Conservative wave sweeps Indiana Republicans into unprecedented power
Last week, Indiana made history by voting in a super-majority of Republicans to the Indiana General Assembly, as well as electing conservative Republican U.S Congressman Mike Pence as the next governor. Pence’s win, coupled with the super-majority, essentially gives Republican politicians license to govern unencumbered by dissenting Democrats.
In previous general assemblies, Indiana Democrats had the luxury of walking out if they disagreed with Republican policies, as they famously did during the Right to Work debacle. However, walking out is no longer an option. Even if Democrats did walk out, their action would be merely a symbolic gesture. The super-majority empowers Republicans to conduct business whether Democrats show up or not.
A super-majority of any kind is bad for the state, the citizens and the political process. Recall the levels of partisanship that plagued the U.S Senate during its period of Democratic super-majority in 2008. During this time, there was no cooperation between the parties, which bred resentment among senators, created dissatisfaction among the people and produced unsatisfactory bills. With a super-majority, cooperation is not a priority, but in America’s divided political culture, both cooperation and compromise should always be priorities.
As the recent election of Joe Donnelly to the U.S Senate made clear, like past elections with other moderates such as Richard Lugar and Evan Bayh, Indiana as a whole prefers moderates to Tea Partiers such as Richard Mourdock. Thus, in the spirit of Indiana’s moderation, Republicans should craft moderate policies with which most of Indiana can agree. However, that will not likely be the case.
Consider the legislative work that the previous General Assembly managed without a super-majority: Right to Work, teacher merit pay and the initial stage of a constitutional ban on gay marriages. Now that they have a super-majority, Republicans may be able to get much more legislation passed without much dissent. Remember Senate Bill 89 (2012), the bill that would allow Indiana schools to teach creationism in schools? This could come back to the table. As the lawmaker who led the charge to federally defund Planned Parenthood, Mike Pence likely will continue his fight against this health center as governor. The next two years likely will hold major changes for Hoosiers, especially in the realm of social issues, states’ rights and deregulation.
Deregulation is one of Pence’s major goals. In his 77-page “Roadmap for Indiana,” Pence outlines several points for the deregulation of businesses. This document outlines his plans to issue an executive order that places a moratorium on new state regulations on his first day in office and to review business regulations regularly. Although deregulation was a major factor in the recent economic recession, it is prominent in the Roadmap, and Pence insists it will bring more jobs to Indiana. While deregulation may bring more jobs, Indiana already has relatively few business regulations, and even fewer could create a slippery slope.
Another major area of regulation that concerns Pence is that of the federal government’s influence on Indiana. According to the Roadmap, “Onerous federal regulations hamstring Hoosier businesses.” The regulations to which Pence refers are regulations that come as a consequence of accepting federal money or opting into a federal program such as Medicaid. While Pence is correct that there are a lot of federal regulations, these regulations do not exist just to plague conservatives; rather, they exist to protect people from something. In general, conservatives, especially Pence, are wary of the big, bad wolf known as the federal government. An expression Pence likes to use is “Hoosiers know what’s best for Hoosiers,” which helps advance his argument about states’ rights and a hands-off federal government. One specific area where the Pence administration likely will seek to keep the federal government’s hands off Indiana is healthcare. Pence has been outspoken in his opposition to the Affordable Care Act, and he opposes the expansion of Medicaid to more Hoosiers.
With the Indiana General Assembly and governor’s office solidly in Republican hands, Indiana may be a very different place in two years. While conservative Hoosiers may rejoice in a roll-back of social freedoms, an era of deregulation and a cut-back in healthcare, moderate and liberal Hoosiers will just have to hope no irreparable damage is done and wait to undo the damage in two years.
