Court rules Indiana General Assembly can call legislative session
(The Center Square) – An Indiana court has ruled the General Assembly can call a legislative session if the governor declares a statewide emergency, another step in the ongoing debate over power between Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb and Indiana’s GOP-dominated Legislature.
The Marion Superior Court upheld House Bill 1123, enacted during the most-recent legislative session after Holcomb’s veto and the assembly’s vote to override.
The new law arose after criticism from conservatives about mask mandates and other COVID-19-related restrictions Holcomb imposed by executive order.
“This is a huge win for the people of Indiana and permits their voices to be heard through their legislators when the Governor invokes his own emergency powers,” Attorney General Todd Rokita said after Thursday’s ruling.
Holcomb sued to stop the law, claiming only the governor can call a special session. In its ruling, the court said the Legislature had the authority to schedule its sessions, and the state’s special sessions clause of the constitution “was never understood to give the Governor any power to tell the legislature when it can or cannot meet.”
Rokita, who challenged Holcomb in the 2016 Republican primary for governor, sued to stop the governor’s lawsuit, saying state law gives him the authority to block Holcomb’s request to file the lawsuit and has referred to the governor’s private attorneys as “unauthorized counsel.”
The judge, however, said Rokita cannot “unilaterally block” Holcomb from taking steps to defend his constitutional powers.
“A sitting governor is sworn to uphold the Indiana Constitution,” the judge wrote.
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