Legislative regular session wrapup -- House scorecard

In this week’s wrapup we’ll look at voting records in the House. By next week, the governor should have decided what vetoes to issue so we’ll look at the Senate’s voting record and hers (in essence) for the 2006 Regular Session.

Thirteen bills were selected to compile to the scorecard. Eleven of these appeared as good or bad bills in the Log prior to and during the session, while the other two, HB 685 and HB 699, developed into litmus-test bills during the session. These bills were chosen because they represented important issues on which there was some dissension within the chambers.

A point scale was assigned to each, with more important bills comprising a greater proportion of the index, where low scores represent a very liberal/populist ideology and high scores represent a very conservative/reform ideology. Both the House and Senate were graded on all the same bills except for two, HB 853 which failed in the House and SB 700 which passed the Senate but was prevented from being considered in the House. House members only were scored for the former, Senate members only for the latter.

The bills and their proportions: HB 685 and HB 699 – 13 percent each; HB 1028 and HB 1129 – 11 percent; HB 815 and HB 194 – 9 percent; HB 1130 and HB 853 or SB 700 – 7 percent; SB 18, SB 382, SB 742, and SB 747 – 5 percent.

Usually, not voting was counted as voting against a bill, since that is the practical effect given the minimum thresholds to pass bills (53 in the House except for some matters where it is 70; 20 in the Senate except for some matters where it is 26). However, if a member had asked for an excused absence for that day, a “nay” was not recorded and that member’s figure would be adjusted by not including that vote. The same applied to the newest member of the House, seated with the session partly through.

House members are allowed to change their votes within a legislative day as long as changing it does not change the overall outcome of the vote. However, for the purposes of this scorecard, to emphasize that legislators need to be on top of their jobs, they were scored on their original votes.

Some things to note:

Only one member was “perfect” one way or the other, Rep. Mike Powell who scored 100 as the perfect conservative/reformer.

The leadership was pretty much at the extremes. Republican Delegation House leader Rep. Jim Tucker scored a 94, third-highest overall and among Republicans. Democrat Caucus leader Rep. Eric LaFleur scored the lowest of all, a 9.

Interestingly, House Speaker Joe Salter was the most conservative/reformist Democrat at 61, behind 26 Republicans and the independent Rep. Joel Robideaux.

But, he was ahead of 14 Republicans, including all three party switchers from last year. While Rep. William Daniel IV was close at 57, third-lowest Republican was convert Rep. Ernest Wooton, and second-lowest convert Rep. Blade Morrish.

The lowest scoring Republican was Rep. Joe Toomy at 28, while the typical House Republican scored 64. The Democrat average was a 34, meaning only he, Morrish, and Wooton scored at or below that, while obviously no Democrat scored above the Republican average.

Relative to last year’s position, the biggest mover was Rep. Billy Montgomery, rising from tied for second-lowest scoring to fourth-highest Democrat at 56. (Rumor runs rampant that term-limited Montgomery in 2007 wants to run as a Republican in the theoretically most conservative Senate district in the state, District 37 now held by Sen. Max Malone).

Powell, M Republican 100
Schneider Republican 95
Tucker Republican 94
LaBruzzo Republican 93
Scalise Republican 88
Kennard Republican 87
Lambert Republican 86
Burns Republican 82
Katz Republican 80
Greene Republican 77
Walsworth Republican 77
Beard Republican 75
Crane Republican 74
Lancaster Republican 74
Bowler Republican 70
Winston Republican 69
Geymann Republican 68
Smiley Republican 67
Alexander Republican 64
Crowe Republican 64
Smith, JH Republican 64
Waddell Republican 64
Bruneau Republican 63
Dove Republican 61
Johns Republican 61
Pitre Republican 61
Robideaux Independent 61
Salter Democrat 61
Erdey Republican 60
Hebert Democrat 60
Alario Democrat 58
Daniel Republican 57
Montgomery Democrat 56
Martiny Republican 54
Hutter Republican 52
Smith, G Democrat 52
Trahan Republican 52
Chandler Democrat 52
Faucheux Democrat 51
Bruce Democrat 50
Frith Democrat 46
Morrell Democrat 46
Odinet Democrat 46
Strain Republican 46
Ansardi Democrat 45
Hammett Democrat 45
Powell, T Republican 45
Baudoin Democrat 44
Cravins, Jr. Democrat 44
McVea Republican 44
Fannin Democrat 43
Smith, JR Democrat 43
Triche Democrat 43
White Republican 41
Hopkins Democrat 40
Carter, R Democrat 39
Downs Republican 39
McDonald Democrat 39
Townsend Democrat 39
Kleckley Republican 37
Damico Democrat 36
Guillory, E Democrat 36
Jackson, M Democrat 36
Romero, R Democrat 36
Durand Democrat 35
Richmond Democrat 35
Badon Democrat 34
Baldone Democrat 34
Carter, K Democrat 34
Heaton Democrat 34
Kenney Democrat 34
Pinac Democrat 34
Ritchie Democrat 34
Wooton Republican 34
Hunter Democrat 32
LaFonta Democrat 32
Cazayoux Democrat 30
Farrar Democrat 30
Glover Democrat 30
Hill Democrat 30
Morrish Republican 30
Thompson Democrat 30
Dartez Democrat 29
Toomy Republican 28
Walker Democrat 28
DeWitt Democrat 26
Guillory, M Democrat 26
Jefferson Democrat 24
Baylor Democrat 24
Curtis Democrat 23
Gallot Democrat 23
Gray Democrat 23
Honey Democrat 23
Marchand Democrat 23
Quezaire Democrat 23
Barrow Democrat 23
Doerge Democrat 21
Harris Democrat 21
St. Germain Democrat 21
Arnold Democrat 18
Pierre Democrat 18
Smith, JD Democrat 14
Burrell Democrat 10
Dorsey Democrat 10
LaFleur Democrat 9

Legislative regular session through Jun. 24

Back from a week hiatus because it didn’t make much sense to give a week’s summary right before the end of the session, let’s recount what happened the last nine days of the 2006 Regular Session. In a couple of more weeks the final wrapup will appear with all gubernatorial actions, as well as scores for legislators and the governor.

THIS WEEK-PLUS FOR THE GOOD: HB 58 had rules suspended to be heard on the Senate floor, was passed by the Senate, had amendments concurred in and was sent to the governor; HB 108 passed Senate, had amendments concurred in, and was sent to the governor; HB 109 was signed into law; HB 604 passed Senate, and was sent to the governor; HB 707 passed Senate and had conference report adopted; HB 850 passed Senate and was sent to the governor; HB 760 was signed into law; HB 992 had conference report rejected by House; HB 1260 passed Senate and was sent to the governor; SB 18 with minor amendments passed House, had amendments concurred in, and was sent to the governor; SB 25 passed House and was sent to the governor; SB 27 with minor amendments passed House, had amendments concurred in, and was sent to the governor; SB 33 was signed into law; SB 382 was indefinitely postponed by the House; SB 645 with minor amendments passed House, had amendments concurred in, and was sent to the governor; SB 647 with minor amendments passed House, had amendments concurred in, and was sent to the governor; SB 681 passed House and was sent to the governor; SB 742 with minor amendments passed House, had amendments concurred in, and was sent to the governor; SB 746 had amendments concurred with by Senate and was sent to the governor.

THIS WEEK-PLUS FOR THE BAD: HB 126 had rules suspended to be heard on the Senate floor, was passed by the Senate, had amendments concurred in and was sent to the governor; HB 194 had rules suspended to be heard on the Senate floor, and failed to pass the Senate, HB 1028 had rules suspended to be heard on the Senate floor, was passed by the Senate, had amendments concurred in, was sent to the governor who vetoed it; HB 1129 was signed into law; HB 1130 had rules suspended to be heard on the Senate floor, was passed with minor amendments by the Senate, had conference report adopted and was sent to the governor; SB 513 with minor amendments passed House, Senate rejected amendments; SB 613 with minor amendments passed House, had amendments concurred in, and was sent to the governor; SB 747 passed House and was sent to the governor.

SCORECARD:
Total House introductions: 1404; total Senate introductions: 755.

Total House good bills: 31; total Senate good bills: 19.

Total House bad bills: 19; total Senate bad bills: 22.

Total House good bills heard in House committee: 46; total Senate good bills heard in Senate committee: 24.

Total House bad bills heard in House committee: 22; total Senate bad bills heard in Senate committee: 22.

Total House good bills passing committee: 16; total Senate good bills passing committee: 15.

Total House bad bills passing committee: 11; total Senate bad bills passing committee: 9.

Total House good bills passing House: 12; total Senate good bills passing Senate: 11.

Total House bad bills passing House: 6; total Senate bad bills passing Senate: 6.

Total House good bills heard in Senate committee: 10; total Senate good bills heard in House committee: 11.

Total House bad bills heard in Senate committee: 6; total Senate bad bills heard in House committee: 5.

Total House good bills passing Senate committee: 10; total Senate good bills passing House committee: 11.

Total House bad bills passing Senate committee: 5; total Senate bad bills passing House committee: 4.

Total House good bills passing Senate: 10; total Senate good bills passing House: 10.

Total House bad bills passing Senate: 4; total Senate bad bills passing House: 3.

Total House good bills going to the governor/secretary of state: 8; total good Senate bills going to the governor/secretary of state: 10.

Total House bad bills going to the governor/secretary of state: 4; total bad Senate bills going to the governor/secretary of state: 2.

Total House good bills signed into law/on ballot: 4; total good Senate bills signed into law/on ballot: 2.

Total House bad bills signed into law/on ballot: 1; total good Senate bills signed into law/on ballot: 0.

Floor action, Jun. 19: HB 1281, SB 454

DID YOU KNOW?
During debate in the House on the conference report for HB 1281, Rep. Mike Powell sniffed out the fact that the bill, which was supposed to address a Supreme Court decisions about the applicability of tax increment financing, added such an arrangement to aid the Tournament Players Championship golf course in Jefferson Parish. Powell noted this was the first existing course getting this designation, that it could have a ripple effect for others, and it would cause of a loss of funding at the state and local level. Handler Rep. John Alario said the arrangement would spur economic development (and that it could be used to offset the state contract with the course forcing it to pay the course for rounds of golf unplayed) but Powell said since the course already was there the TIF did not serve that purpose. He pointed out that this precedent could be applied to many existing facilities, in essence transferring state wealth to private interests for “economic development” purposes.

However, the house majority did not share Powell’s concern, as the conference committee report was adopted 58-32.

DID YOU KNOW?
SB 454 has been rewritten by amendment several times, so the House finally got a crack at its latest incarnation via conference report. Handler Rep. Jim Fannin explained the bill would create a panel of three representatives who would determine when a gallon of ethanol minus federal subsidies was equal to or less than a gallon of gas, only then would the requirements of Act 313 kick in. (He said incorrectly, in response to a question, that one representative was selected by the Commissioner of Higher Education; it's the Revenue Secretary.)

Rep. Mike Walsworth asked more information about the pricing mechanism’s determination. He also noted that the determination of equality or less for 60 days occurred only once, then the mechanism would be scuttled (meaning if the prices subsequently diverged with ethanol going higher, the mandate of Act 313 still would stay in place).

Rep. Steve Scalise wanted to know why the “hard trigger” written into statute by the House was removed, replaced by a more subjective process. Fannin said it was part of the process and now was not the time to reopen the bill, just to decide on the report. “This is the best instrument we have” he insisted. Responding to questioning, he said it was a fairer deal because this measure asked for parity and over a 60-day period, whereas the discarded amendment had a ten cent buffer for 30 days.

Rep. Jim Tucker lamented that this was a Hobson’s Choice, either taking no action or approving a bad compromise. He said a bad law was better than none and would vote for it. “We need to revisit this next year, meanwhile, the Louisiana consumer is getting screwed.” Rep. Francis Thompson argued that including the federal subsidy was appropriate because oil producers got subsidies, he said.

It seemed the House took Tucker’s advice to heart, as the report was adopted 97-1.

QUOTES OF THE DAY
How long is this open audition process going to last?
Rep. Robby Carter, noting a series of acting speakers were running the House.

This is the last train leaving the station today
Fannin, noting if SB 454 didn’t get dealt with today, the matter would not be dealt with at all as the session ends.

The greatest legislators and legislature ever are right here today.
Special guest Jay Chevalier, before singing the new state recovery song on the House floor.

Floor action, Jun. 16: SB 723, SB 382, SB 753

DID YOU KNOW?
The handling SB 723 broke into a spat among local legislators. Rep. Billy Montgomery was handling this bill, which altered the terms and composition of members of the Caddo/Bossier Port Authority. But Rep. Ernest Baylor complained that Montgomery, who was handling the bill for Sen. Max Malone, was cutting out Rep. Cedric Glover, who was absent but on his way to the Capitol (it already had been delayed because of Glover’s absence for personal reasons). Montgomery was concerned that if the bill got sent back to the calendar it might not get brought up again, but consented to Baylor’s request.

Apparently, it took Glover more time than the 15-20 minutes Baylor said. A couple of hours later, the bill was brought up but again returned to the calendar. A half-hour later it was brought back, and then yanked yet again.

It finally came up in the afternoon. Montgomery got an amendment by consent to change the designees of the cities involved (Shreveport and Bossier City) done by the governing authority (city councils) rather than mayors (its original form). It passed without objection.

Glover wished to amend the bill to make representation on the body proportional rather than geographically-based, calling the bill in that form a form of “geographic affirmative action;” the governing authority would make selections without any geographic criteria. He claimed it was a unifying amendment. It passed 61-21.

Even though Glover won on this, he said he still wouldn’t vote for the bill. He said Shreveport dominated the economy, and thus needs to maintain the increased proportion of membership under present law. Montgomery disagreed, saying Shreveport should not have an automatic majority on the port commission, that it should have meaningful input. He said it was a better bill amended, and should be passed. It did, 54-44.

DID YOU KNOW?
SB 382 would eliminate essentially gifts to legislators of a sporting and cultural nature. Rep. William Daniel IV stated this, but admitted with a restrictive amendment concerning sports events from the Senate that he didn’t quite know what it did, in terms of pricing some offers, and said he had an amendment to strip the other to simplify matters. Daniel said the bill was really intended to ban free tickets and stripping the amendment would produce clarity.

Rep. Troy Hebert was asked why the bill was needed. Daniel said he didn’t think free tickets influenced anybody, but that author Sen. Jay Dardenne thought the appearance of impropriety was causing image problems for the Legislature. Hebert said appearances were deceiving so there was no need for the bill. Daniel said perhaps the public resented legislators getting free tickets. Hebert said sometimes legislators gave these away to the public.

Daniel said basically the bill said anything the public had to pay for, legislators had to pay for, even if an offer of a gift was made. Rep. Avon Honey wondered whether press passes counted; Daniel said no.

Daniel’s amendment would allow universities to offer these kinds of tickets. Rep. Charlie Lancaster pointed out that universities could lobby under this amendment, but not private sector interests. Rep. Charlie DeWitt called the bill a smokescreen that would do nothing, there was lots of pressing business, and asked for bill postponement. Daniel said he had to object. The motion to postpone passed 51-41.

DID YOU KNOW?
SB 753 by the father of handler Rep. Don Cravins would authorize the state attorney general or local district attorney to issue a cease and desist order after discovering an employer has hired undocumented aliens. This would create procedure to enforce existing federal law. In fact, Cravins had an amendment to take out filing an affidavit by businesses that they had not knowingly hired illegal aliens, to prevent the possibility of federal mail fraud charges being filed, which passed without objection.

As he had in committee, Rep. Steve Scalise proposed an amendment to place sanctions against the illegal workers themselves. Rep. Monica Walker said it shifted the burden of the legislation to the workers rather than employers, changing the intent of the bill, which Scalise disputed. He said laws already covered potential reporting of businesses. Rep. Eric LaFleur suggested leaving in the employer sanction, as did Rep. Kay Katz, who subsequently asked Cravins to temporarily defer the bill to put in an amendment like Scalise’s without removing employer sanctions. But Cravins refused, saying federal safeguards were enough on the illegal employee issue.

Scalise noted the bill as it stood would allow for harassment of some businesses by other businesses or government, and said his amendment would deal with the root of the problem. The amendment failed 28-59. The bill then passed 91-5. (Cravins noted after his father’s bill passed that his father had killed one of his last year at this time, but he did not retaliate this year. Speaker Joe Salter said “you acted wisely.”)

DID YOU KNOW?
Rep. Jalila Jefferson-Bullock got permission for an absence, and an hour later delivered a son. Somebody unannounced won the betting pool for his delivery time and weight.

QUOTES OF THE DAY:
I’m a little confused.
Join the club.
Is a ticket to cockfighting a sporting or cultural event?
I think that would be a gaming event.
An exchange between Daniel and Rep. Don Trahan concerning SB 382.

I wanted to vote no.
Daniel, when a motion to grant him more time to answer SB 382 questions, because of an objection, passed.

I never felt the urge to have a cigarette until now.
Daniel, as the relentless questioning and criticism about SB 382 continued.

I’ve never seen so many bad bills in one day without my name on them.
Rep. Jack Smith.

That’s why they call it “acting.”
Rep. Jim Tucker, when turning over his acting speaker role back to Salter; earlier, a member had told him “you’re mother is watching [the Internet feed] and says you need to straighten your tie.”

Floor action, Jun. 15: SB 18, SB 86

DID YOU KNOW?
SB 18 would set a closed primary system for congressional elections. Handler Rep. Charlie Lancaster noted that under the current blanket primary system Louisiana congressmen got a late start because the U.S. Supreme Court treats the primary election as a general election and thus the general election it classifies as a runoff, occurring after the first Tuesday after the first Monday Constitutional stricture. Lancaster noted two different solutions to this had failed judicial tests, so this was the next logical step.

Rep. John Alario offered amendments to change the way independent voters were treated. The bill was going to allow parties to allow independents to vote in their primaries if they wished; Alario wanted to have them automatically able to choose one party’s nominee unless the party chose to prohibit that. It was adopted by consent.

Rep. Joel Robideaux said he didn’t like the bill even with the amendment “for obvious reasons” (maybe because he is the only independent in the Legislature). He said it would still discriminate against non-affiliated voters (independents) and set a bad precedent. Rep. Peppi Bruneau said it was the “fairest” system., and said getting a late start wasn’t so bad – plus, later elections might attract a disproportionate amount of money from outsiders spent on campaigns. Rep. Billy Chandler argued primaries would have very low turnouts to determine party nominees under the bill.

Lancaster pointed out that anybody can vote for anybody when the general election came around, and that turnouts usually are pretty decent on those days. He reminded that the courts took a lot of discretion out of their hands, so this was what had to be done.

The bill passed 58-35.

DID YOU KNOW?
SB 86 would extend the hours for early voting on the final day (Saturday, a week before the election). An amendment passed without objection which allowed existing employees who were elections commissioners to be employed during the extra four hours, which might actually save money, according to handler Rep. Rick Gallot.

Rep. Kay Katz sprung a surprise amendment, to change election day poll hours from 6 AM to 8 PM to 7 AM to 7 PM, a separate bill she had tried to get passed. She said with more early voting hours this made this money-saving move even more sensible, and would prevent fatigue of commissioners. Rep. Willie Hunter questioned the germaneness of the amendment to the bill, and Speaker Joe Salter said it was not.

The House went right to a vote, and the bill passed 84-13.

Floor action, Jun. 15: SB 673, SB 747

DID YOU KNOW?
SB 673 by Sen. Max Malone would require disclosure of ownership information of any entity that got a public contract of $500,000 or greater. Speaking for it in the House, Rep. Mike Powell argued the bill provided sunshine into who was getting paid taxpayer dollars. After passing a technical amendment, Rep. Eric LaFleur spoke, concerned that there would be some onerous burden placed upon those filing the notarized form, and would be subject to prosecution. Powell said that any false information technically could not be compelled by the law, as only those filing perjured information could be prosecuted under another section of the legal code, as penalties were not provided in this law.

A lockout was requested. The bill failed 39-48, most Republicans voting for it, most Democrats against. (Later, Rep. Billy Montgomery changed his vote from being against to for it.)

DID YOU KNOW?
SB 747 would allow New Orleans to charge more to telephone consumers to fund an emergency operations center until the end of 2009. Rep. Shirley Bowler asked the acting speaker whether the bill represented a fee increase that should originate only from the House. Acting speaker Bryant Hammett ruled it was a local government increase request and thus could come from the Senate. The bill passed 70-25, almost all those opposed being Republicans.

QUOTES OF THE DAY:
In all my years, this is the worst bill I’ve ever laid eyes on.
Rep. John Alario, referring to SB 743 which would regulate lending on the basis of auto titles. His amendment added to it forced its handler to withdraw the bill.

This bill, after being heavily amended, really doesn’t do a whole lot.
Rep. Jack Smith, handling SB 30.

Committee action, Jun. 13: HB 169, HB 1260

DID YOU KNOW?
HB 169 would allow disciplinary actions to be completed in 120 days rather than 60 days. Author Rep. Austin Badon and New Orleans Police Chief Warren Riley said to the Senate Judiciary C Committee that officers actually would admit guilt to criminal activities because they knew the investigations would not be finished in time, and gave examples of where the 60-day limit had prevented discipline. They argued this change was needed in state law in order to change the ingrained culture in New Orleans that encouraged the misuse of trust granted to police officers by some on the force.

But opponents noted that this would affect the entire state and would put more of a burden on officer who may be innocent because it would make the officers wait longer and during that time would place restrictions on their activities such as in earning overtime. Sen. Ann Duplessis said this should be an internal matter rather than changing state law, that the NOPD should become more efficient in its processing. With that, she moved to defer the bill, and it was done so without objection.

DID YOU KNOW?
HB 1260 would impose penalties on students on threaten teachers. Currently, author Rep. Mike Powell said the only penalties occurred when a threat was carried out. The bill also would tighten up the definition of what is teacher assault. The law would empower removal of the student from the classroom of the threatened teacher (if credible evidence of the threat is found) to another school if a reasonable substitute can be found. “We can’t afford to wait to prevent this when we have a warning sign,” Powell said.

Duplessis asked about the “suitable school” exception, wondering how it would work in Orleans Parish’s depleted environment. Powell said it came from present law concerning the actual battering of a teacher, and admitted it may not be possible to relocate that student. Home schooling could be an alternative, Duplessis suggested, and Powell said it the exception may encourage school districts which had not set up alternative schools for problematic students to move forward on that, and Orleans should do that.

A motion was made to report favorably, and was done so without objection.

WEDNESDAY: HB 1382 is scheduled to be heard by the Senate Health and Welfare Committee.

Legislative regular session through Jun. 10

Note: HB 909 has been removed from the list of “good” bills since it redefines illogically what is meant for a legislator to begin a term.

THIS WEEK FOR THE GOOD: HB 109 had amendments concurred with and goes to the governor; HB 604 had rules suspended and reported favorably out of Senate committee; HB 707 had rules suspended and reported favorably out of Senate committee; HB 815 was signed into law; HB 992 with minor amendments was passed by Senate, House rejected them; SB 1 was sent to the secretary of state; SB 18 with minor amendments was reported favorably by House committee; SB 33 was sent to the governor; SB 382 with major amendments was reported favorably by committee; SB 645 with minor amendments passed Senate; SB 647 was declared duplicate of HB 656; SB 746 with minor amendments passed House;

THIS WEEK FOR THE BAD: HB 126 was reported favorably by Senate committee; HB 144 failed passage; HB 1028 with minor amendments passed House; HB 1129 was sent to the governor; SB 513 was reported favorably by House committee; SB 613 was reported favorably by House committee; SB 700 was reported favorably by House committee; SB 747 was reported favorably by House committee;

TUESDAY: HB 1260 is scheduled to be heard by the Senate Judiciary C Committee.

SCORECARD:
(Again, a reminder: some numbers will fluctuate because of similar bills being heard, which may make their numbers higher than the numbers listed as “good” or “bad” introduced. If more than one similar bill makes progress, all will be recorded. However, if any ever become legislation, there should be no duplication; only the fate of one of them would be reflected at the end. Also recall that the number of introduced bills will inch up as substitutes are declared of bills that did get filed before the filing deadline.)

Total House introductions: 1404; total Senate introductions: 755.

Total House good bills: 31; total Senate good bills: 19.

Total House bad bills: 19; total Senate bad bills: 22.

Total House good bills heard in House committee: 46; total Senate good bills heard in Senate committee: 24.

Total House bad bills heard in House committee: 22; total Senate bad bills heard in Senate committee: 22.

Total House good bills passing committee: 16; total Senate good bills passing committee: 15.

Total House bad bills passing committee: 10; total Senate bad bills passing committee: 9.

Total House good bills passing House: 12; total Senate good bills passing Senate: 10.

Total House bad bills passing House: 5; total Senate bad bills passing Senate: 6.

Total House good bills heard in Senate committee: 9; total Senate good bills heard in House committee: 9.

Total House bad bills heard in Senate committee: 4; total Senate bad bills heard in House committee: 5.

Total House good bills passing Senate committee: 8; total Senate good bills passing House committee: 9.

Total House bad bills passing Senate committee: 3; total Senate bad bills passing House committee: 4.

Total House good bills passing Senate: 4; total Senate good bills passing House: 3.

Total House bad bills passing Senate: 1; total Senate bad bills passing House: 0.

Total House good bills going to the governor: 3; total good Senate bills going to the governor: 2.

Total House bad bills going to the governor: 1; total bad Senate bills going to the governor: 0.

Total House good bills signed into law/on ballot: 1; total good Senate bills signed into law/on ballot: 1.

Committee action, Jun. 8: SB 753

SB 753 would authorize the state attorney general or local district attorney to issue a cease and desist order after discovering an employer has hired undocumented aliens. This would create procedure to enforce existing federal law. Rep. Don Cravins, presenting his father’s bill to the House Labor and Industrial Relations Committee, pointed out there would have to be two unknowing violations with no corrective action taken within 10 days, which should not a big burden on employers. He said this legislation followed other states’ and introduced penalties previously absent.

Rep. Steve Scalise pointed out that the bill didn’t provide sanctions against the illegal workers themselves, nor did it provide money or incentives for the state to follow this law. Cravins said the state needed to pursue this as a first step in order to protect those workers, American workers, and legitimate employers.

Sen. Don Cravins appeared, arguing that this bill should not slow down recovery efforts, which Scalise had said might happen given the chilling effect employers doing hurricane reconstruction might feel with passage of the bill. He said it would be a disincentive to illegal immigration.

Rep. Juan LaFonta agreed with Scalise that “knowingly” needed stronger definition to protect honest employers, and offered an amendment to do so. But Rep. Shirley Bowler said LaFonta’s definition might actually achieve the opposite, given her reading of federal law. Supporters argued that the bill’s penalty would kick in only if the order was not followed, not for the actions of the employer, so federal law wouldn’t apply. Bowler then said a definition of “knowingly” then wasn’t necessary. It was put to a vote, and the amendment was defeated 6-4 along racial lines of those present.

Rep. Ronnie Johns also expressed reservations that honest employers could get caught up on the wrong side of the law, and that it allowed government potentially too much discretion in applying the law. Sen. Cravins said the “knowingly” part would be applied only after the issuance of the order, not applied to the original hiring decision, and thought it provided sufficient protection against arbitrary enforcement.

Scalise offered an amendment to shift the burden from employer to illegal employees, deleting employer penalties and requiring officials to inform the federal government to institute deporting actions. LaFonta said it was the employer’s fault, that they “lured” illegal workers here and this harkened back to the same logic that slaveowners used saying they should not be punished. Scalise said the metaphor was inappropriate because illegal aliens came here by choice and thus needed punishment. Cravins said officials had an obligation to report it anyway, and said maybe that could be added to the bill but not removing the penalties. He said it was tantamount to saying the government should allow the flouting of the law. The amendment failed 6-5 on a party-line vote with all Democrats in favor.

Opponents argued the bill was overbroad, which could lead to prosecution of anybody, and didn’t add anything in terms of prosecution to existing law. Given the intrusiveness of the investigation process, it created an enormous burden on employers for even honest, innocent employers, and the bill would encourage more of this for even frivolous reasons. The law would encourage reporting by state and local officials just to stay on the safe side of the law’s requirements, and given their lack of resources they would not conduct an adequate investigation, presuming the need for federal investigation and the launching of an intrusive process for little or no reason.

Rep. Tank Powell pointed out that the law would require costs of time and supplies with implementation of the law for businesses of any size. Further, businesses report each other frivolously to try to harass their competition which this law would encourage, opponents said.

Bowler offered amendments to prevent what she said were two layers of penalties, one at the federal and state level, and to prevent mail fraud charges from being filed as a result of filings concerning the investigations. Sen. Cravins didn’t see the need for the amendment. It failed 7-4, again on party lines with republicans in the minority.

The bill passed 7-4, mostly along party lines.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
It’s scary … we’re definitely making strides in this committee.
LaFonta, noting he and Scalise might actually agree on a bill.

Committee action, Jun. 6: SB 18, SB 411, SB 86, SB 476

DID YOU KNOW?
SB 18 would create closed primaries for federal elections. Author Sen. Cleo Fields argued to the House and Governmental Affairs Committee that this bill would solve the U.S. Supreme Court decision that, given Louisiana’s blanket primary system, forced Louisiana elected members to Congress to be seated later because the general election runoff was having these people elected later than those from all other states.

Rep. Peppi Bruneau asked whether this could force three elections, and the attendant cost, which Fields concurred. Fields also told him that parties could opt to allow no-party affiliates (independents) to participate in their primaries. Bruneau said this might cut a lot of people out of participating in the first stage of the process, and argued that an open primary system ought to be instituted (where independents got to choose a party primary in which to vote). Fields said he couldn’t see the parties “locking them out” as a practical matter.

Bruneau objected to adoption by consent, and came out on the short end of a 6-1 vote.

DID YOU KNOW?
SB 411 would require initiation of a civil action suit against people filing for state or local office contrary to the law; the illegal qualifier would have to pay costs involved. Author Sen. Max Malone noted that four candidates who had committed felonies prior to elapsing of the constitutional 15-year qualification had run in the last round of Shreveport elections. He said this would be an additional tool to discourage this behavior and would take out having third parties having to file such suits.

Rep. Billy Montgomery wondered about the federal vs. state felony distinction. Malone said federal pardons had to be obtained for federal crimes, and state pardons for state crimes, echoing what he said the governor had told him. Bruneau pointed out that the bill was somewhat duplicative, Sec. 495 of the Election Code (Title 18), and preferred the consolidation of such matters there which addressed it which this bill did not. He also said East Baton Rouge Parish always had been used as the venue for such suits for state office, while this bill would allow venues in all sorts of places. Malone said there were extra penalties in his bill for compliance.

Bruneau suggested that the bill could make the Attorney General force local district attorneys to act, with the penalties. Malone agreed, and Bruneau asked for adoption which was consented to without objection. It was reported similarly.

DID YOU KNOW?
SB 86 by Sen. Charles Jones would extend early voting four hours later into Saturday when a holiday was not already within the early voting period. The state’s registrars were concerned that burdens on their offices were slowly being increased by legislation such as this, and wanted the committee to know this. Amended for technicalities, it was reported by consent.

DID YOU KNOW?
SB 476 by Sen. James David Cain would instruct the Secretary of State to distribute documents recognizing America’s religious heritage. Opponents argued that because the bill actually included the language, one particular version of things such as the Ten Commandments, might be exclusionary. The committee then embarked on postulating amendments that made editorial changes to the texts of these documents. Yes, it did get reported with these amendments without objection.

WEDNESDAY: HB 604 and HB 669 are scheduled to be heard in the Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee.

QUOTES OF THE DAY:
We agreed on seven of them … that’s better than we usually do.
Bruneau, as the SB 476 debate started to get silly.

We aren’t adding any Commandments, are we?
Montgomery, as it got sillier.

Will we amend it to say “Thou shalt not bloviate?”
Rep. Rick Gallot as the debate became truly silly, referring to a remark Bruneau had made earlier in the week.

Legislative regular session through Jun. 3

THIS WEEK FOR THE GOOD: HB 109 with minor amendments passed Senate; HB 760 was sent to the governor; HB 992 with minor amendments passed Senate; SB 1 with minor amendments passed House and was sent to the governor; SB 33 with minor amendments passed House;

THIS WEEK FOR THE BAD: HB 126 passed House; HB 1129 with minor amendments passed Senate; SB 700 passed Senate;

MONDAY: SB 513 is scheduled to be heard by the House Appropriations Committee; SB 747 is scheduled to be heard by the House Commerce Committee; HB 1032 is scheduled to be heard by the House Transportation, Highways, and Public Works Committee; HB 642 and HB 656 are scheduled to be heard by the House Ways and Means Committee.

SCORECARD:
(Again, a reminder: some numbers will fluctuate because of similar bills being heard, which may make their numbers higher than the numbers listed as “good” or “bad” introduced. If more than one similar bill makes progress, all will be recorded. However, if any ever become legislation, there should be no duplication; only the fate of one of them would be reflected at the end. Also recall that the number of introduced bills will inch up as substitutes are declared of bills that did get filed before the filing deadline.)

Total House introductions: 1399; total Senate introductions: 754.

Total House good bills: 32; total Senate good bills: 19.

Total House bad bills: 19; total Senate bad bills: 22.

Total House good bills heard in House committee: 47; total Senate good bills heard in Senate committee: 23.

Total House bad bills heard in House committee: 21; total Senate bad bills heard in Senate committee: 22.

Total House good bills passing committee: 17; total Senate good bills passing committee: 14.

Total House bad bills passing committee: 10; total Senate bad bills passing committee: 9.

Total House good bills passing House: 12; total Senate good bills passing Senate: 8.

Total House bad bills passing House: 4; total Senate bad bills passing Senate: 6.

Total House good bills heard in Senate committee: 9; total Senate good bills heard in House committee: 7.

Total House bad bills heard in Senate committee: 3; total Senate bad bills heard in House committee: 1.

Total House good bills passing Senate committee: 7; total Senate good bills passing House committee: 6.

Total House bad bills passing Senate committee: 2; total Senate bad bills passing House committee: 0.

Total House good bills passing Senate: 4; total Senate good bills passing House: 2.

Total House bad bills passing Senate: 1; total Senate bad bills passing House: 0.

Total House good bills going to the governor: 2; total good Senate bills going to the governor: 1.

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