By Mary Beth Schneider
TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS— Last July, Gov. Eric Holcomb was shocked by the vandalism to a Carmel synagogue. He spoke with a forcefulness, unusual for him, about addressing the underlying cause: Hate.

“No law can stop evil, but we should be clear that our state stands with the victims and their voices ill not be silenced.”

He vowed to enact a hate crimes law that would get Indiana off the list of only five states with no such law on the books.

I wrote then that for the first time, he seemed comfortable leading the charge, rather than trying to build consensus behind the scenes.

“I am ready to use the time between now and leading up to the session to help this across the line,” Holcomb told me then.

This week, he signed into law a bill that the Anti-Defamation League says is inadequate to get Indiana off what Holcomb head-shakingly calls “the naughty list.” And there is scant evidence that Holcomb did much to get the bill he wanted, at least publicly.

Yes, he called for a hate crimes law in his January State of the State speech. And when asked by reporters about the issue, he always affirmed his support. But mostly he followed, not led, the legislature. He didn’t testify in the only hearing they had. He didn’t go to the behind-closed-doors Republican caucuses to fight for the language he wanted — the same inclusive language he has in administrative policy that specifically lists the traits that are too often targets of hate, including gender identity.

And when the House avoided all public input by shoving its version of the hate crimes bill — the version now in law that avoids all mention of gender identity, gender and age — into a drug sentencing bill, Holcomb applauded it.

Holcomb had a huge opportunity to define himself as the kind of bold leader that the man he once worked for, Mitch Daniels, was as governor.

He whiffed.

Holcomb signed the bill quietly, with no media, no public celebration. That spoke volumes. He, as well as Indiana businesses and universities, wanted a fully inclusive hate crimes law in order to shed this state’s image that Hoosier Hospitality isn’t for everybody. So why wouldn’t he take a victory lap if this bill accomplishes that?

Holcomb isn’t the only elected official to flub this leadership test. Where in the world was Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett? Seems like between filling potholes he had time to come to the Statehouse and make the case for an inclusive hate crimes bill. His Republican opponent in this year’s mayoral election, Sen. Jim Merritt, went on Twitter to criticize Hogsett for his silence, a rebuke Hogsett deserved. But Merritt wasn’t exactly a hero on this either. He sat mute in the Senate as they concurred on the House version, and voted for it.

And House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, let that chamber cut the public out of the process entirely.

Sen. Jean Breaux, an Indianapolis Democrat, nailed it in her impassioned floor speech Tuesday as the Senate prepared to concur with the House version and send it to Holcomb.

When the process of passing this bill first began, she said, she was “so proud and excited” to support Holcomb and Sen. Ron Alting, the Lafayette Republican who never gave up his fight for an inclusive bill.

“But then the governor abandoned his commitment and instead supported this empty hollow bill that came out of the House that pretends to be a hate crime bill, but you can’t have a true hate crimes bill if you don’t include everyone,” Breaux said. “I wondered what could make the governor flip-flop. One day he is in support of a list, the next day he’s not.”

“Shame on you, Gov. Holcomb,” she said.

Holcomb and other Republicans insist the new law does include everyone, though gender, gender identity and age are not included. A letter from former Supreme Court Justice Frank Sullivan Jr. — who, like Hogsett, once worked for Democrat Gov. Evan Bayh — says judges will interpret it as all-inclusive.

Maybe. But combating hate crimes shouldn’t depend on what a judge may do. Sometimes a state needs to spell out what a judge must do.

Holcomb apparently still believes that some things must be spelled out. He’s not changing his own administrative policy that prohibits discrimination by specific classes in favor of adopting the language in the law he deemed good enough for the rest of us. And yes, that policy includes gender identity.

FOOTNOTE: Mary Beth Schneider is an editor at TheStatehouseFile.com, a news site powered by Franklin College student journalists.