At the end of each day while the lege is in session, members of the House queue-up at the House podium and ask the Clerk of the House to change how they voted on various legislation.
They change from “Yea” to “Nay” from “Nay” to “Yea” and the worst of all change from “Absent” to “Yea” or “Nay.”Thus a lege could arrive in the House after a full day’s voting on various measures and vote on each of the measures already debated, passed or killed; even though he had been there only five minutes.
In other words, the leges don’t have to be present to listen to the legislation presented, much less read it or understand it before voting their constituents wishes. Yeah, there are House Rules, but they are routinely suspended.
Theoretically and legally, but not ethically or morally, 53 members of the House could show up in the morning at 9 a.m. to convene the session; the remaining 52 could show up five minutes before adjournment and cast their votes.
I know, Bobby Jindal promised to end vote-changing in the House. But like almost everything else he said, he did another.
The Senate does not allow vote changing, period. It’s not that important, however, a majority vote exactly the way Senate President John Alario tells them.
You won’t about read this in the “paid media” although reporters are sitting right beside the podium while it is going down, but it is all archived in audio and video on the lege website.
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