If you haven’t noticed a lot of massive new reforms rolling through the Louisiana legislature in the current session, there are a couple of reasons for that.

The first being that it’s still early in the session and lots of bills are still getting their first hearings in committees, so things are still taking shape as to exactly what bills will move and what bills won’t. There are LOTS of big items in the hopper this season, for certain.

But the second reason is many of the significant changes that will be passed in this session aren’t new. They’re bills which already passed – but were vetoed by the failed former governor John Bel Edwards.

Edwards was a veto machine, particularly in his second term as Louisiana’s legislature grew more conservative and, despite its rather tame leadership in both the House and Senate, less deferential to a national Democrat politician who disguised himself as a “moderate” or “conservative” while pushing Green New Deal energy policy corruption and various iterations of crazy social policies.

None of that stuff was in line with the desires of Louisiana’s voting public, who for whatever reason re-elected Edwards over political neophyte businessman Eddie Rispone in 2019, so Edwards’ vetoes were really mere delays in policy-making inevitability.

For example, last year after repeated vetoes of now-Senator Blake Miguez’ “Zuckerbucks bill,” a ban on private funding of public election offices was styled as a constitutional amendment that Edwards couldn’t veto. That measure went in front of the public last fall and passed with an overwhelming 73 percent of the vote. That was even before this new governor and legislature were sworn in.

And earlier this year, amid a legislative session devoted to reforms of the criminal justice system aimed at getting a handle on the crime wave which has swept the state over the past several years, another measure which had been vetoed by Edwards – that being constitutional carry – passed into law.

Now, with a regular session offering unlimited possibilities to blast through Edwards’ veto-pen legacy, we’re seeing a lot more reforms sailing through a legislature full of people frustrated by the Democrat who used to occupy the Fourth Floor.

For example, there is HB 238 by Rep. Michael Echols, which would put a stop to China, Iran and other hostile foreign countries from buying land in Louisiana close to sensitive areas like military bases. This is a common-sense item that would put Louisiana in line with 21 other states who’ve already similarly protected themselves. Naturally, Edwards vetoed the bill last year.

But HB 238 sailed out of the House Agriculture Committee. It’s on it’s way to House Appropriations, where it’s sure to pass, and from there to the House floor where a big majority awaits. And Gov. Jeff Landry is going to sign it.

Then there is the school choice and Educational Savings Account agenda, which contains a number of bills providing, essentially, for reimbursement of parents who send their kids to private schools – or home-school their kids – in Louisiana. Edwards vetoed everything related to ESA programs and expanded school choice, despite the fact it’s obviously the direction red states – and not just red states – are moving in.

Because John Bel Edwards was a stooge of the teachers’ unions. He essentially let the groomer communist Randi Weingarten, the head of the American Federation of Teachers and one of the most unhinged and destructive left-wing activists in America, have veto power over the structure of education in this state.

That’s no more. Landry is on board with school choice. He’ll sign the ESA bills when they’re passed, and they will be – exactly what form they’re going to take once they’ve worked their way through the House and Senate is what’s in question, not whether they’re going to become law in some fashion.

Then there is HB 114 by Rep. Les Farnum which would provide for an annual canvass of the voter rolls in the state, something that Edwards vetoed three times in order to protect the Democrat vote fraud machine. Keeping accurate voter rolls is the number one means of enforcing election integrity in a jurisdiction, and there is zero reason why you’d veto something like that.

Edwards did. Landry won’t. HB 114 is out of the House and Governmental Affairs Committee on its way to Appropriations. It will pass through easily on its way to the House floor and it’ll become law this summer.

Rep. Beryl Amedee’s HB 357, a ban on central bank digital currency in Louisiana law, is another Edwards-vetoed item that’s likely destined to become law. You might not remember that Edwards vetoed this item, but he did.

Two other bills from last year which are bound to generate an excruciating level of left-wing protest and especially on the part of the LGBTQ+ Alphabet people are Rep. Dodie Horton’s HB 122, the “anti-groomer” bill that Democrats call the “Don’t Say Gay” bill – all it does is to stop public schools from being indoctrination factories for exotic sexual lifestyles, and somehow the Left has decided to make this a cause celebre and engage in rampant idiocy at statehouses everywhere such a bill has been introduced – and Rep. Raymond Crews’ HB 121, the “pronoun” bill which sweeps away the chaos of “choose your pronouns” nuttery in schools.

Edwards vetoed both of those bills last year, which was a signal of something Louisiana’s news media did their best to hide – namely that he was a willing stooge of the Alphabet people crowd and marched in lockstep with them on every one of their priorities. This wasn’t in evidence based on positive actions he took, though there were some executive actions which made it clear, but every time the legislature attempted to protect the state from the kinds of weird abuses the LGBTQ+ crowd pushed in other states, Edwards made it clear whose side he was on.

Well, that’s over now. But watch how much heat it generates, and watch how the state’s news media treats Landry and the legislature for fulfilling the will of the people with those bills.

Then there is Rep. Kathy Edmonston’s HB 47 that would put a stop to schools and colleges from requiring a COVID vaccine for admission. Edwards vetoed that, despite the fact it’s an entirely common-sense measure; kids do not need the COVID vaccine, particularly given the risks of side effects and the mild nature of COVID’s effect on the young. But John Bel Edwards, medical fascist that he proved himself to be, wouldn’t listen to common sense on that issue.

And Rep. Laurie Schlegel has HB 457, which would throw additional penalties on those store looters who physically abuse retail employees trying to stop them from making off with mountains of swag. Edwards vetoed that as well. What else is good about HB 457 is that addresses porch pirates – though what we’d like to see is a bill making homeowners immune to civil suit or criminal prosecution for doing anything that physically harms a porch pirate in the commission of porch piracy.

We have time to work on that, though.

This isn’t a comprehensive list. There are other items, and there are measures out there which address policy priorities similar to those which Edwards vetoed. The point is that this session is demonstrating that Edwards’ legacy as governor is very quickly melting away.

And next year, when the Legislature begins unpacking and reworking Louisiana’s tax code in an effort to make our economy much more competitive with our neighbors, you’re really begin to see John Bel Edwards fading away.