Of all the compliments paid Gov. Mitch Daniels at the end of the 2005 legislative session, by far the sweetest came from an opposition leader who's been at the Statehouse for 35 years.
"There was no quid pro quo," Rep. Chet Dobis, D-Merrillville, told an Indianapolis reporter. "That's unusual in this building, and it's refreshing."
By almost anyone's standards for legislative accomplishment, the just-adjourned session was unusual -- and refreshing.
For starters, lawmakers got things done. Using Daniels' own count, 73 of his 83 goals were met, in full or in part. Most significantly, in his first session he persuaded lawmakers to enact daylight-saving time, something no previous governor dared make a centerpiece of his agenda.
Other items from his wish list that made it into law: a State Department of Agriculture, a crackdown on access to methamphetamine ingredients, an economic development corporation and a new inspector general to police ethics violations in state government.
Key proposals that at one point in the session appeared hopelessly stuck in gridlock somehow emerged as public policy: a financing plan for the Indianapolis Colts stadium expansion project, a voter identification bill and something close to a balanced budget that still gives most schools a modest funding increase.
Social issues that in the past have dominated the headlines were resolved fairly quickly and without the level of venom that has permeated past sessions. A constitutional amendment to prohibit gay marriage cleared its first hurdle and bills designed to discourage abortion and encourage patriotic behavior in public schools passed with little rancor.
The obvious explanation for these achievements is the 2004 election, which produced a Republican governor and Republican majorities in both houses for the first time in decades.
The more subtle explanation -- the one Chet Dobis so aptly noted -- had to do with Daniels' leadership style. There was no "quid pro quo" and very little gamesmanship. The deal-making that has tainted the final hours of past legislative sessions, resulting in new laws or pork projects that never received public airing, didn't happen. You either supported Daniels' agenda or you didn't. There was arm-twisting to be sure, political rhetoric, angry accusations and apologies on both sides, but no buying and selling, no "you vote for this and I'll give you that" kind of chicanery.
Nothing symbolized this cleaner way of doing things quite as plainly as the April 28 House vote on daylight-saving time.
With two Democrats who had previously supported DST changing their minds, hoping to deprive Daniels of political victory, a freshman Republican by the name of Troy Woodruff changed his mind and cast the deciding vote in favor of the bill.
Woodruff's Vincennes constituents were strongly opposed to DST and Woodruff had pledged to vote against the legislation, which he did on four previous ballots. But as he watched the Democrats flip sides, and "I could tell the motive was nothing more than to embarrass the governor, it just came to a point where you say, 'You know, it's time to quit playing games.' "
In exchange for his vote, Woodruff received no goodies from the governor, no promises of future payback from the House Speaker. But he had a clean conscience. "Some things are more important than re-election," he said.
Which makes Woodruff's vote the second-highest compliment Daniels received. For a novice lawmaker to risk political capital to do the right thing is both unusual and refreshing and suggests a welcome ripple effect to the governor's leadership style.
Productivity is not an end in itself. Our two-party system and two-chamber legislature guarantee that there will be "do-nothing" sessions when lawmakers fail to resolve contentious issues. There will be walkouts and good bills will die and governors and legislators will malign each other.
The 2005 session was productive but not perfect: The budget won't get balanced immediately and property taxes will go up as a result (that's next week's column). But it left no bad aftertaste among those who value fair play and honest negotiations instead of quid pro quo gamesmanship.
Compliments all around to our new governor.
Neal is a teacher at St. Richard's School in Indianapolis and adjunct scholar with the Indiana Policy Review Foundation. Contact her at aneal@inpolicy.org
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