History in the Making— Republican Legislators Override Governor Edwards' Veto of Congressional Maps

Yesterday, in a historic special session, the Louisiana legislature overrode Governor John Bel Edwards’ veto of its congressional redistricting plan. It thereby reinstated a good plan similar to the one the state had been using since 2011. Although the revived  plan must still pass muster in the courts (where it will likely be upheld), the legislature has successfully completed its redistricting work and come up with as fair and common sense a plan as the Voting Rights Act would allow.

This is a great victory by any measure, and our legislators are to be commended for their work. However, this victory may be even greater than we suppose. Our legislature, which was elected by Louisiana’s largely conservative electorate, has finally come into its own and done the people’s will. After a six-year nightmare under John Bel Edwards’ administration, during which the cost of governing Louisiana has relentlessly increased even as our population has declined and our infrastructure has crumbled, there is at last reason for hope.

To sum up what has happened, our legislature has asserted its independence from a so-called “moderate” Democrat governor presiding over a totally inept administration dominated by woke progressives who detest the people they serve. Hoorah for the victory, and let us hope and pray that the tide has turned and we may expect ever greater wins from our legislators going forward.

And we are very much in need of those legislators who are guided by the fiscal prudence and common sense which a conservative political outlook provides. While the state’s coffers are now filled to overflowing with freshly printed federal COVID funds, this money will soon run out. One time funds carelessly expended on wasteful and ever-expanding programs which never go away will not be available in future years when our debt explodes, which it surely must. No doubt this future “fiscal cliff” will provide the excuse for some aspiring Democrat to call for a major tax increase which Louisiana cannot afford.

Now is the time to make the wise choices to channel future expenditures into roads and other infrastructure projects, sensible social programs with proven results, and debt repayments. Out-of-control departments and programs must be reined in without delay, and progressive experiments in social engineering ended without apology. Underperforming bureaucrats and administrators must be sent packing regardless of their political affiliation.

Only then will government spending once again become controllable, and only then will the public regain trust in its government. But an important milestone in achieving these goals was reached yesterday. Well done!

Louis Gurvich, Chairman
Republican Party of Louisiana

Louisiana to Hold First Ever Veto Override Session

With the legislature agreeing to hold this unprecedented session, Louisiana stands to override vetoes by “Honor Code” and to protect women's sports, the Second Amendment rights and election integrity

LANDRY: Support the 2nd Amendment

I HAVE LONG SUPPORTED - AND I HAVE ENDORSED - CONSTITUTIONAL CARRY IN LOUISIANA. I believe it is in line with our fundamental 2nd Amendment Rights. As one of many responsible firearms owners in Louisiana I believe our law abiding citizens should have these same privileges that not only our neighboring states have but that 21 other states in our nation have today. LET ME BE CLEAR: John Bel Edwards veto of this Legislation, which had been supported by a majority of our Legislators, was just one more bad decision among many. I have led multiple legal actions in this country to protect the 2nd Amendment and we need to stand up for it right here in Louisiana.

BEAULLIEU: Protecting Female Athletes

Photo source: Louisiana House of Representatives

The incoming call came early on a Saturday morning in January, from one of my favorite customers. I mention one of my favorites because she is one of those clients that challenges me to be on top of my game each time we converse. Most of the time, we are debating investment and financial market related items, as that is the nature of our relationship. From time-to-time, our conversations diverge into politics. A lot of my time as an investment professional is spent talking people ‘off of the ledge’ and attempting to separate their investment planning from their political views. She and I have had conversations regarding the role that government should or should not play in our lives, the debate over the success of low tax states versus high tax states, election integrity and so on.

On this particular morning, I saw the text message before I listened to the voicemail message. The voicemail came a little after 7:00 a.m.; the text message read something like this, referencing a WSJ article, ‘decades of women’s achievement is being rolled back’. The forthcoming outrage heard on the forty-seven minute discussion resonated the opinion of a successful woman who had made it in a ‘man’s world’ and how national political causes were setting back women’s rights that took decades, if not centuries worth of courage, effort, grief, sorrow, abuse and ultimately victory in a female’s ability to be considered on an equal playing field to men. This call was the first of many calls that I received on this issue!

Now, let’s be clear here, I am not the state’s foremost expert on women’s rights issues; but I do feel like I have a good idea on differences when distinguishing right from wrong. In addition, I am married to an incredible woman, have two amazing daughters and was raised by one heckuva mama who taught me and my brothers (of course it would have been nice to have a sister for this editorial), that you can do anything you set your heart on; just give it 100% and be the best version of yourself possible. It is the same message that my wife and I have used to raise our children (daughters and sons).

To the point, a national/federal political stance has been made to allow male born athletes the ability to compete in sports restricted to female athletes, when the male athlete has undergone medical procedures to change his sex. I vowed to work towards not letting this happen in Louisiana and protecting our female athletes. Keep national politics out of Louisiana athletics. To that end, I kept my promise and voted favorably to not allow a male born person from participating in female athletic activities. The bill received bipartisan support and walked out of the legislature with over a 2/3 vote in favor. Ultimately, the governor vetoed the bill.

I respect the governor’s role in this process and his right to veto legislation. HOWEVER, I also respect my fellow state legislators and the offices in which we hold. We have a check and balance system. The way Louisiana’s constitution spells it out, legislators pass a bill and the governor has the ability to sign the bill, let it go into law or veto the bill. The constitution also says that the legislature can override these vetoes with a two-thirds vote of its members. Since the creation of our constitution, we have had bills that were vetoed by the governor and overridden by the legislature; however each time, the legislature was still ‘in session’. Never before has the legislature followed through on the constitutionally drawn up veto session that is stated to take place 40 days following the conclusion of the session that ended. Traditionally and by a majority of the legislature, a formal request is made that deems a veto session NOT necessary. This year and this issue may be the one that pulls us into a Veto Session for the first time, since the constitutional right of automatically going into a veto session was granted in the 60’s. I plan to support the Veto Session and continue to keep the promise I made back in January.

Once in a veto session, the legislature will have the ability to override any or all of the vetoed bills that were vetoed during the final days of session. There are other vetoed bills that are being hotly considered. There is the constitutional carry bill that allows law-abiding citizens to conceal-carry, the same way that they can open-carry, without the need for a permit. There are election integrity bills that can be considered to be overridden. In all, there are twenty-eight bills that can be considered. Without the veto of the protection of female athletes’ bill, most politicos are not confident that there would have been enough energy to muster the votes to pull us into an override session. Is this bill different? We will know by midnight on July 15th if the majority of each body of the legislature feels this bill is important enough to, for the first time in history, go into a veto override session.

Beau Beaullieu - District 48 - Louisiana House of Representatives

St. Martin Parish judge temporarily blocks enforcement of governor's restrictions on bars

"I never knew what I could do in my own building, so I decided to file an injunction" Red's Levee Bar owner Liz Breaux said.

The order from 16th Judicial District Judge Anthony Thibodeaux granted a request to temporarily block enforcement of the restrictions against Red’s Levee Bar in Catahoula until a hearing slated for Dec. 28.

Read more: St. Martin Parish judge temporarily blocks enforcement of governor's restrictions on bars