Legislative regular session scores, 2019

After two weeks’ delay, here comes the 2019 Regular Session on the Louisiana Legislature voting scorecard. With all business disposed of, legislators and the governor received grades (barring a miraculous veto override session). Twelve bills were selected and weighed for computation, all but two having been voted upon in both chambers. These were chosen mainly from the watch list compiled throughout the session. For a bill’s vote(s) to be selected, in one chamber there had to be more than one legislator not voting for the winning or losing side.

Being that passage of bills depends upon the seated membership of a body, not voting is counted as a negative vote. However, if a legislator had a leave of absence granted for that day, his absent votes weren’t counted for bills voted on that day and the score adjusted to take that into account.

Here are the bills with votes for final passage in every case on which the scorecard was computed, with the conservative/reform position and the weighing indicated:

Regular legislative session through Jun. 29, 2019

The governor had just only one bill outstanding to deal with before his veto power expired. With all legislation final, next week will feature the 2019 scorecard.

THIS WEEK FOR THE GOOD: HB 484 was signed by the governor.

Regular legislative session through Jun. 22, 2019

The governor still has a few days to make decisions on bills. For our purposes, only one bill is left (HB 484) being tracked that he has yet to deal with.

THIS WEEK FOR THE GOOD: HB 614 was signed by the governor.

THIS WEEK FOR THE BAD: HB 620 was signed by the governor.

Regular legislative session through Jun. 15, 2019

Bills continue to have their fates determined by the governor.

THIS WEEK FOR THE GOOD: HB 82 was signed by the governor; HB 425 was filed with the Secretary of State; HB 614 was signed by the governor.

THIS WEEK FOR THE BAD: HB 617 was signed by the governor; SB 27 was signed by the governor; SB 98 was signed by the governor; SB 174 was signed by the governor.

Regular legislative session through Jun. 8, 2019

Our pocketbooks are again safe: the 2019 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature has ended, and no extraordinary session seems in the offing.

THIS WEEK FOR THE GOOD: HB 82 was passed by the Senate, rejected by the House, had conference report accepted by the House and the Senate, and was sent to the governor; HB 425 had conference report accepted by the House and the Senate; HB 484 was sent to the governor; HB 614 was passed by the Senate, concurred in by the House and was sent to the governor; SB 201 was sent to the governor; SB 221 was sent to the governor.

THIS WEEK FOR THE BAD: HB 617 passed the Senate and was sent to the governor; HB 620 passed the Senate and was sent to the governor; SB 27 was sent to the governor; SB 98 with minor amendment passed the House and was concurred in by the Senate; SB 174 passed the House and was signed by the governor.

Regular legislative session through Jun. 1, 2019

SB 212 was removed from the list of good bills, as valuable amendments to it were withdrawn after a protest to their germaneness.

THIS WEEK FOR THE GOOD: HB 72 was deferred involuntarily by Senate committee; HB 82 with minor amendment passed Senate committee; HB 147 was deferred involuntarily by Senate committee; HB 484 passed the Senate; HB 503 failed to pass the Senate; HB 599 was deferred involuntarily by Senate committee; HB 614 with minor amendment passed Senate committee; SB 184 passed the House, went to the governor, and was signed by the governor.

THIS WEEK FOR THE BAD: HB 358 with major amendment failed to pass the Senate; HB 617 passed Senate committee; HB 620 passed Senate committee; SB 5 with major amendment passed the House and was rejected by the Senate; SB 27 passed House committee and passed the House; SB 98 passed House committee; SB 174 passed House committee; SB 201 passed the House; SB 221 with minor amendment passed the House and was concurred in by the Senate.

Regular legislative session through May 25, 2019

After amending the original HB 372 into it, SB 212 joins the list of good bills.

THIS WEEK FOR THE GOOD: HB 147 passed the House; HB 281 passed the House; HB 416 failed to pass the House; HB 425 passed the Senate; HB 503 with minor amendment passed Senate committee; HB 599 with major amendment passed the House; SB 201 passed House committee; SB 212 with major amendment passed House committee; SB 221 with minor amendment passed House committee.

THIS WEEK FOR THE BAD: HB 358 passed Senate committee; HB 620 passed the House; SB 5 with minor amendment passed House committee; SB 27 passed the Senate; SB 98 passed Senate committee and the Senate; SB 174 passed the Senate.

Regular legislative session through May 18, 2019

HB 546 was removed from the list of good bills, because it became linked to a bad bill, HB 601. Also, HB 310 was substituted for by HB 620.

THIS WEEK FOR THE GOOD: HB 72 with minor amendment passed the House; HB 372 was deferred involuntarily by Senate committee; HB 484 passed Senate committee; HB 503 with minor amendment passed the House; HB 599 passed House committee; HB 614 with minor amendment passed House committee; SB 184 passed House committee.

THIS WEEK FOR THE BAD: HB 215 passed House committee; HB 289 was deferred involuntarily by House committee; HB 293 failed to pass the House; HB 358 passed the House; HB 422 was deferred involuntarily by House committee; HB 564 passed House committee; HB 610 with minor amendment failed to pass the House; HB 620 passed House committee; SB 27 with minor amendment passed the Senate; SB 174 passed Senate committee.

Regular legislative session through May 11, 2019

A bad bill, HB 589, turned into a substitute HB 617, but that didn’t improve it. However, amendments to SB 79 made that bill benign, and thus this proposed constitutional amendment was removed from the bad bill list, as was SB 80 which contained the statutory authorizing legislation. Finally, amendments to SB 237 made it benign and it was removed from the bad bill list.

THIS WEEK FOR THE GOOD: HB 72 with minor amendment passed House committee; HB 425 with minor amendment passed Senate committee; HB 484 with minor amendment passed the House; SB 184 with minor amendment passed the Senate.

THIS WEEK FOR THE BAD: HB 63 was deferred involuntarily; HB 302 was deferred involuntarily, HB 435 with minor amendments passed House committee; HB 601 with major amendment passed House committee; HB 617 with major amendment passed the House; SB 5 with minor amendment passed the Senate; SB 112 failed to pass the Senate; SB 219 passed Senate committee.

Regular legislative session through May 4, 2019

Due to its fiscal notes registering revenue reduction, HB 262 by Rep. Julie Stokes is added to the list of good bills. The bill would flatten and simplify the tax code. Also, HB 202 has been removed from the list of bad bills, after a proposed beneficial amendment to it is scheduled to be debated on the floor.

THIS WEEK FOR THE GOOD: HB 12 was deferred involuntarily; HB 82 passed the House; HB 147 passed House committee; HB 231 was deferred involuntarily; HB 262 HB 281 passed House committee; HB 372 passed the House; HB 388 was substituted for by HB 614; HB 404 passed the House; HB 413 with minor amendment passed the House; HB 416 with major amendment passed House committee; HB 441 with minor amendment passed House committee; HB 503 with minor amendment passed House committee; HB 614 passed House committee; SB 184 with major amendment passed Senate committee; SB 221 passed the Senate.

THIS WEEK FOR THE BAD: HB 46 was deferred involuntarily by House committee;  HB 178 with minor amendment passed House committee; HB 293 passed House committee;  HB 358 passed House committee; HB 610 with minor amendment passed House committee; SB 4 with minor amendment passed Senate committee; SB 5 with minor amendment passed Senate committee; SB 79 passed Senate committee and failed to pass the Senate; SB 80 with minor amendment passed Senate committee; SB 112 with minor amendment passed Senate committee; SB 186 passed Senate committee.

Regular legislative session through Apr. 27, 2019

Finally, the Legislature gets in a full week of business (which for it is four days), so activity has picked up. Most intriguingly, one bill actually flipped in status, with amendments taking HB 521 from bad to good by eliminating the overall tax increase that could have resulted and diverting some existing tax revenues to New Orleans infrastructure.

THIS WEEK FOR THE GOOD: HB 82 passed House committee; HB 372 with minor amendment passed the House; HB 404 with minor amendment passed House committee; HB 413 with minor amendment passed House committee; HB 425 passed the House; HB 484 with minor amendment passed House committee; HB 521 with major amendment passed House committee; SB 201 with minor amendment passed Senate committee and passed the Senate.

THIS WEEK FOR THE BAD: SB 136 passed Senate committee; SB 155 passed Senate committee.

Regular legislative session through Apr. 20, 2019

The Louisiana Legislature had another week light on business, this time because it adjourned the week early after inclement weather. Nonetheless, the window for introducing bills remained open.

THE GOOD: HB 588 by Rep. Stephanie Hilferty essentially redirects a percent of the hotel occupancy tax to New Orleans and cuts a tax on food and beverage sales; HB 594 by Rep. Mark Wright would flatten and simplify income taxes (similar bill: HB 608); HB 599 by Rep. Lance Harris would cut sales taxes.

THE BAD: HB 589 by Rep. Walt Leger would continue indefinitely superfluous taxes going to tourism activities; HB 601 by Rep. Larry Bagley largely subverts consumer savings from his HB 546; HB 610 by Rep. Blake Miguez would intensify the elevated amount of revenue sharing by the state by retaining a higher sales tax; SB 237 by Sen. Yvonne Colomb would create duplicative governmental units.

Regular legislative session through Apr. 13, 2019

Even more than typically, the Legislature didn’t work on many bills in its first week as it worked through parliamentary procedures.

THE GOOD: HB 584 by Rep. Dodie Horton would repeal 0.45 percent of the general sales tax.

SCORECARD:
Total number of bills, House: 584; total number of bills, Senate: 225.

Total number of good bills, House: 27; total number of good bills, Senate: 10.

Total number of bad bills, House: 25; total number of bad bills, Senate: 16.

Total House good bills heard in House committee: 0; total Senate good bills heard in Senate committee: 1.

Total House bad bills heard in House committee: 0; total Senate bad bills heard in Senate committee: 0.

Total House good bills passed by House committee: 0; total Senate good bills passed by Senate committee: 0.

Total House bad bills passed by House committee: 0; total Senate bad bills passed by Senate committee: 0.

Total House good bills approved by House: 0; total Senate good bills approved by Senate: 0.

Total House bad bills approved by House: 0; total Senate bad bills approved by Senate: 0.

Total House good bills heard in Senate committee: 0; total Senate good bills heard in House committee: 0.

Total House bad bills heard in Senate committee: 0; total Senate bad bills heard in House committee: 0.

Total House good bills approved by Senate committee: 0; total Senate good bills approved by House committee: 0.

Total House bad bills approved by Senate committee: 0; total Senate bad bills approved by House committee: 0.

Total House good bills approved by Senate: 0; total Senate good bills approved by House: 0.

Total House bad bills approved by Senate: 0; total Senate bad bills approved by House: 0.

Total House good bills going to governor: 0; total Senate good bills going to governor: 0.

Total House bad bills going to governor: 0; total Senate bad bills going to governor: 0.

Total House good bills signed by governor/filed with Secretary of State: 0; total Senate good bills signed by governor/filed with Secretary of State: 0.

Total House bad bills signed by governor/filed with Secretary of State: 0; total Senate bad bills signed by governor/filed with Secretary of State: 0.

The Good, Bad, and Ugly for the 2019 Regular session

Welcome to the 2019 edition of the Louisiana Legislature Log, which is somewhat scaled-down from the past due to circumstances beyond my control. As always, we start with the Good, Bad and Ugly bills, except this year without the ugly.

THE GOOD: HB 12 by Rep. Steve Carter would amend the Constitution to provide a local option for applying the homestead exemption (similar bills: HB 238, HB 439); HB 19 by Rep. Kevin Pearson would help pay down the state’s unfunded accrued liability; HB 28 by Rep. Barry Ivey would shore up the fiscal health of the state’s retirement systems; HB 31 by Rep. Philip Devillier would phase out the corporate franchise tax (similar bill: HB 523); HB 57 by Rep. Tanner Magee would amend the Constitution to centralize sales tax collection with the state; HB 72 by Rep. Tony Bacala would reduce government waste; HB 82 by Devillier would publicize costs associated with bond, debt and tax  elections; HB 136 by Rep. Steve Pylant would amend the Constitution to refigure the homestead exemption; HB 147 by Rep. Rick Edmonds would build in a margin of safety in budgeting; HB 195 by Devillier would make the capital outlay process more flexible and create more legislative input; HB 231 by Pearson would strengthen freedom to use waterways; HB 281 by Rep. Blake Miguez would strengthen Second Amendment safeguards; HB 372 by Rep. Kirk Talbot applies tort reform to vehicle insurance and provides the means to lower rates; HB 388 by Miguez would protect personal identifying information from public records dissemination; HB 404 by Rep. Clay Schexnayder would eliminate unneeded boards and commissions; HB 413 by Miguez would prevent discrimination by merchants of those in the firearms and ammunition business; HB 416 by Ivey would flatten individual income tax rates in a way unlikely to result in an overall tax increase (similar bill: HB 441); HB 425 by Rep. Katrina Jackson would amend to Constitution to ensure these exists no right to abortion or its funding; HB 453 by Miguez would regulate more precisely unionization of teachers; HB 484 by Rep. Raymond Crews would establish more reliable record-keeping by abortion providers; HB 503 by Edmonds would pare unnecessary occupational licensing burdens for ex-convicts; HB 546 by Rep. Larry Bagley would remove some vehicles from inspection requirements; SB 14 by Sen. Barrow Peacock would impose term limits on retirement systems trustees; SB 93 by Sen. Rick Ward would flatten corporate income tax rates in a way unlikely to result in an overall tax increase (similar bill: HB 451); SB 122 by Sen. Marty Chabert would eliminate the inventory tax; SB 135 by Sen. Conrad Appel would make the New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board’s civil service system more manageable and flexible; SB 183 by Sen. Dan Claitor would bring more transparency to Tulane legislative Scholarships; SB 184 by Sen. John Milkovich would prohibit abortion in cases where a fetal heartbeat is detected; SB 201 by Sen. Beth Mizell would eliminate the unneeded state agency trying to flood Washington Parish; SB 204 by Sen. Karen Peterson would allow diversion of tax dollars from tourism-oriented agencies to general New Orleans purposes; SB 221 by Mizell would increase knowledge for women contemplating abortions.

THE BAD: HB 6 by Rep. Sam Jenkins would create unenforceable, intrusive, and dangerous traffic law; HB 46 by Rep. Joseph Bouie would corrupt the reapportionment process; HB 63 by Bouie would increase taxpayer costs in trying to solve a nonexistent problem (similar bill: HB 289); HB 96 by Pylant would create too much confusion and inefficiency in the state’s bureaucracy; HB 175 by Bouie would impose needless business costs based on imprecise technology; HB 178 by Jackson would amend the Constitution to lift unwisely the retirement age for judges; HB 202 by Rep. Gary Miller would try to reduce election costs in an inefficient manner; HB 215 by Rep. Terry Landry would eliminate capital punishment (similar bill: SB 112); HB 251 by Rep. Randal Gaines would injure the integrity of the election process (similar bill: SB 58); HB 293 by Rep. Ken Brass would permit more wasteful spending by constables; HB 302 by Bouie would impose needless bureaucracy, costs, and regulation on business; HB 310 by Rep. Wayne McMahen would weaken teacher quality; HB 338 by Rep. Pat Smith would redefine bullying policy in ways too restrictive and not restrictive enough; HB 358 by Rep. Ted James would make it too easy to hoot up for non-medical reasons (similar bills: HB 462, HB 509, HB 564); HB 420 by Rep. Walt Leger would increase rather than redistribute hotel taxes in New Orleans (similar bill: HB 521); HB 422 by Rep. Royce Duplessis would amend the Constitution to permit cities to reduce opportunities through a minimum wage increase; HB 435 by Terry Landry would amend the Constitution to set in motion a process to increase regularly legislative salaries; HB 470 by Rep. Cedric Glover would merge Louisiana State University in Shreveport into Louisiana Tech University; HB 472 by Glover would waste even more money on subsidizing film-making; HB 542 by Steve Carter would raise the gas tax at the pump; SB 4 by Sen. J.P. Morrell would amend the Constitution to create another needless sales tax exemption (similar bill: SB 5); SB 27 by Sen. Danny Martiny would trigger an unnecessary salary increase for judges; SB 63 by Sen. Yvonne Colomb would diminish retroactively self-governance determination; SB 79 by Sen. Troy Carter would amend the Constitution to erode selectively New Orleans’ tax base (similar bill: SB 80); SB 97 by Sen. Wesley Bishop would shield unnecessarily public records; SB 98 by Sen. Ed Price would relax too much expungement criteria; SB 128 by Milkovich would water down education standards; SB 136 by Morrell would restrict needlessly business personnel practices; SB 155 by Carter would amend the Constitution to cost jobs and productivity with a minimum wage increase; SB 174 by Sen. Ronnie Johns would make less flexible elderly affairs policy; SB 186 by Morrell would create a wasteful benefit paid for by business; SB 219 by Sen. Regina Barrow would needlessly exclude certain kinds of health care coverage.