V23, N28 Thursday, March 15, 2018 Rokita will have big debate decision He’s ducking the debate commission event on April 30, but late polling could change decision By BRIAN A. HOWEY INDIANAPOLIS – Sometime in mid to late April when Todd Rokita’s penultimate internal polls come in, or perhaps those from Marist or Survey Monkey are published, the congressman and Republican U.S. Senate can- didate will face a Shakespearean deci- sion: To debate or not to debate? Rokita seemed to leave the door open to participate. It His political career could be hanging in the bal- could be a game-time decision. ance. Lanosga did not hide the IDC’s disappointment Last Friday the Indiana Debate Commission an- that Rokita might be the first senatorial or gubernatorial nounced that Luke Messer and Mike Braun would partici- pate in the April 30 Republican Senate event. Rokita, said Continued on page 6 IDC President Gerry Lanosga, would not. But on Monday, Taking back the Senate The Making of the Modern State Senate Pro Tem: Part 3 By TREVOR FOUGHTY INDIANAPOLIS – As covered in Parts 1 and 2, “I had a long speech, but I’m not from Indiana’s founding in 1816 until the “Black Day” of the General Assembly in 1887, the going to give it. I’m honored that lieutenant governor served as the State Senate’s true presiding offi- some of you thought I’d made a cer with the Senate president “pro difference. We get so much more tempore,” or pro tem, infrequently playing a bit, ceremonial role. done in state government, so When Republican Pro much more than the federal Tem Isaac P. Gray used his limited power and political cunning to government.” essentially trick Democrats into ratifying the 15th Amendment, - Senate President Pro Tem he made lifelong enemies in David Long’s final sine die Page 2 the Senate Democratic caucus. That but to seek the input of the pro tem didn’t change, even after he became on matters of running the chamber or a Democrat himself and was elected risk being denied a seat on the dais. governor. Gray’s 1886 bid for the U.S. Lieutenant governors of the same Senate, an office, at the time, se- party had more leeway, but took input lected by the state legislature, not the from the pro tem all the same for the Hoosier electorate, led to an escalat- sake of party unity. The lieutenant ing political chess match between the governor was still technically in control Howey Politics Indiana Democratic governor and his rivals in of the chamber, but the pro tems were the Democrat-controlled State Senate asserting themselves for the first time. WWHowey Media, LLC 405 that culminated in the physical beating This arrangement seemed to Massachusetts Ave., Suite of a Republican lieutenant governor work well for the better part of the 300 Indianapolis, IN 46204 on the Senate floor and the ensuing 20th Century, but the power balance www.howeypolitics.com Statehouse riot that lasted for four was slowly shifting, especially when hours. the pro tem and lieutenant governor Ultimately, Gray would not were from different parties. Ironically, Brian A. Howey, Publisher only lose his Senate race, he would while lieutenant governors who be- Mark Schoeff Jr., Washington lose his political career: He earned longed to the majority party ostensibly Cameron Carter, Editor the nickname “Sisyphus on the Wa- had more control, it was an intra-party Joel Weyrauch, Editor bash” after being nominated for vice fight between Republicans, coupled Mary Lou Howey, Editor president at the Democratic National with some massive reforms to how In- Convention in 1888 and Mark Curry, Daily Wire, photo 1892, losing the floor vote Jack E. Howey, Editor both times after stories of Emeritus his “Black Day” involvement were told. The 1887 riot had greater national implications Subscriptions than just a Hoosier also-ran HPI, HPI Daily Wire $599 at a party convention: It built HPI Weekly, $350 momentum behind the na- HPI Mobile, $5.95 monthly scent countrywide movement Ray Volpe, Account Manager to directly elect U.S. senators and led to a series of related 317.602.3620 U.S. House resolutions in Lt. Gov. Dick Folz (left) and former Senate President Pro email: [email protected] the 1890’s and, ultimately, Tem Phil Gutman. to ratification of the 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in diana state government operated, that Contact HPI 1913, which took the election of U.S. ultimately proved to be the breaking [email protected] senators away from state legislatures. point of this arrangement. Howey’s cell: 317.506.0883 The other bit of fallout from The 96th General Assembly Washington: 202.256.5822 this ordeal is that from 1888 onward, that met in 1969 sent to the voters Business Office: 317.602.3620 the first matter of business each ses- three constitutional amendments to sion for the State Senate majority was begin reorganizing state government, to elect a president pro tem to serve one amendment for each branch. The © 2018, Howey Politics for the entire session. No longer would legislative branch amendment would Indiana. All rights reserved. they wait for the lieutenant governor’s allow the General Assembly to meet Photocopying, Internet forward- absence to spot-fill the position. The annually instead of every other year, ing, faxing or reproducing in political pressure the majority party with a “long session” in odd-numbered could exert on a lieutenant governor years so that the state budget could any form, whole or part, is a regarding committee assignments and be completed, and a “short session” violation of federal law without legislation was now acutely known. in even-numbered years to keep up permission from the publisher. With the majority united behind a with modern demands. Unlikely as it single member who served as spokes- may seem given the historic nature of man for the party (and, more im- potentially passing three constitutional portantly, who easily could serve as amendments at once, perhaps the presiding officer), lieutenant governors most consequential bill for the State of the opposite party had little choice Senate was that year’s budget. Page 3 Near the end of the session, Republican Lt. Gov. conferee that Folz had selected was Bob Orr. As a result of Dick Folz had to name conferees for the budget bill. Folz, that one move by Folz, Orr would become the first lieuten- a first-year rookie who had never served in the legislature, ant governor never to have true legislative authority when ignored the input of Pro Tem Allan Bloom and Finance he was elected in 1972, and Orr would become the first Committee Chairman Joe Harrison and named his own lieutenant governor forced to run on a joint ticket in 1976. conferees to the bill. This blatant disrespect for what was (It is worth noting, however, that Orr, with the necessary by now a long-standing tradition of pro tem prerogatives support of his superior Gov. Otis Bowen, and through his rubbed many senators the wrong way, chief among them own gubernatorial support of John Mutz, transformed the Phil Gutman. lieutenant governor’s office into the modern administrative That summer, Gutman started making phone workhorse it is today.) calls to his colleagues, teasing the idea of a concerted The first decade of this new arrangement saw campaign to “let the Senate run the Senate.” Voters were three pro tems breeze through. Gutman retired from the on the verge of modernizing the legislature by adopting legislature after six years in the post. Bob Fair, the only a constitutional amendment to allow annual sessions; Democrat to serve as a modern pro tem, lost the support perhaps the rules needed a bit of modernization as well, of his own party just months into the job after he was especially if the lieutenant governor wasn’t going to re- viewed as being too soft on Gov. Bowen’s budget (one spect the traditions that accompanied Democratic committee chair gave a floor them. speech in which he called his own pro On Nov. 3, 1970, voters tem “arrogant ... pompous and sanctimo- approved all three constitutional nious”; he only stopped when a Senate amendments, with the legislative Republican, John Mutz, invoked Senate branch amendment passing by a 14% rules against impugning the motives of margin. Two weeks later, on Nov. 16, another senator). Martin “Chip” Edwards Senate Republicans met to choose underscored the literal meaning of “pro their first leader of this new era. tempore” by the end of his term, shuttled Gutman had spent a year and a half off to a federal prison sentence, having rounding up colleagues for his pro been indicted on bribery charges midway tem race with the slogan “Take Back through his second year and convicted on the Senate.” multiple counts by year’s end. But, it wasn’t a message Senate President Pro Tem Robert Garton It’s not surprising, then, that embraced by all; his opponent was with Sen. David Long. (HPI Photo by Brian by 1980 many wondered if a mistake had Les Duvall, who ran in part to defend A. Howey) been made. The new power structure the honor of Lt. Gov. Folz, and prob- seemed too unstable, too prone to legis- ably felt compelled to do so since he was one of the two lative abuse, and too open to influence peddling (a fear Republican budget conferees Folz had appointed that led further stoked in 1982, when an IRS investigation into Ed- to the showdown. When the dust settled, Gutman bested wards also ensnared Gutman, who himself was convicted Duvall by a single vote, 15-14.