Democratic intransigence, the fact of that matter is that the Republicans control every aspect of this process. If they can’t get their work done on time, that’s their problem. They need to man up and move on.

“Perhaps their complaining about others serves as a smoke-screen for legitimate concerns about some of these proposals that were passed today. I have a strong suspicion that we will be finding out more about some parts of these bills in the months to come. For all the bleating about ‘transparency,’ there is much here that has not received the scrutiny that should be part of a truly open legislative process.

“It is also apparent that this special session was driven by efforts to protect multi-billion dollar big business interests and provide another sledgehammer to those special interests who want to destroy our public schools. They want what they want, and to heck with everyone else…including the taxpayers who foot the bill for this special session.

“One more thing demands to be said. In about another month, we are supposed to get a report telling us what is wrong with the state’s Department of Child Services (DCS), and offering some solutions.

“When that report is completed, and the system-wide problems prove to be as pervasive as most people believe them to be, just remember that the Republicans in charge of state government do not believe these problems are bad enough that we need to have a special session to address them.

“According to the Republican leadership, protecting big business is worth $30,000 a day in taxpayer money. Gutting our public schools is worth $30,000 a day in taxpayer money. Protecting the lives of at-risk children is not worth $1 a day in taxpayer money.

“There isn’t enough lipstick in this world to gussy up this pig called a special session.”