Two
exceptions to the above apply. On SB 577, because the nature of the bill had
changed substantially when it got voted out of the Senate, the concurrence vote
was used. On SCR 99, those who did not vote were counted as absent since the
seated majority requirement does not apply to resolutions (as a court will soon
affirm), and scores adjusted.
The
bills used, most featured among this space’s good and bad ones, and their
weighings in index composition are as follows:
HB
61 created a cash balance system for many new state hires; an affirmative
vote indicated conservative/reform preference (20 percent).
HB
209 reduced by one the longest hours open in the nation at polling
locations for most elections; an affirmative vote indicated conservative/reform
preference (10 percent).
HB
292 bypassed recalcitrant school boards in giving citizens of all districts
the chance to vote in term limits on board members; an affirmative vote
indicated conservative/reform preference (10 percent).
HB
378 would have prevented smoking near entrances and exits of some buildings;
an affirmative vote indicated conservative/reform preference (5 percent).
HB
974 created a more coherent and efficient personnel system in public
schools; an affirmative vote indicated conservative/reform preference (10
percent).
HB
976 allows private school tuition to be paid up to a certain level by the
state for students suffering in fair-to-substandard public schools; an
affirmative vote indicated conservative/reform preference (10 percent).
SB
350 would have allowed citizens to increase and maintain at the higher
level a tax on vehicle rentals with the proceeds tied to certain interests and
government activities; an affirmative vote indicated liberal/populist
preference (5 percent).
SB
563 would have created a new school district within the existing boundaries
of East Baton Rouge Parish; an affirmative vote indicated conservative/reform
preference (10 percent).
SB
577 would have would have required extraneous information collection with
the goal of using it to justify introduction of the discredited concept of
comparable worth into employment law; an affirmative vote indicated
liberal/populist preference (5 percent).
SB
750 allows for a waste of legislative resources in having an estimate about
poverty reputedly related to a bill; an affirmative vote indicated
liberal/populist preference (5 percent).
SCR
99 was used to approve the Minimum Foundation Program funding mechanism
that allowed public dollars to go to private schools educating for a public
purpose under HB 976; an affirmative vote indicated conservative/reform
preference (10 percent).
Not surprisingly, given the way the session went, 60 percent of the
scoring concerns education and retirement matters. After cranking it all out,
here’s who scored what, starting with the House:
Morris, Jay
|
100
|
Republican
|
Burford
|
95
|
Republican
|
Kleckley
|
95
|
Republican
|
Pearson
|
95
|
Republican
|
Broadwater
|
90
|
Republican
|
Burns, T
|
90
|
Republican
|
Henry
|
90
|
Republican
|
Landry, N
|
90
|
Republican
|
Ligi
|
90
|
Republican
|
Lorusso
|
90
|
Republican
|
Seabaugh
|
90
|
Republican
|
Talbot
|
90
|
Republican
|
Carter
|
85
|
Republican
|
Champagne
|
85
|
Republican
|
Fannin
|
85
|
Democrat
|
Foil
|
85
|
Republican
|
Harris
|
85
|
Republican
|
Hollis
|
85
|
Republican
|
Lopinto
|
85
|
Republican
|
Schroder
|
85
|
Republican
|
Thompson
|
85
|
Republican
|
Whitney
|
85
|
Republican
|
Richardson
|
82
|
Republican
|
Pylant
|
80
|
Republican
|
Barras
|
80
|
Democrat
|
Bishop, S
|
80
|
Republican
|
Cromer
|
80
|
Republican
|
Hensgens
|
80
|
Republican
|
Ponti
|
80
|
Republican
|
Hoffman
|
75
|
Republican
|
Adams
|
75
|
Republican
|
Berthelot
|
75
|
Republican
|
Carmody
|
75
|
Republican
|
Huval
|
75
|
Republican
|
Robideaux
|
75
|
Republican
|
Schexnayder
|
75
|
Republican
|
Pugh
|
70
|
Republican
|
Simon
|
70
|
Republican
|
Garafalo
|
70
|
Republican
|
Hodges
|
70
|
Republican
|
Shadoin
|
70
|
Republican
|
Geymann
|
65
|
Republican
|
Abramson
|
65
|
Democrat
|
Billiot
|
65
|
Democrat
|
Burns, H
|
65
|
Republican
|
Chaney
|
65
|
Republican
|
Connick
|
65
|
Republican
|
Dove
|
65
|
Republican
|
Leopold
|
65
|
Republican
|
Moreno
|
65
|
Democrat
|
Morris, Jim
|
65
|
Republican
|
Thibaut
|
60
|
Democrat
|
Danahay
|
55
|
Democrat
|
Havard
|
55
|
Republican
|
Howard
|
55
|
Republican
|
Williams, P.
|
55
|
Democrat
|
Wilmott
|
55
|
Republican
|
Jackson, G
|
50
|
Democrat
|
Leger
|
50
|
Democrat
|
Miller
|
50
|
Republican
|
Arnold
|
50
|
Democrat
|
Guinn
|
50
|
Republican
|
Hazel
|
47
|
Republican
|
Brown, Terry
|
45
|
Independent
|
Jefferson
|
45
|
Democrat
|
St. Germain
|
45
|
Democrat
|
Badon
|
42
|
Democrat
|
Harrison
|
40
|
Republican
|
Mack
|
40
|
Republican
|
Lambert
|
37
|
Republican
|
Thierry
|
35
|
Democrat
|
Anders
|
30
|
Democrat
|
Richard
|
30
|
Independent
|
Greene
|
30
|
Republican
|
Pope
|
30
|
Republican
|
Cox
|
26
|
Democrat
|
Honore
|
25
|
Democrat
|
Ortego
|
25
|
Democrat
|
Reynolds
|
25
|
Democrat
|
Guillory, M
|
20
|
Democrat
|
Burrell
|
15
|
Democrat
|
Gisclair
|
15
|
Democrat
|
Jones
|
15
|
Democrat
|
Pierre
|
15
|
Democrat
|
Montoucet
|
11
|
Democrat
|
Armes
|
10
|
Democrat
|
Bishop, W
|
10
|
Democrat
|
James
|
10
|
Democrat
|
Ritchie
|
10
|
Democrat
|
Williams, A.
|
10
|
Democrat
|
Barrow
|
5
|
Democrat
|
Brossett
|
5
|
Democrat
|
Dixon
|
5
|
Democrat
|
Edwards
|
5
|
Democrat
|
Hill
|
5
|
Democrat
|
Hunter
|
5
|
Democrat
|
Jackson, K
|
5
|
Democrat
|
Johnson
|
5
|
Democrat
|
LeBas
|
5
|
Democrat
|
Norton
|
5
|
Democrat
|
Price
|
5
|
Democrat
|
Smith
|
5
|
Democrat
|
Franklin
|
0
|
Democrat
|
Gaines
|
0
|
Democrat
|
Landry, T
|
0
|
Democrat
|
Several things are worth noting here. At the margins, huge partisan
differences appear. Republicans make 39 of the top 41 conservative/reform
scores, and Democrats had the top 30 liberal/populist scores. Even so, it
fairly even out so that the average overall House score was just a little above
the presumed mean, 51.67. Newcomer Rep. Jay Morris was
the “perfect” conservative/reformer, while freshmen Reps. Terry Landry and
Randal Gaines
joined reelected Rep. A.B. Franklin as
the “perfect” liberal/populists. Only six Republicans scored below 50 and eight
Democrats above it. The House gap between the parties – Republicans averaging
73.19 and Democrats 25.63 – trailed only 2007 since the Legislature Log started
the scorecard with the 2004 session.
The Senate in some ways proved even more interesting:
Peacock
|
100
|
Republican
|
Walsworth
|
90
|
Republican
|
Donahue
|
80
|
Republican
|
Alario
|
80
|
Republican
|
Cortez
|
80
|
Republican
|
Crowe
|
80
|
Republican
|
Guillory, E
|
80
|
Democrat
|
Long
|
80
|
Republican
|
Martiny
|
80
|
Republican
|
Riser
|
80
|
Republican
|
Claitor
|
75
|
Republican
|
Appell
|
75
|
Republican
|
Heitmeier
|
73
|
Democrat
|
Chabert
|
70
|
Republican
|
White
|
70
|
Republican
|
Amedee
|
65
|
Republican
|
Ward
|
65
|
Democrat
|
Adley
|
60
|
Republican
|
Allain
|
60
|
Republican
|
Buffington
|
60
|
Republican
|
Smith, J
|
60
|
Republican
|
Kostelka
|
55
|
Republican
|
Perry
|
55
|
Republican
|
Smith, G
|
55
|
Democrat
|
Tarver
|
55
|
Democrat
|
LaFleur
|
53
|
Democrat
|
Morrish
|
53
|
Republican
|
Brown, Troy
|
50
|
Democrat
|
Mills
|
50
|
Republican
|
Thompson
|
50
|
Democrat
|
Johns
|
40
|
Republican
|
Nevers
|
39
|
Democrat
|
Erdey
|
35
|
Republican
|
Morrell
|
30
|
Democrat
|
Broome
|
15
|
Democrat
|
Dorsey-Colomb
|
6
|
Democrat
|
Gallot
|
5
|
Democrat
|
Murray
|
0
|
Democrat
|
Peterson
|
0
|
Democrat
|
While a freshman, Sen. Barrow
Peacock, led again at the conservative/reform end with a perfect score, two
veterans, Sens. Edwin Murray
and Karen Peterson, had
perfect scores on the liberal/populist end. Partisan differences also were
stark, with only six Democrats scoring above 50 and two Republicans below, although
the overall average only for the third time since 2004 had the Senate as the
more conservative/reform body, with its highest gap ever with an average of
56.63. The partisan gap – Republicans averaging 68.03 and Democrats’ mean being
38.41 – also was second to the 2007 gap.
The two independents, one a holdover, put in by far the most
liberal/populist score average ever at 37.50, compared to the previous lowest average
score of 56 in 2005. As a whole, the Legislature average was 53.02. And for all
the conservative complaints about former Democrat Sen. John Alario as a Republican
Senate president, he managed an 80, tied for third-highest.
Finally, Gov. Bobby
Jindal was scored on all except HB 378 (it never got to him) and SCR 99
(resolutions require no gubernatorial action). Having vetoed a pair of the bad
bills and signing all of the good ones, he racked up a 94, making him more conservative/reform
than all but four representatives and Peacock.
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