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:
HB 358 –
expands use of therapeutic marijuana but also increases chances of abuse; a
vote against connotes a conservative/reform preference (10 percent)
HB 425 –
would amend the Constitution to ensure the right to an abortion or funding it
doesn’t exist; a vote for connotes a conservative/reform preference (5 percent)
HB 484 –
strengthens requirements of facilities that perform abortions; a vote for
connotes a conservative/reform preference (5 percent)
HB 503 – would
have made it easier for ex-convicts to obtain occupational licenses; a vote for
connotes a conservative/reform preference (10 percent)
SB 27 –
sets in motion unneeded increases in judicial salaries; a vote against connotes
a conservative/reform preference (10 percent)
SB 173 –
sets up a framework to regulate health care coverage if federal standards are
declared unconstitutional; a vote for connotes a conservative/reform preference
(15 percent)
SB 184 –
prohibits abortion if a fetal heartbeat can be detected if federal jurisprudence
permits; a vote for connotes a conservative/reform preference (5 percent)
SB 221 –
increase information available to women contemplating abortion; a vote for
connotes a conservative/reform preference (5 percent)
SB 229 –
would facilitate the fiscal transition if the city of St. George is created; a
vote for connotes a conservative/reform preference (10 percent)
The
following had only House votes:
HB 599 –
would have eliminated the remainder of the 2016 sales tax increase; a vote for
connotes a conservative/reform preference (20 percent)
The
following only had Senate votes:
SB 112 –
would have abolished the death penalty; a vote against connotes a conservative/reform
preference (20 percent)
This year
posed real difficulty in finding meaningful recorded votes. With the Senate’s
assistance, Democrat Gov. John Bel Edwards managed to avoid having the chamber
send him controversial House-passed bills that he opposed. Thus, a quarter of
the weighing ended up on abortion-related votes and most issues didn’t generate
much voting controversy.
Another
excellent example demonstrating how the scorecard gives a comprehensive, but not
complete, picture of a policy-maker’s voting given its dependency on measures
that actually come to a vote comes with Democrat state Sen. John Milkovich. He
scored the most conservative – perfectly, in fact – in the Senate. Yet his past
history shows a fairly liberal voting record when it comes to taxing and spending,
but with the Senate’s scorecard comprised mostly of social issues where he has
voted consistently in a conservative/reform direction, no such votes were
captured because of the same dynamic that limited Edwards’ exposure as overall
liberal.
Still,
voting records created some meaningful distinctions, as indicated below:
Horton
|
100
|
Republican
|
McFarland
|
95
|
Republican
|
Miguez
|
95
|
Republican
|
Amedee
|
90
|
Republican
|
Bacala
|
90
|
Republican
|
DeVillier
|
90
|
Republican
|
Edmonds
|
90
|
Republican
|
Emerson
|
90
|
Republican
|
Falconer
|
90
|
Republican
|
Hoffman
|
90
|
Republican
|
Hollis
|
90
|
Republican
|
Landry, N
|
90
|
Republican
|
Magee
|
90
|
Republican
|
Morris, Jay
|
90
|
Republican
|
Morris, Jim
|
90
|
Independent
|
Pearson
|
90
|
Republican
|
Pylant
|
90
|
Republican
|
Stefanski
|
90
|
Republican
|
Borriaque
|
88
|
Republican
|
Garafalo
|
85
|
Republican
|
Abraham
|
80
|
Republican
|
Adams
|
80
|
Independent
|
Bagley
|
80
|
Republican
|
Barras
|
80
|
Republican
|
Berthelot
|
80
|
Republican
|
Billiot
|
80
|
Democrat
|
Bishop, S
|
80
|
Republican
|
Brown, T
|
80
|
Independent
|
Carmody
|
80
|
Republican
|
Carter, S
|
80
|
Republican
|
Coussan
|
80
|
Republican
|
Crews
|
80
|
Republican
|
Dwight
|
80
|
Republican
|
Foil
|
80
|
Republican
|
Harris, L
|
80
|
Republican
|
Hilferty
|
80
|
Republican
|
Hill
|
80
|
Democrat
|
Hodges
|
80
|
Republican
|
Huval
|
80
|
Republican
|
Johnson, M
|
80
|
Republican
|
Mack
|
80
|
Republican
|
Miller, G
|
80
|
Republican
|
Moss
|
80
|
Republican
|
Muscarello
|
80
|
Republican
|
Pope
|
80
|
Republican
|
Schexnayder
|
80
|
Republican
|
Stagni
|
80
|
Republican
|
Talbot
|
80
|
Republican
|
Turner
|
80
|
Republican
|
Wright
|
80
|
Republican
|
Zeringue
|
80
|
Republican
|
Marino
|
78
|
Independent
|
Henry
|
75
|
Republican
|
McMahen
|
75
|
Republican
|
Stokes
|
75
|
Republican
|
Thomas
|
75
|
Republican
|
Armes
|
70
|
Democrat
|
Chaney
|
70
|
Republican
|
Davis
|
70
|
Republican
|
Guinn
|
70
|
Republican
|
Johnson, R
|
70
|
Democrat
|
LeBas
|
70
|
Democrat
|
Moore
|
70
|
Democrat
|
Pugh
|
70
|
Republican
|
Seabaugh
|
70
|
Republican
|
Connick
|
68
|
Republican
|
Anders
|
65
|
Democrat
|
Howard
|
65
|
Republican
|
Ivey
|
65
|
Republican
|
Jones
|
65
|
Democrat
|
White, M
|
65
|
Democrat
|
Richard
|
63
|
Independent
|
Simon
|
61
|
Republican
|
DuBuisson
|
60
|
Republican
|
Jackson
|
60
|
Democrat
|
Abramson
|
55
|
Democrat
|
Cox
|
55
|
Democrat
|
Leger
|
55
|
Democrat
|
Leopold
|
55
|
Republican
|
Brown, C
|
50
|
Democrat
|
Gisclair
|
50
|
Democrat
|
Jordan
|
45
|
Democrat
|
Lavardain
|
45
|
Democrat
|
LaCombe
|
45
|
Democrat
|
Gaines
|
40
|
Democrat
|
Miller, D
|
40
|
Democrat
|
Carter, G
|
35
|
Democrat
|
Franklin
|
35
|
Democrat
|
Jefferson
|
35
|
Democrat
|
Jenkins
|
35
|
Democrat
|
Landry, T
|
35
|
Democrat
|
Lyons
|
35
|
Democrat
|
Pierre
|
35
|
Democrat
|
Brass
|
30
|
Democrat
|
Bagneris
|
25
|
Democrat
|
Carter, R
|
25
|
Democrat
|
Glover
|
25
|
Democrat
|
Norton
|
25
|
Democrat
|
Carpenter
|
20
|
Democrat
|
Harris, J
|
20
|
Democrat
|
Bouie
|
15
|
Democrat
|
Duplessis
|
10
|
Democrat
|
James
|
10
|
Democrat
|
Marcelle
|
10
|
Democrat
|
Smith
|
10
|
Democrat
|
The top
50 most conservative House members had 46 Republicans among them and two independents
(one a former GOP member). The lowest Republican scored 55, giving the House
caucus and average of 80.44, slightly higher than last year’s all-time high.
Democrats held down the lowest 26 scores, averaging 42.18, somewhat higher than
last year. Together, these increases caused the chamber as a whole to register
its highest score ever of 66.12, well above the lifetime 54.51 and giving its
term a score of 59.14. The partisan gap for the term was about 35.
Milkovich
|
100
|
Democrat
|
Appel
|
90
|
Republican
|
Fannin
|
90
|
Republican
|
Long
|
90
|
Republican
|
Thompson
|
90
|
Democrat
|
White, B
|
90
|
Republican
|
Allain
|
80
|
Republican
|
Chabert
|
80
|
Republican
|
Lambert
|
80
|
Republican
|
Walsworth
|
80
|
Republican
|
Martiny
|
75
|
Republican
|
Mizell
|
74
|
Republican
|
Alario
|
70
|
Republican
|
Donahue
|
70
|
Republican
|
Erdey
|
70
|
Republican
|
Hensgens
|
70
|
Republican
|
Hewitt
|
70
|
Republican
|
Johns
|
70
|
Republican
|
Peacock
|
70
|
Republican
|
Riser
|
70
|
Republican
|
Tarver
|
70
|
Democrat
|
Smith, G
|
65
|
Democrat
|
Smith, J
|
61
|
Republican
|
Claitor
|
60
|
Republican
|
Gatti
|
60
|
Republican
|
Ward
|
55
|
Republican
|
Barrow
|
50
|
Democrat
|
Cortez
|
50
|
Republican
|
Morrish
|
50
|
Republican
|
Boudreaux
|
40
|
Democrat
|
Mills
|
40
|
Republican
|
Price
|
40
|
Democrat
|
Peterson
|
35
|
Democrat
|
Colomb
|
25
|
Democrat
|
Luneau
|
25
|
Democrat
|
Bishop, W
|
20
|
Democrat
|
LaFleur
|
20
|
Democrat
|
Carter, T
|
17
|
Democrat
|
Morrell
|
15
|
Democrat
|
In the Senate,
only six Republicans scored below 70 while just three Democrats scored that or
better. Another way of viewing that is only four Democrats went higher than 50
while just a single Republican, state Sen. Fred Mills, came in below 50. Senate
Republicans as a whole registered a 70.59, a bit lower than last year’s
historic high to give them a four-year mean of about 63. Democrats (with a few
whites seeking reelection or wanting to move on to another office) posted their
highest number of the term, 43.69 to finish it as a whole at 38.21, creating a
partisan gap for the term of nearly 25.
The
essentially insignificant chamber gap of last year broadened to the House being
over 5 points higher, leaving a chamber gap for the term in that vicinity. Finally,
Edwards scored his highest since his first year, at 57. This gave him a barely
left-of-center score for the term of 49.25.
That
closes the 2019 edition of the Louisiana Legislature Log. See you next time.
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