LSU Manship School Statehouse Bureau

(Photo Credit: Cam427r/CC BY SA 3.0/MGN)

Published: October 10, 2019

By: Hailey Auglair, Evan Saacks, Maria Marsh and Liz Garner, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE—Concerned that Republicans could be close to reaching a super-majority in each chamber of the Louisiana Legislature, Democrats are making their strongest efforts to flip Republican seats in suburban districts.

The Democrats are targeting these districts because President Donald Trump carried most of them by smaller vote margins in the 2016 election than he won by in more rural areas.

Democrats are running for 27 of 86 state House or Senate seats now held by Republicans. Sixteen of those 27 districts are in Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Shreveport and Lafayette or their suburban areas.

“Suddenly we’re realizing that these suburban areas outside of these big urban areas are becoming more and more Democrat, and those used to be Republican enclaves,” LSU Mass Communication professor and political historian Robert Mann said. “If it were a bluer state, you wouldn’t have to work as hard to find those voters.”

If you’re looking for Democratic voters, Mann said, “You’ve got to work harder and find little pockets. That’s why knowing that they’re more likely to be in urban and suburban areas allows you to target your efforts and not waste as much money.”

In other parts of the country, the Democrats tapped into increased support in suburban districts to win enough U.S. House seats in 2018 to take control of that chamber.

A supermajority in each chamber in Baton Rouge would mean that the Republicans held at least two-thirds of the seats.

Getting there, however, would require them to unseat some incumbents – a rare accomplishment in Louisiana elections – and hold onto most of the seats they already have.

The Democrats also are having success in fundraising in a few, but not all, of the key Louisiana districts this fall.

Democrats’ strongest efforts are in districts like the 16th Senate District, the 70th House District in East Baton Rouge Parish and the 94th House District in Orleans and Jefferson parishes. The Democrats in these three races have raised about $268,000 collectively – enough to force Republicans to take them seriously.

The campaign-donation totals in this article come from the candidates’ state filings on Oct. 2. Candidates are still raising money as Saturday’s primary election nears.

Democrat Beverly Brooks Thompson is running for the open seat in the 16th Senate District against three Republicans and one Libertarian. She has raised more than $100,000 for the effort. While the amount does not match what either of her two most prominent Republican opponents, Reps. Steve Carter and Franklin Foil, have raised, it easily puts her at the top of the list of all Democrats running in Republican Senate districts this year.

Read more at KALB.com.

Published: October 9, 2019

By: Ben Baumgardner, Catherine Hunt, Lara Nicholson and Katie Peppo, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE—While the gubernatorial campaign has been the center of attention, several legislative races in Louisiana are gaining momentum as the October 12 primary approaches.

Republicans are within striking distance of a supermajority – holding at least two-thirds of the seats — in each chamber of the state Legislature. Getting there, however, could require beating incumbents, a rare accomplishment in Louisiana elections.

Incumbent legislators have won over 90% of their elections during the past two decades, according to LSU Public Policy Research Lab Director Dr. Michael Henderson. Typically, incumbents leave office only when they reach their term limit or choose to resign.

On the other hand, legislative elections are increasingly decided on a partisan basis. Republicans now hold seats in 85 of the 101 Louisiana House and Senate districts that President Donald Trump carried in 2016, while Democrats hold 41of the 43 House and Senate districts that Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton carried.

Republicans are challenging four of the six Democratic or independent incumbents in districts Trump carried. By contrast, Republicans are challenging only three of the 26 incumbent Democrats in districts Clinton carried.

So the races in which Republicans are challenging Democratic incumbents pit partisanship versus incumbency in what promise to be interesting tests of which means more to voters now.

Not surprisingly, then, the incumbents in these races are downplaying their party affiliations.

In Trump-friendly northwest Louisiana, incumbent Sen. John Milkovich, D-Shreveport, faces a strong Republican challenge in Senate District 38 from businessman Barry Milligan.

“Politicians, PACs and special interests are spending thousands of dollars against us because I am independent,” said Milkovich, one of the most conservative Democrats in the Legislature. “I didn’t take orders from them, and I didn’t ask permission from them on how to vote.”

Read more at Bossier Press-Tribune.

(Photo Credit: Aurianna Cordero/Louisiana State University)

Published: September 20, 2019

By: Raymond Constantino and Katherine Manuel, The Reveille

BATON ROUGE—Three candidates for governor clashed over taxes and Medicaid in their first debate Thursday night but largely agreed on abortion restrictions, gun policies, the dangers of e-cigarettes and the value of the TOPS scholarship program.

The debate, which took place at LSU, featured Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards and his Republican opponents, businessman Eddie Rispone and U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham.

One of the most contentious sequences centered on Louisiana’s shift from a budget deficit to a budget surplus since Edwards was elected in 2015 and whether the candidates would now cut taxes.

Edwards pointed to the state’s investment in education, including a recent pay raise for K-12 teachers and an end to the cuts in college budgets that were common under his predecessor, Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal.

“What we don’t want to do is go back to cutting higher education,” Edwards said.

Abraham said he would “absolutely” cut taxes if he wins because Louisiana has one of the highest sales tax rates in the country. Rispone also said he would cut taxes because he believes Louisiana has a spending problem.

Candidates were then asked if they would support allowing local governments to decide whether to give tax breaks to corporations to create jobs.

Edwards noted that smaller municipalities within the state needed seats at the table. Abraham attacked Edwards, claiming his policies caused small companies to leave Louisiana.

Polls show that Edwards, the only Democratic governor in the Deep South, is leading the race, while Abraham and Rispone are competing to get in a runoff with him. Rispone recently attacked Abraham in television ads. But during the debate, both focused on their differences with Edwards rather than with one other.

Read more at the Bossier Press-Tribune.

Published: June 7, 2019

By: Tryfon Boukouvidis, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE — The Louisiana House on Thursday unanimously approved the $30 billion state operating budget for next year, which aligned with Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards’ agenda for $1,000 teacher and $500 support staff pay raises and a contested $39 million block grant for public school districts.

The Legislature’s budget deal also included boosts to higher education spending and early childhood education after years of standstill funding and cuts to these agencies and programs. It was the first significant statewide pay raise for teachers in a decade.

The budget will take effect on July 1, 2019.

This legislative session, which ended on Thursday, marked a sharp contrast with previous sessions that ignited partisan disagreements over deep cuts across state agencies as lawmakers were trying to address recurring budget crises.

The partisan dispute ended last year when the governor and Republican House leaders settled on a compromise to extend the state sales tax by .45 of a cent until 2025 to stabilize the budget.

This year, legislators used part of the revenue brought by the sales tax extension to increase funding across state agencies, including the teacher pay raises.

The 2019-2020 budget includes full funding for the popular TOPS scholarships and an extra $20 million for early childhood education, as well as boosts for higher education and the Department of Corrections.

The biggest budget contention was between the governor and House Republican leaders, spurred by House Appropriations Committee chairman Rep. Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, around the teacher pay raises and across-the-board funding for school districts.

House Republican leaders had sent a budget proposal to the Senate which included $1,200 pay raises for teachers and $600 raises for support workers, but not the $39 million block grant to school districts that the governor and the state’s education board sought.

But GOP lawmakers in the House Education Committee last week concurred with the governor’s pay raise rates and the inclusion of the block grant in next year’s budget.

In the Senate budget debate last week, Sen. Karen Carter Peterson, D-New Orleans, objected to the budget. She said the budget was immoral because it did not include funding to support women and children, who would be affected by the state’s ‘fetal heartbeat’ six-week abortion ban passed earlier that week.

Read more at Bossier Press-Tribune.

Published: June 7, 2019

By: Lauren Heffker, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE—House and Senate lawmakers on Thursday passed legislation that would require elected officials and public employees involved in sexual harassment suits to pay all or a portion of the legal fees, instead of using taxpayer dollars.

Gov. John Bel Edwards is also expected to sign a bill that would expand the legal protection of law enforcement officers who have received verbal or written threats.

These proposals were backed by legislators from both sides of the aisle.

Sponsored by Sen. Sharon Hewitt, R-Slidell, the sexual harassment bill is an effort to hold public officials and employees accountable while also reducing the amount of public money spent on the settlement of these suits.

Lawsuits involving sexual harassment have cost Louisiana taxpayers $5 million since 2009, according to a 2018 legislative audit.

“I brought this bill so that those who that are guilty of sexual harassment would have some skin in the game and be financially accountable for their actions,” Hewitt said.

The proposal would make claims against public employees, and the settlements, public record. Under Hewitt’s bill, the victim’s name would not be included in the public records. Employees making false sexual harassment accusations, however, could face disciplinary measures.

The sexual harassment bill now heads to the governor’s desk for final review.

Louisiana legislators already passed a series of laws last year to curb sexual harassment in the state in light of the national #MeToo movement.

One high profile case involved the state’s chief election officer.

In 2018, the state paid almost $184,000 in the sexual harassment lawsuit against former Secretary of State Tom Schedler.

Schedler, who held the office since 2010, resigned in May 2018 after he was accused of sexual harassment by one of his female employees.

Read more at Bossier Press-Tribune.

(Photo credit: 4WWL)

Published: June 6, 2019

By: Hunter Lovell, LSU Manship News Service

BATON ROUGE — It appears Louisiana sports enthusiasts will have to wait at least two more years for fantasy sports betting after an unexpected turn of events in the final minutes of the 2019 legislative session.

The Senate failed to pass a tax bill for fantasy sports betting after Sen. Danny Martiny, R-Metairie, ran out the clock at the podium out of anger that his bid to also allow betting on real sports had failed. The session had to end by 6 p.m. Thursday.

Martiny voiced his disagreement with House members who stripped the bill’s amendments, which included real sports betting. His main opponents were Rep. Kirk Talbot, R-River Ridge, and Rep. Cameron Henry, R-Metairie.

“I don’t think this is the way you do business,” Martiny said. “I don’t like the way that I was treated. I would feel the same way if any of my colleagues were treated this way.”

Martiny’s push for real sports betting was always seen as a longshot given opposition from religious and conservative family groups from the north and central parts of Louisiana.

But by filibustering the fantasy sports bill, he ended up denying the state the revenue it would have gained over the next two years from taxes on fantasy sports betting. His actions also ran counter to what the voters in 47 of the 64 parishes wanted in voting last fall to approve fantasy sports betting.

“Very, very disappointing,” said Ryan Berni, spokesman for Fairness for Fantasy Sports Louisiana, a political action committee financed by the two largest daily fantasy sports providers. “I’m especially sad for the voters of the state who voted for this. The Legislature did not uphold the will of the voters.”

Just before this final bit of drama, the Senate had approved the regulatory framework for fantasy sports betting after Senate President John Alario, R-Westwego, decided the bill did not need a two-thirds majority vote for passage.

Fantasy sports games allow sports fans to construct virtual teams of real athletes from professional sports on mobile phones or computer desktops. These teams then compete in head-to-head matchups, and fans can win cash rewards based off actual player performance.

The fantasy sports legislation bills, sponsored by Talbot, will have to wait until the 2021 legislative session because the Legislature can only take up tax measures in odd-numbered years.

“They’re both linked to each other,” Talbot told the Associated Press. “We will not have fantasy sports for two years.”

Read more at 4WWL-TV.

Published: June 5, 2019

By: Lauren Heffker and Tryfon Boukouvidis, LSU Manship News Service

BATON ROUGE—The Louisiana Senate voted 37-0 Wednesday to tighten hazing laws since incidents keep occurring on college campuses even though lawmakers took several steps to crack down on the problems last year.

Sponsored by Rep. Nancy Landry, R-Lafayette, the bill approved by the Senate would penalize universities and student organizations that fail to immediately report hazing incidents to law enforcement, and it would allow campus police to investigate off-campus hazing incidents.

The Legislature elevated hazing from a misdemeanor to a felony last year after LSU freshman Maxwell Gruver died of alcohol poisoning at a fraternity pledge event.

Since then, LSU has suspended other fraternities over hazing allegations. The Delta Kappa Epsilon chapter there was closed by its national chapter in January after a hazing investigation.

The bill passed by the Senate would repeal a law that allows student organizations and universities 14 days to investigate hazing allegations before calling the police.

Landry’s bill, which now goes back to the House to reconcile smaller changes, also would require student organizations to adopt no-hazing policies.

Under the bill, the Board of Regents would have to make information on hazing incidents available to the public so parents and students can determine which fraternities or sororities they might want to avoid, and university officials would have to document in writing their responses to hazing complaints.

Walter Kimbrough, the president of Dillard University in New Orleans, urged Landry on Twitter before the Senate vote not to rush the anti-hazing legislation without input from campus leaders, student affairs professionals, and hazing experts.

“We were not consulted with the last legislation and as we all know, it didn’t work,” Kimbrough, who is considered an expert on hazing issues, tweeted.

Sen. Dan Claitor, R-Baton Rouge, who presented Landry’s bill on the Senate floor Wednesday, said it would provide “proper tightening of this law based on our experience.”

“When we did the hazing criminal statute rewrite, we gave some of the organizations essentially a whole lot of time to get their story straight, and it’s worked to the disadvantage of the district attorney’s office and the others investigating this matter,” Claitor said.

Read more at KALB.com.

(Photo credit: FOX 8 News)

Published: June 5, 2019

By: Hunter Lovell, LSU Manship News Service

BATON ROUGE—House and Senate lawmakers passed several abortion bills Wednesday (June 5), less than a week after Louisiana’s governor signed the strict ‘fetal heartbeat’ ban into law.

This legislative session lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have proposed and lobbied anti-abortion laws.

Both chambers approved the bid for a constitutional amendment, which was sponsored by Rep. Katrina Jackson, D-Baton Rouge. This measure would potentially amend Louisiana’s constitution to say that it does not protect the legal right to have an abortion or to secure public funding for the procedure.

The House voted 79-20 on the measure, sending it to the Senate which approved it with a 33-5 vote.

(Photo credit: Vitezslav Valka)

Published: June 5, 2019

By: Hunter Lovell, LSU Manship News Service

BATON ROUGE—The Louisiana House today voted 82-0 to allow medical marijuana patients to inhale cannabis, sending the bill to the governor’s desk for final approval.

The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Ted James, D-Baton Rouge, does not allow smoking, but patients can inhale medical marijuana through a device similar to an asthma inhaler.

Present law permits patients to consume medical marijuana through edibles, oils and extracts.

The bill initially stalled in the Senate as lawmakers sought to expand the number of licenses to prescribe medical cannabis, but legislators revived the measure after including “metered-dose inhaler” in the definition of acceptable devices.

James also added an amendment to allow doctors who live outside the state to suggest therapeutic medical marijuana treatment. The current law only permits in-state physicians to recommend medical cannabis usage.

In order to legally receive medical marijuana, patients must have “debilitating medical conditions,” such as cancer, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, intractable pain and/or HIV.

No medical cannabis has been delivered to patients yet because of an ongoing feud between the state’s agriculture commissioner, Mike Strain, and the LSU AgCenter over a dispute about growing methods. Therapeutic marijuana is expected to be available later this year.

Other efforts to update the state’s cannabis laws were successfully passed during this legislative session.

House lawmakers on Monday unanimously supported a bill to legalize industrial hemp and allow the growth and sale of certain CBD products in Louisiana.

The proposal, sponsored by Rep. Clay Schexnayder, R-Gonzales, was sent to the governor’s desk for review and approval. Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat running for re-election in the fall, has said he is supportive of hemp regulation in Louisiana.

The Senate’s Agricultural Committee added a number of amendments to Schexnayder’s bill before the Senate approved the proposal in a 34-2 vote.

Hemp and marijuana come from the same plant species, but hemp contains nearly no TCH or psychoactive properties. Hemp is the fiber of the cannabis plant, and is a multi-use material that can be used to make rope, fabric and paper products.

Read more at NOLA.com

Published: June 4, 2019

By: Hunter Lovell, LSU Manship News Service

BATON ROUGE—The Senate on Tuesday approved a 15.5-percent tax on online fantasy sports betting along with an amendment that represented a last-ditch effort to keep the possibility of betting on real sports alive.

The bill now goes back to the House, which supports the tax on fantasy sports betting but has opposed gambling on real football, basketball and baseball games.

The Senate vote came after an angry fight between two Republican lawmakers from Metairie — Sen. Danny Martiny, who has pushed to legalize real sports betting, and Rep. Cameron Henry, the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, who bottled up Martiny’s bill in his committee.

Henry went so far as to duck out of committee meetings at key moments to block any reconsideration of Martiny’s proposal.

Martiny, whose tenure in the Senate ends Thursday due to term limits, was furious that Henry went to such lengths to head him off.

“This is the last bill that I will ever handle in the legislature,” Martiny said in an interview. “I’m not going to go down without a fight.”

The House and the Senate have both approved the 15.5 percent tax on fantasy sports. But given Henry’s opposition to legalizing betting on real sports, the House could still strip that amendment from what the Senate approved Tuesday, leaving it up to a House-Senate conference committee to decide the fate of both parts of the bill.

Last November, voters in 47 of the state’s 64 parishes approved wagering on fantasy sports matchups, leaving it to the Legislature to create a tax and regulatory framework.

It was clear after voters approved fantasy sports wagering in so many parishes last fall that Martiny and others would try to use that momentum to win that approval for legalizing betting on real sports as well.

Read more at WBRZ.com