Although the regular session doesn’t convene until March 14, and the new Legislature was just fully sworn in on Monday, lawmakers are already requesting and filing bills.
All of them have come from the House side so far and are available to review at www.legis.la.gov.
There are 11 bills total, out of hundreds that will eventually be introduced. Four deal with appropriating money for judgments delivered against the state while the others address firearm issues, criminal expungements and the open burning of certain waste.
The latter category refers to HB 11 by Reps. Gene Reynolds, D-Minden, and Terry Brown, No Party-Colfax, would ban open burning as a method to dispose of explosive materials. The filing comes after an extensive battle with the U.S. Army and the U.S Environmental Protection Agency over the best disposal method for 7,800 tons of M6 propellant abandoned by Explo Systems.
Rep. Barry Ivey, R-Central, has a constitutional amendment in HB4 that would expand the definition of the right to keep and bear arms to include carrying a concealed handgun without a permit. The only exception would be if an individual is already prohibited from carrying a firearm under state law. Ivy is also sponsoring HB6, which seeks to do the same by statute.
Presidential players flocking to Louisiana
From the president to presidential candidates, the next two weeks in Louisiana will see a number of national players moving through the state.
While Monday was inauguration day in Baton Rouge, it was also Ted Cruz day. The junior U.S. senator and presidential candidate was in Baton Rouge for a lunch fundraiser at Mansurs On The Boulevard. Cruz also attended a rally with local tea party leaders at the Baton Rouge Marriott before heading to a reception in New Orleans at the home of GOP consultant Mary Matalin.
On Thursday President Barack Obama will be in Baton Rouge as well, although details have not yet been released. He’ll arrive during the first full week in office for Gov.-elect John Bel Edwards, who officially becomes governor at noon. The White House has issued a statement recognizing Edwards’ willingness to expand Medicaid and it’s thought that the visit may be an effort to offer executive support for the move.
Next Tuesday, on Jan. 19, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will attend a fundraiser for her presidential bid in New Orleans hosted by the Fayard and Landrieu families. Various levels of interaction with Clinton are being offered to donors.
While he’s not making a personal visit this week himself, Donald Trump did give the green light earlier this month to a Louisiana leadership team that includes Jay Batt of New Orleans as chairman and Tim Breaux of Lafayette and Wayne Ryan of Alexandria as co-chairs.
Wildlife department close to accepting advertising
The Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Department closed the public comment period last week on its proposed rule to begin selling advertisements to private companies.
Last year the state Legislature approved legislation permitting the department to move forward with the process that could eventually lead to paid sponsorships. The legislation does not spell out exactly where the advertising can be placed, but it allows for signage to be put on the department’s property.
The Wildlife and Fisheries Commission is charged with coming up with the specific regulations. The guiding rules it has published, and that public comments are no longer being accepted, calls for a much broader scope that originally envisioned.
William Guste, an attorney for the department, said the program will likely launch next fiscal year, after July 1, 2016, and will focus primarily on sponsorships and banner ads in regulation brochures and the department’s website, www.WLF.Louisiana.com.
The Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Department is following in the footsteps of the Department of Transportation and Development, which began selling ad space on its motorist assistance vehicles to State Farm in 2014.
A recent analysis from the Legislative Fiscal Office noted that the revenue generated by Wildlife and Fisheries under the proposed program “will be dependent upon the advertising contracts.” DOTD, through its current advertising agreement with State Farm, is collecting $250,000.
Pastors group behind flip of House seat
The American Renewal Project, a group that is plotting a new approach to evangelical politics with a network of 100,000 pastors nationwide, is taking some of the credit for the upset in House District 51 this fall. That’s where state Rep. Beryl Amedee of Houma beat out former Rep. Joe Harrison of Napoleonville by 318 votes.
While Amedee also had the support of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry and other groups, a new piece out from Reuters stated ARP director David Lane wants to recruit 1,000 pastors to run in 2016 and 500 have already committed. Amedee, a pastor, was among those ranks this cycle.
Lane told Reuters he has been bringing together candidates like Amedee for “two-day, all-expenses paid retreats. There are lectures on running political campaigns, turning out voters, and injecting sermons with a healthy dose of politics.”
“In the 1970s, our attitude was, ‘We are not of this world, Jesus is coming, so why bother with government?’,” Amedee was quoted as saying in the piece. “Now, we know we are the government.”
The goal of the American Renewal Project is to get pastors elected on local and regional levels in an attempt to influence government from the bottom on up.
Scalise chief of staff resigns
Lynnel Ruckert, the chief of staff to House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, stepped down from her post late last year and has been replaced by Brett Horton, Scalise’s floor director, according to a report in Politico.
She is married to Kyle Ruckert, the chief of staff and campaign manager to U.S. Sen. David Vitter, who is not seeking re-election next year.
They Said It
“When I was sitting in prison I never thought I would be attending an inauguration for another Edwards.”
—Former Gov. Edwin Edwards, on Baton Rouge’s TALK 107.3 FM with Leo Honeycutt
“Resign.”
—EWE, offering his best budget deficit advice for Gov.-elect John Bel Edwards
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