Legislative session resumes quietly

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - The Indiana General Assembly entered the second half of the 2012 session Tuesday in a new atmosphere.

Gone are the protesters, as well as the controversial right-to-work bill that drew them to the Statehouse. So hallways are suddenly eerily quiet.

"Almost like the difference between day and night," said state Senate doorkeeper Bill Hart.

A protest of historic proportions is just a memory. Where crowds chanted and jeered last week, state officials now pass unmolested and without security.

State Police are still there, but not many of them. And they are no longer posted outside the governor's office, where the floors mats they stood on are now home to a charity collection bin.

"And there's just a different atmosphere in the air about the Capitol [Tuesday]. and it's, quite frankly, refreshing," said Rep. Mike Karickhoff, R-Kokomo.

But there is still work to be done. Action awaits on a statewide smoking ban, more compensation for State Fair victims, as well as education funding and local government reform.

"The lobbyists are starting to come back now," said doorkeeper Don Horton, "and we're in the second half of the session, so the noise level will pick up a little bit as they all return."

Among them are labor lobbyists, but they're taking a new low key approach, too.

"The edge is off," said Rep. Karickhoff. "People are friendlier. People are saying hi to one another, and I think that's going to be helpful for us."