Hoosiers

Another victory for the underdogs, in Indiana;

Local boards will no longer set minimum wages for public construction projects in Indiana under a law signed by Republican Gov. Mike Pence.

The bill will eliminate the boards that set what is known as the common construction wage that workers must be paid on most state or local government projects.

Pence said the change will allow the free market to determine pay scales rather than government boards, saving taxpayer dollars on public projects.

Pence had to fight his own party to win this one;

Even Republicans seemed divided. The House voted 54-40 last month in favor of the repeal, with 13 Republicans splitting from the GOP supermajority to join Democrats in opposing it. The measure narrowly passed the Senate after lawmakers from both sides of the aisle expressed concern about its effect on Indiana’s middle class.

Sen. Phil Boots, R-Crawfordsville, has consistently said he wasn’t in favor of taking up the proposal this session and believed a special committee should review the construction wages law.

A special committee that could be manipulated by labor unions and large construction firms into limiting competition and leading to higher costs to Indiana's taxpayers. But the scrappy little taxpayers won this one.