Lawmaker: Casting Decisive Daylight Vote 'Right Thing To Do'

INDIANAPOLIS -- State. Rep. Troy Woodruff of Vincennes acknowledges he could face some trouble in his district for casting the decisive vote on a daylight-saving time bill. But he says that given what some legislators were doing with it, his decision was the right one.

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Video: Clincher Comes From Unexpected Source

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The House on Thursday night gave final legislative approval of a bill mandating the observance of daylight-saving time in Indiana. The bill goes to the governor, who is expected to sign it.

The bill was sitting at 50 yes votes Thursday night when Woodruff, who had voted against the legislation previously, cast the 51st affirmative vote, giving it the constitutional majority it needed to pass.

Woodruff, a first-term Republican, said he voted for the bill because he saw Democrats "play games" with the bill.

"I saw it became a partisan issue when I saw people over on their side of aisle that absolutely refused to vote for this, even though they were clearly in favor of it all along," he told reporters.

House Speaker Brian Bosma, a Republican, agreed with Woodruff's assessment. He said House Minority Leader Pat Bauer was pressuring Democrats to vote no on the bill.

Bosma said several Democrats tried to trade their daylight-saving bill votes in return for things like expanded gambling at the state's two horse-racing tracks, RTV6's Norman Cox reported. Bosma declined to identify those legislators.

Woodruff comes from a district where residents' opposition to the bill had been stiff. Bosma hailed Woodruff's vote as one of the most courageous he has seen.

DAYLIGHT-SAVING Tally: How Representatives Voted Discuss: What Do You Think? Daylight-saving time began in most of U.S. at 2 a.m. Sunday, April 3. View maps of U.S. time zones. EXTRAS History of Daylight-Saving Time Seasons Explained

"Guys like Troy Woodruff who stepped up to do what they thought was right despite political consequences for themselves are heroes in this issue, and the state should be proud of each and every one of them," Bosma said.

Woodruff said he was ready to explain himself in his district.

"The people in my district certainly don't know that there's any value in (the bill), but you know, at the end of the day, it was the right thing to do," Woodruff said. "It's time to move the state forward.

"Some things are more important than re-election. I think this is one of those issues. I think we need more statesmen and less politics, and I've seen the worst of politics these last couple of days up here in the Statehouse."