Phillip "Phil" L. Boots is an American politician from Indiana. He was a Republican member of the Indiana Senate, representing the 23rd District between 2006 and 2022.
Boots graduated from New Market High School and Milligan College.[2] He owns several central Indiana businesses,[3] and is president of Boots Bros. Oil Co., Inc., an operator of convenience stores.[2]
In 2013, Boots introduced a "nullification" bill that would purport to authorizes the Indiana General Assembly to declare federal laws unconstitutional and would have declared the 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA) to be unconstitutional and unenforceable in Indiana. The supposed doctrine of "nullification" was expressly repudiated by the U.S. Supreme CourtinCooper v. Aaron (1958), and the ACA was upheld as constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in a 2012 ruling.[11]
In 2014, Boots proposed an amendment to allow employers to discriminate in hiring on the basis of religion; Boots's proposal prompted vehement objections from Democrats.[3] Boots has sponsored legislation in 2016 to block local governments in Indiana from passing ordinances requiring employers to provide employees notice of their scheduled hours in advance,[12] and sponsored legislation in 2017 to block local governments in Indiana from enacting "ban the box" ordinances.[13] In 2018, Boots, as chairman of the state Senate Pensions and Labor Committee, blocked an equal pay bill (introduced by Democratic Senator Jean Breaux) from receiving a hearing by the committee.[14]
