18 July 2009

Legislative regular session wrap-up and rankings: Gov., 2009

And now, the final disposition of bills from the 2009 regular session of the Louisiana Legislature, as well as Gov. Bobby Jindal’s legislative scorecard.

THIS MONTH FOR THE GOOD: HB 148 was signed by the governor; HB 765 was filed with the Secretary of State; HB 902 was signed by the governor; SB 2 was signed by the governor; SB 195 was signed by the governor; SB 223 was signed by the governor; SB 267 was signed by the governor.

THIS MONTH FOR THE BAD: HB 179 was signed by the governor; HB 458 was signed by the governor; HB 538 was signed by the governor; HB 591 became law without the signature of the governor; HB 612 was signed by the governor; HB 855 was signed by the governor; HB 898 was signed by the governor; SB 43 was signed by the governor; SB 245 was vetoed by the governor; SB 256 was signed by the governor; SB 259 was signed by the governor; SB 277 was signed by the governor.

SCORECARD:
Total number of bills, House: 904; total number of bills, Senate: 351.

Total number of good bills, House: 34; total number of good bills, Senate: 18.

Total number of bad bills, House: 45; total number of bad bills, Senate: 20.

Total House good bills heard in House committee: 29; total Senate good bills heard in Senate committee: 12.

Total House bad bills heard in House committee: 39; total Senate bad bills heard in Senate committee: 14.

Total House good bills passed by House committee: 12; total Senate good bills passed by Senate committee: 9.

Total House bad bills passed by House committee: 14; total Senate bad bills passed by Senate committee: 8.

Total House good bills approved by House: 9; total Senate good bills approved by Senate: 8.

Total House bad bills approved by House: 10; total Senate bad bills approved by Senate: 8.

Total House good bills heard in Senate committee: 8; total Senate good bills heard in House committee: 8.

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

Total House good bills approved by Senate committee: 8; total Senate good bills approved by House committee: 7

Total House bad bills approved by Senate committee: 9; total Senate bad bills approved by House committee: 7

Total House good bills approved by Senate: 5; total Senate good bills approved by House: 7.

Total House bad bills approved by Senate: 8; total Senate bad bills approved by House: 6.

Total House good bills going to governor: 4; total Senate good bills going to governor: 4.

Total House bad bills going to governor: 7; total Senate bad bills going to governor: 6.

Total House good bills signed by governor/filed with Secretary of State: 4; total Senate good bills signed by governor/filed with Secretary of State: 4.

Total House bad bills signed by governor/filed with Secretary of State: 7; total Senate bad bills signed by governor/filed with Secretary of State: 5.

Jindal will be rated using on the one bill that was used in the House and Senate rankings that passed both bodies in identical form. Several others were chosen from among the other good and bad, with the following weighings:

HB 591 (10 percent) – relaxes lobbyist rules to allow groups of at least 10 legislators to get more food and drink paid for at certain events; a conservative/reform action is to veto

HB 612 (15 percent) – lowers graduation standards for some students; a conservative/reform action is to veto.

HB 898 (10 percent) – continues without end corporate welfare for the film industry; a conservative/reform action is to veto.

SB 2 (25 percent) – permits greater flexibility in budgetary deficit situations; a conservative/reform action is to allow it to become law.

SB 195 – (15 percent) – requires appointees to offices to report campaign contributions given to those who appointed them of $1,000 or greater; a conservative/reform action is to allow it to become law.

SB 223 (15 percent) – gives greater latitude for schools to remove disruptive students and notification of parents of that behavior; a conservative/reform action is to allow it to become law.

SB 267 (10 percent) – provides greater ability to transfer money among funds in a budgetary deficit situation; a conservative/reform action is to allow it to become law.

Jindal signed or allowed to become law without his signature all of these bills, thus he scored a 65, slightly more conservative/reformist than the House and much more than the Senate. It must be noted that because of the very different scales, however, these scores are not directly comparable.

Until next time, probably the next regular session, the Log signs off.

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