INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana legislators stepped toward a possible court fight with Gov. Eric Holcomb Thursday by voting to override his veto and give themselves more authority to intervene when the state’s chief executive declares an emergency.
The Republican-dominated House and Senate easily achieved the simple majorities required to turn aside Holcomb’s objections and enact the provisions into law.
The measure establishes a new process under which legislative leaders can call the General Assembly into an emergency session. Holcomb and some legal experts have questioned the legality of that process because the state’s constitution gives the governor — not the Legislature — the authority to call a special session.
Holcomb’s fellow Republicans pushed the bill after months of criticism from some conservatives over the mask mandate and other COVID-19 restrictions that he imposed by executive order during the public health emergency.
Republican Sen. Sue Glick of LaGrange said Holcomb acted alone in imposing restrictions on the state’s 6.7 million residents. Glick said that shouldn’t happen during such long-lasting emergencies.
“We hope and pray that there will be none like it in the future, but in the event there is, we’re simply asking for a seat at the table, an opportunity to represent our constituents and to give them the representation that they’ve elected us to provide,” Glick said.
Holcomb wrote in his veto letter last week that he considered the bill unconstitutional and warned that any action taken by the Legislature during a self-declared emergency session would face “significant uncertainty.”
For more on this story, see Friday’s Republic.
