Drew White
A bill that would establish requirements for state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority Board members, which may have sparked the fistfight between two legislators last week, failed 65-18 in a House vote Friday.
Gov. John Bel Edwards and Rep. Stuart Bishop, R-Lafayette, said an argument surrounding the bill led to a physical altercation between Bishop and Sen. Norby Chabert, R-Houma, at a Baton Rouge bar last Tuesday night.
Chabert said the incident did not concern a specific bill, but rather dealt with ongoing arguments on coastal issues between the two legislators. Chabert serves as chairman of the Senate Natural Resources Committee, and Bishop is the chairman for the House Natural Resources and Environment Committee.
A proposed bill authored by Chabert would have altered the makeup of the coastal-protection board. The Senate unanimously approved the bill earlier this month.
Read the story in Houma Today.
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