Legislative regular session wrapup and rankings: Senators and Governor, 2008
This week, the final report until the next session, will be presented the scorecard for Senate members and governor for the 2008 session. Senators will be graded on their votes on 10 bills, seven of which passed both chambers. The highest score of 100 represents a perfect conservative/reform voting record, while the lowest score of 0 represents a perfect liberal/populist voting record. The 10 bills and their weighings are:
HB 939 – gives a raise from $45,000 to $75,000 to Public Service Commissioners; a conservative/reform vote is against (10 percent)
HB 1122 – extends the period of early voting; a conservative/reform vote is for (5 percent)
HB 1198 – makes the state able to judge and punish campaigns for “false” information; a conservative/reform vote is against (10 percent)
HB 1347 – sets up a scholarship program for vouchers to be used by students in New Orleans for any public or private school; a conservative/reform vote is for (15 percent)
SB 51 – permits storage of a gun in vehicles on commercial property; a conservative/reform vote is for (10 percent)
SB 672 – raises legislators’ base annual salaries from $16,800 to $37,500 and indexes them; a conservative/reform vote is against (20 percent)
SB 807 – makes it easier for franchising for cable television thus stimulating competition and reducing pricing; a conservative/reform vote is for (10 percent)
SB 61 – forces insurers to provide homeowner’s insurance to members of the military for which they provide vehicle insurance; a conservative/reform vote is against (5 percent)
SB 134 – allows certain classified employees to engage in political advocacy; a conservative/reform vote is against (5 percent)
SB 653 – increases money to senators for staffing and for legislative aides; a conservative/reform vote is against (10 percent)
(Last votes for passage were used. Since an absence is treated the same as a “nay” vote, unless a legislator requested a day of leave any votes for which he was absent was counted as such. For those who did request leave, their scores are adjusted by the votes they missed.)
Below is listed the rank and scores in descending order of senators, with their party affiliations. The Senate was notable for producing some stunning turnarounds in voting behavior by some veterans. Sen.
John Smith went from being one of the lowest scorers in the House last year to one of the highest in the Senate. Not quite as dramatic but still significant were the swings from liberalism/populism to conservatism/reformism by Sens.
John Alario and
Nick Gautreaux (perhaps as the latter became a Gov.
Bobby Jindal floor leader). By contrast among Republicans, Sen.
Mike Michot (also a Jindal floor leader) dropped from a high scorer to below the Senate average, while Sen.
Sherri Smith Cheek added almost as many points as Michot lost.
This lead to some unexpected partisan mixture at the top and bottom of the scale. The four highest scorers at 80, Republican Sens.
Bill Cassidy,
Neil Riser, and
Mike Walsworth, and Democrat Sen.
Willie Mount, included the Democrat Mount. In fact, there were a majority of Democrats among the top 13 scorers. While the two lowest scorers, Sens.
Cheryl Gray and
Eric LaFleur, at 15 and 16, respectively, are Democrats, the next two, at 20, are Republican Sens.
Robert Adley and
Dale Erdey (although Adley switched from Democrat within the past year). Pres.
Joel Chaisson and Pres. Pro-Tem
Sharon Weston Broome, Democrats both, scored below the Senate and Democrat averages.
As a whole, the Senate was below the House in scores, averaging about a 43. Partisans also scored below their House counterparts, with Republicans at around 52 and Democrats close to 39 on average. Taken together, it seems that despite the 2007 elections being billed primarily about reform and Republican gains expecially in the House, the legislature did not seem to behave in the regular session in the direction of reform or become any more conservative.
Cassidy 80 Republican
Mount 80 Democrat
Riser 80 Republican
Walsworth 80 Republican
Amedee 77 Democrat
Gautreaux, N 75 Democrat
Long 70 Republican
Quinn 70 Republican
Smith, J 70 Democrat
Alario 65 Democrat
Cheek 65 Republican
Hebert 65 Democrat
McPherson 65 Democrat
Crowe 60 Republican
Donahue 60 Republican
Heitmeier 60 Democrat
Kostelka 60 Republican
Morrish 55 Republican
Shaw 55 Republican
Martiny 50 Republican
Shepherd 50 Democrat
Cravins 45 Democrat
Duplessis 45 Democrat
Dupre 45 Democrat
Thompson 45 Democrat
Gautreaux, B 40 Democrat
Michot 40 Republican
Chaisson 35 Democrat
Jackson, L 35 Democrat
Nevers 35 Democrat
Broome 30 Democrat
Dorsey 25 Democrat
Marionneaux 25 Democrat
Murray 25 Democrat
Adley 20 Republican
Erdey 20 Republican
LaFleur 16 Democrat
Gray 15 Democrat
Finally, Jindal himself was scored, using the seven items utilized for scoring the chambers that passed both of them, where for him a vote for was signing the bill or allowing it to become law without his signature and a vote against was vetoing the bill. The weighings to compute Jindal’s score were HB 939 10 percent, HB 1122 5 percent, HB 1198 15 percent, HB 1347 20 percent, SB 51 10 percent, SB 672 25 percent, and SB 807 15 percent.
Jindal scored an 85, voting in the liberal/populist direction only on the anti-free-speech HB 1198, higher than all Senators and almost all House members.
Legislative regular session wrapup and rankings: Representatives, 2008
This week will be presented in addition to the governor’s decisions regarding bills the scorecard for House members for the 2008 regualr session. Representatives will be graded on their votes on 10 bills, seven of which passed both chambers. The highest score of 100 represents a perfect conservative/reform voting record, while the lowest score of 0 represents a perfect liberal/populist voting record. The 10 bills and their weighings are:
HB 939 – gives a raise from $45,000 to $75,000 to Public Service Commissioners; a conservative/reform vote is against (10 percent)
HB 1122 – extends the period of early voting; a conservative/reform vote is for (5 percent)
HB 1198 – makes the state able to judge and punish campaigns for “false” information; a conservative/reform vote is against (10 percent)
HB 1347 – sets up a scholarship program for vouchers to be used by students in New Orleans for any public or private school; a conservative/reform vote is for (15 percent)
SB 51 – permits storage of a gun in vehicles on commercial property; a conservative/reform vote is for (10 percent)
SB 672 – raises legislators’ base annual salaries from $16,800 to $37,500 and indexes them; a conservative/reform vote is against (20 percent)
SB 807 – makes it easier for franchising for cable television thus stimulating competition and reducing pricing; a conservative/reform vote is for (10 percent)
HB 34 – shortens the hours that polls are open on election day; a conservative/reform vote is for (5 percent)
HB 436 – prevent rolling forward of property tax millages after 90 days and a governing authority may vote to dos o only once; a conservative/reform vote is for (5 percent)
HB 1022 – causes forfeiture of pension benefits paid by government for those convicted of a felony related to their official duties; a conservative/reform vote is for (10 percent)
(Last votes for passage were used. Since an absence is treated the same as a “nay” vote, unless a legislator requested a day of leave any votes for which he was absent was counted as such. For those who did request leave, their scores are adjusted by the votes they missed.)
Below is listed the rank and scores in descending order of representatives, with their party affiliations. Rep.
Cameron Henry ended up being the only “perfect” conservative/reformer and, not surprisingly Republicans take the top spots, all but of them two freshmen or close to it. Surpisingly, however, some Democrats score fairly high, Rep.
Neil Abramson scored well into conservative/reformer territory at 75 but perhaps a bigger surprise was Rep.
Walker Hines at 70 who filed several pieces of legislation (which went nowhere) straight out of the hard left wing of the national Democrats. Warhorse Democrat Rep.
Jim Fannin joined him at that level, perhaps changed by his new statuts as head of the House Appropriations Committee.
Nobody scored as a perfect “liberal/populist” but Speaker Pro-Tem
Karen Peterson and Rep.
A.B. Franklin did their best at 10. Democrats thoroughly dominated this end of the spectrum with holdover (and converted Democrat) Rep.
Ernest Wooton and newcomer Rep.
Nickie Monica scoring the lowest of the Republicans at 35. Speaker
Jim Tucker tumbled from past high scores to, at 60, below the GOP average.
Party averages reflected the division. The average GOP score was about 62 while the average Democrat score was around 41. Interestingly, as a whole the most conservative group in the House was the pair of independents, holdover Rep.
Joel Robideaux and newcomer Rep.
Dee Richard, who between them averaged 65. As a whole, the House averaged a little over 51.
Next week will be reviewed scores of senators and the governor.
Henry 100 Republican
Ligi 95 Republican
Ponti 90 Republican
Talbot 90 Republican
Pearson 85 Republican
Geymann 80 Republican
Guinn 80 Republican
Katz 80 Republican
Lorusso 80 Republican
Abramson 75 Democrat
Kleckley 75 Republican
Burns, T 70 Republican
Champagne 70 Democrat
Chandler 70 Democrat
Cortez 70 Republican
Fannin 70 Democrat
Guillory, M 70 Democrat
Hines 70 Democrat
LaBruzzo 70 Republican
Little 70 Republican
Perry 70 Republican
Robideaux 70 Independent
Smith, J 70 Republican
Barras 65 Democrat
Burford 65 Republican
Burns, H 65 Republican
Connick 65 Republican
Howard 65 Republican
Lopinto 65 Republican
Smiley 65 Republican
Templet 65 Republican
Danahay 60 Democrat
Morris 60 Republican
Richard 60 Independent
Richardson 60 Republican
Trahan 60 Republican
Tucker 60 Republican
Waddell 60 Republican
Badon, A 55 Democrat
Badon, B 55 Democrat
Billiot 55 Democrat
Carter 55 Republican
Cromer 55 Republican
Ellington 55 Democrat
Greene 55 Republican
Hazel 55 Republican
Jackson, M 55 Democrat
Lambert 55 Republican
Mills 55 Democrat
Montoucet 55 Democrat
Pugh 55 Republican
Schroder 55 Republican
Simon 55 Republican
Guillory, E 50 Democrat
Hoffman 50 Republican
Nowlin 50 Republican
Pope 50 Republican
Richmond 50 Democrat
White 50 Republican
Carmody 45 Republican
Chaney 45 Democrat
Foil 45 Republican
Hill 45 Democrat
Hutter 45 Republican
Jones, S. 45 Democrat
LeBas 45 Democrat
McVea 45 Republican
St. Germain 45 Democrat
Dove 44 Republican
Anders 40 Democrat
Arnold 40 Democrat
Downs 40 Republican
Harrison 40 Republican
Henderson 40 Democrat
Morrell 40 Democrat
Roy 40 Democrat
Wilmott 40 Republican
Monica 35 Republican
Armes 35 Democrat
Gisclair 35 Democrat
Hardy 35 Democrat
Smith, G 35 Democrat
Smith, P 35 Democrat
Williams 35 Democrat
Wooton 35 Republican
Baldone 30 Democrat
Doerge 30 Democrat
Edwards 30 Democrat
Honey 30 Democrat
Jackson, G 30 Democrat
Johnson 30 Democrat
LaFonta 30 Democrat
Leger 30 Democrat
Marchand 30 Democrat
Ritchie 30 Democrat
Barrow 25 Democrat
Burrell 25 Democrat
Dixon 25 Democrat
Norton 25 Democrat
Aubert 15 Democrat
Gallot 15 Democrat
Jones, R. 15 Democrat
Franklin 10 Democrat
Peterson 10 Democrat
Legislative regular session through Jun. 28, 2008
THIS WEEK FOR THE GOOD:
HB 321 was signed by the governor;
HB 350 was signed by the governor;
HB 622 was concurred in by the Senate and House and sent to the governor;
SB 87 was signed by the governor;
SB 733 was signed by the governor;
SB 807 was signed by the governor;
SB 808 was conferred in, concurred in by the House and Senate, and sent to the governor.
THIS WEEK FOR THE BAD:
SB 351 was conferred in, concurred in by the Senate and the House, and sent tot the governor.
SCORECARD:
Total House introductions: 1389; total Senate introductions: 813.
Total House good bills: 41; total Senate good bills: 23.
Total House bad bills: 36; total Senate bad bills: 15.
Total House good bills heard in committee: 30; total Senate good bills heard in committee: 18
Total House bad bills heard in committee: 27; total Senate bad bills heard in committee: 10.
Total House good bills passing committee: 20; total Senate good bills passing committee: 12.
Total House bad bills passing committee: 7; total Senate bad bills passing committee: 8.
Total House good bills passing the House: 15; total Senate good bills passing the Senate: 7.
Total House bad bills passing the House: 4; total Senate bad bills passing the Senate: 4.
Total House good bills passing Senate committee: 9; total Senate good bills passing House committee: 7.
Total House bad bills passing Senate committee: 4; total Senate bad bills passing House committee: 4.
Total House good bills passing Senate: 9; total Senate good bills passing House: 6.
Total House bad bills passing Senate: 2; total Senate bad bills passing House: 2.
Total House good bills sent to the governor: 9; total Senate good bills sent to the governor: 5.
Total House bad bills sent to the governor: 2; total Senate bad bills sent to the governor: 2.
Total House good bills signed by the governor: 5; total Senate good bills signed by the governor: 5.
Legislative regular session through Jun. 21, 2008
THIS WEEK FOR THE GOOD:
HB 350 was sent to the governor;
HB 622 passed House, with minor amendments passed Senate committee, and passed the Senate;
HB 888 passed the Senate, the House concurred and was sent to the governor;
HB 988 passed Senate and was sent to the governor;
HB 1372 passed the Senate and was sent to the governor;
SB 733 had amendments concurred with by the Senate and was sent to the governor;
SB 808 passed the Senate.
THIS WEEK FOR THE BAD:
HB 852 failed to pass the Senate;
HB 939 passed the Senate and was sent to the governor;
SB 351 passed the House;
SB 672 had amendments concurred with by the Senate and was sent to the governor;
SB 796 failed to pass the House.
SCORECARD:
Total House introductions: 1389; total Senate introductions: 813.
Total House good bills: 41; total Senate good bills: 23.
Total House bad bills: 36; total Senate bad bills: 15.
Total House good bills heard in committee: 30; total Senate good bills heard in committee: 18
Total House bad bills heard in committee: 27; total Senate bad bills heard in committee: 10.
Total House good bills passing committee: 20; total Senate good bills passing committee: 12.
Total House bad bills passing committee: 7; total Senate bad bills passing committee: 8.
Total House good bills passing the House: 15; total Senate good bills passing the Senate: 7.
Total House bad bills passing the House: 4; total Senate bad bills passing the Senate: 4.
Total House good bills passing Senate committee: 9; total Senate good bills passing House committee: 7.
Total House bad bills passing Senate committee: 4; total Senate bad bills passing House committee: 4.
Total House good bills passing Senate: 9; total Senate good bills passing House: 6.
Total House bad bills passing Senate: 2; total Senate bad bills passing House: 2.
Total House good bills sent to the governor: 8; total Senate good bills sent to the governor: 5.
Total House bad bills sent to the governor: 2; total Senate bad bills sent to the governor: 1.
Total House good bills signed into law: 3; total Senate good bills signed into law: 2.
Floor action, Jun. 20: SB 402, SB 232, SB 233
DID YOU KNOW?
SB 402 by Sen.
Bill Cassidy would have a study of shifting funds for uncompensated care among south Louisiana hospitals in proportion to the health care services provided for the uninsured statewide, starting next fiscal year. Rep.
Neil Abramson at first prevented the matter from coming off the calendar by asking for such a vote which failed to move it
40-51. Minutes later, it successfully came off the calendar by a failed vote to table
43-53, but Abramson tried to table it, but the motion was defeated.
Rep.
Erich Ponti, handling it, said this would better allocate resources to true needs. Rep. Joe Harrison offered amendments that were dumped out in committee that turned it into a study bill rather than implementation. Abramson asked whether these were challenging the will of the Health and Welfare Committee which he said otherwise would not have let it out. Harrison did not agree but said the amendment would bring a substantitve change. Rep.
Hunter Greene then move to end all amendment consideration, and Rep.
Jeff Arnold then made a substitute to end only this to which passed
60-35. Harrison yielded on close to Ponti who said a study only wouldn’t accomplish much, that a money-follows-the-person approach needed to be implemented for proper funding, and it wouldn’t even go into effect for several years only after the Legislature approved. The amendment failed
30-68.
Abramson then offered amendments. He characterized the bill at present as a fight over dollars between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, saying why New Orleans seemed to get disproportionate dollars because much more teaching went on there. So, he wanted to incrementally add sections of the state through each amendment so he could allow everybody to gang up on each section just like the bill does, but then withdrew them all, believing a point had been made.
Rep.
Robert Johnson said the bill was mischaracterized, saying it followed the proportion of uninsured people living in a region, not ailing individuals. He said to vote for it now would invite future raids on other regions. He said the mix of the kind of operations also was not going to be worked into the proposed formula, either. He implied the author of was using it for political gain relevant to Cassidy’s announced run for Congress.
Rep.
Pat Smith said Earl K. Long Hospital since it was able to attract more insured that it was being used as a cash cow to supplement other institutions. She said teaching occurred there, as well. Rep.
Michael Jackson admitted he was running for Congress, and said he thought this process was good as a study which, after being done in three regions, could be extended because he did not want it to be there to beat up on New Orleans.
Closing, Ponti emphasized this was only a study, and wondered why some seemed scared of a study. He said Baton Rouge actually was less maldistributed than some other southern regions, and the northern part of the state operated under a different system not relevant to the south. He said then population shift from the hurricane disasters made this study more necessary than ever.
The bill, after establishment of lockout and quorum, failed
35-61.
DID YOU KNOW?
SB
232 by Sen.
Willie Mount would place term limits on several boards and commissions of three years by constitutional amendemt. Handler Rep.
Rick Gallot said if legislators had to be stopped at three terms (really, two-and-a-half), so should the education boards, State Civil Service Commission, Public Service Commission, etc. He also pointed out a two-year waiting period applied after being limited off one board to serve on another.
Rep.
Cedric Richmond asked why leave out state elected officials; Gallot said it was Mount’s intent not to include them. Johnson wondered whether this limited discretion of voters, and Gallot said this was true but some to be affected would be appointed.
Rep.
Rickey Hardy offered an amendment that would apply limits to judges, district attorneys, and sheriffs, with a grandfather clause. Rep.
Cameron Henry asked if Hardy had consulted those being affected; he said he had not. Rep.
Bodi White wondered why other parish-level officials weren’t included; Hardy said because he hadn’t thought of that. Rep.
Nick Lorusso asked whether it was germane, and Speaker
Jim Tucker ruled it didn’t since the bill addressed boards and commissions.
Gallot closed and the bill passed
92-8.
DID YOU KNOW?
With
SB 232 passed, now the enabling legislation became relevant. Gallot offered the identical amendments which were adopted. The bill passed
93-6.
QUOTE OF THE DAY.
Is this amendment germane to the bill?
Yes it is.
Hardy to Lorusso, before Tucker could say anything.
Floor action, Jun. 19: SB 137, SB 159, SB 342, SB 808
DID YOU KNOW?
SB 137 by Sen.
Julie Quinn would make a secondary offense for those who either are text messaging or, if you are a driver with less than a year of licensing, using a cell phone while driving. Handler Rep.
Hollis Downs said this would improve safety without having distractions from all drivers and especially new drivers.
Rep.
Austin Badon, however, offered an amendment to turn this bill essentially into his
HB 852 which banned non-hands-free use of cell phones for all and passed the House. To make matters more interesting, Rep.
Walker Hines tried to hook an amendment on to raise his non-smoking stricture in cars if there were 15 year-olds in it (as opposed to the currenbt 13-year-old standard), trying in essence to amend on his bill (to remind him as he could not remember what it was, it was
HB 1021) on the subject that failed in the Senate. Its germaneness was challenged by Rep.
Mert Smiley but upheld on the basis that it was another driver distraction.
Rep.
Jeff Arnold said he could not support the bill especially with Badon’s amendment. He said even operating a GPS device could run afoul of this law. Arnold also chided Hines for his continued tries at passing this bill even after several defeats. With Hines implying his previous bill lost on several occasions because of a lack of members, a lockout and quorum call both were made and the latter was established. The amendment failed
34-56.
Badon then addressed his amendment, saying if it was good enough to be passed on its own, it ought to be good enough for an amendment. Arnold reminded Badon that HB 852 was defeated handily in the Senate, and thought it might be hurting SB 137 to be attached. Rep.
Tony Ligi said that the bill might not stem the tendency for multitasking. Badon replied the act isolated was not good regardless of other distractions which may or may not occur as a result of a cell phone’s use.
Badon closed saying this should not be just a “kid’s bill” and that his amendment would make sure it is done right the first time. The amendment failed
33-49. The bill unamended from the floor passed
69-19.
DID YOU KNOW?
Since
SB 159 by Sen.
Don Cravins wpould prohibit minors from using any wireless telecommunications device while operating a motor vehicle which almost mimicked SB 137, there was no debate and it passed
88-4.
DID YOU KNOW?
SB 342 by Sen.
Dale Erdey would prohibit first-year drivers from using cell phones. With it being so similar to SB 137 and SB 159, it passed
88-6.
DID YOU KNOW?
SB 808 by Sen.
Rob Marionneaux would redo the way the state deals with its capital outlay budget. Speaker
Jim Tucker pointed out it was essentially a duplicate of his
HB 582 passed out of the House days earlier. It clarifies the process, he said, and it passed
93-0.
Floor action, Jun. 16: SB 789, SB 796
DID YOU KNOW?
SB 789 was to apply to boards and commissions for certain highway commissions in rural areas (designed for Iberia Parish). Rep
Patrick Connick asked to introduce an amendment dealing with the Crescent City Connection. Rep.
Jeff Arnold asked whether it was germane, and Speaker
Jim Tucker ruled it wasn’t. Connick complained and asked for a vote on the ruling. Tucker called him aside and reminded him these motions were rare and never successful. Disgruntled, Connick asked for personal privilege and Tucker said only asfter the bill passed. “We’ve got three more years; I’ll be back” Connick said, withdrew, and the bill passed without it.
DID YOU KNOW?
SB 796 would remove debt supported by a taxpayer-dedicated revenue stream to be counted as debt for calculation purposes. Rep.
Karen Carter Peterson asked why do this? Handler Rep.
Chris Hazel stumbled through an explanation that he thought it would improve the state’s bond rating. Peterson wondered whether it ought to be returned to the calendar but then relinquished her questioning.
Tucker, who had left the chair at the beginning of the questioning, took the microphone, absolved Hazel for being a “good soldier” carrying the water for author Sen.
Joe McPherson and called it a “very bad bill.” Tucker explained the basis of the bill, the money borrowed for the TIMED program being affected, and said this was not good budgetary or fiscal policy and that rating agencies would not change their ratings as a result of this and thought they would think it would make Louisiana less trustworthy.
Peterson said she had not gotten a note from the Gov. Bobby Jindal administration and asked what it thought. Tucker said he hadn’t, either, so he didn’t know what it thought. Other members got Tucker to repeat that it reflected poorly on the state’s reputation.
Hazel on closing repeated it would create no new debt. The bill was defeated
3-84 with only the representatives from McPherson’s district voting for it.
QUOTES OF THE DAY:
We all have been concerned about Mr. Fannin’s mental state and its changing over the next ten days.
Tucker, referring to Rep. Jim Fannin, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee who controls the pursestrings.
Members, I want to clarify, that was not a new record, he was handling a Senate bill
Tucker, referring to the 3-84 vote on SB 796 referring to a record for lopsided defeat – last year Rep. John LaBruzzo lost even more spectacularly on his own bill.
