I have an ax to grind.

I guess I am not much different than most people in this state. I may look at things a little differently, but I still feel the same way as others in many respects.

I am sick of government corruption. I am tired of electing people to office who claim to be advocates of liberty, smaller government and lower taxes who then rush to Baton Rouge to change everything but end up changing nothing of importance.

And I feel this way because of what just ended–the 2023 Regular Session of the Louisiana State Legislature, the third session so far this year.

I don’t blame the Democrat Party or even the leftists for the state of affairs we now face in Louisiana. I guess I should say I don’t blame them anymore than I blame the Republican party or right-wing conservatives. While I do hate applying labels to people because I believe in evaluating people as individuals, these are the labels our elected officials apply to themselves and each other to communicate the “side” they belong with. Therefore, it is important for me to use similar labels for conversation’s sake.

Conservative Republican! What does that even mean anymore? Well, a Republican is simply anyone who registers as a member of the Republican party. That is it! You don’t have to believe certain things. You don’t have to possess certain values. You don’t have to support the party platform, whatever that may be. You simply have to register to vote as a Republican to join the club. Now people who are registered Republicans who don’t behave in a manner consistent with other Republicans are labeled a RINO (Republican In Name Only). They are outsiders on the inside. They are treated and looked at differently by many Republicans, but make no mistake–they are still Republicans!

Another question–if the Republican Party is truly the “conservative” party, why do they have to append the term “conservative” to their name? What does conservative even mean? And what exactly are we conserving? Are the so-called fiscal conservatives making spending and tax cuts? Are the social conservatives preserving traditional family values? I don’t believe the national Republican Party is or has ever been the “conservative” party. From the very beginning they were a minority party of radicals, not much different from the small group we see pushing social agendas upon the other 95% of America that doesn’t subscribe to it. But I do believe that the Republican Party of Louisiana is the conservative party in this state. I just don’t believe they consistently behave in a fiscal conservative manner. Nor do I believe their efforts have or will preserve traditional family values for much longer because they are the reactive party that is severely splintered with internal turmoil and bickering. They have always failed to be cohesive in moving towards any unified conservative principle.

The one thing that the Louisiana Republican party is conserving is our states broken political system. They are preserving the Huey P. Long era dictatorial role of Governor. And they are doing this despite being in a situation where they can enact fundamental reforms in our state. They have the power to return our state government to its proper role and scope, yet so far this year they have not taken any meaningful steps towards significantly cutting the budget, eliminating wasteful spending, or even reducing the tax burden on the citizens.

Everyone complains about government overreach and the broad power of the Office of Governor over the past eight years. Common sense would dictate that with a “Conservative Republican” Governor at the helm we would be rolling back the powers of that office and that Jeff Landry himself would be openly welcoming such legislation. Instead, we see no common sense and our legislature granting the Governor even more power. We also see our governor pushing a much broader legislative agenda which expands his power and shields his action from public view. It is to the point that we should ask why we even need a legislature if the Office of Governor is able to dictate the policies of the state. It is a Legislative function to make policy, not an Executive one.

There was much concern over the failed attempt to hold a Constitutional Convention. The need for a Constitutional Convention was pushed hard by the Governor and several attempts were made by members of the Legislature to ensure the general public and special interest that certain portions of the constitution would not be touched. But in the end, if that Convention had gone forward, there was no language that could have safeguarded anything in the document from being altered.

Others were concerned with the Governor having a slate of appointees at the convention. I was less concerned with the Governor having a set of appointees under the tri-cameral body then I was with the selection of the delegates for the remaining two chambers.

The reason is simple. We still have the dictatorial powers of the office of Governor which remain with us since the time of Long. People pushing for the Convention reasoned we just had elections and the members of the House and Senate would be the perfect delegates because they were just elected. Also, because that is the way we did it back in 1974.

The issues I take is that if any one of the so called “delegates” from the House or the Senate did not walk the line they could directly face retaliation from the all-powerful Governor. They and their districts could be punished by the line-item veto removing legislatively approved funding of their areas.  This is just another part of our broken system in need of reform.

It has been highlighted by the remark –‘we elect whores to go to Baton Rouge and return to our communities with the tax dollars that were taken from us.’

This is not a new scenario. It plays out every year. On May 13, 2024 Jay Morris withdrew SB423 from the files of the Senate after addressing the chamber. Sen. Morris spoke about the importance of transparency and the difficulty of maintaining a balance with regards to public records access. “I absolutely do not want to be associated with trying to hide anything,” Sen. Morris stated.

Just minutes earlier Senator Cloud had spoke about SB482, an absolutely atrocious bill for Louisiana public records policy. Sen. Cloud mentioned deferring a vote on her bill stating that Sen. Morris would be addressing some things in his bill which may resolve concerns with her bill. But just like that, Sen. Morris’ bill was withdrawn. Is it a coincidence that on May 24, 2024 two bills authored by Morris were vetoed by the Governor? Perhaps.

In all fairness, Governor Landry did offer a veto message explaining the reason for his action. I tend to think that all the heads of the chambers of our legislature are better than all the heads of the Office of Governor when determining the policy of this state. I also believe that the veto should only be used in extraordinary circumstances. But regardless of my opinion on veto power or whether or not the veto of Morris’ bills were retaliatory, it just illustrates the points I am trying to make. The Governor in Louisiana is too powerful. The political system of Louisiana is in need of real reform. The Republican party is conserving that power for themselves at the risk that it will revert back to another Governor in the future who will bludgeon us with it.

As far as Cloud’s SB482, in my opinion one of the most atrocious bills of the session, it was never voted off the floor of the Senate. The broad language of the bill read, “The provisions of this Chapter shall not apply to any records reflecting advisory opinions, recommendations and deliberations comprising part of a process by which governmental decisions and policies are formulated.” That language was packaged up nicely with a proposed exemption dealing with the safety concerns for the Governor’s family, which no reasonable person would likely oppose.

This was deceptive, though, as many people thought this language applied just to the Office of the Governor. It did not. If enacted, it would have applied to every political body in the state.

The bill also contained a lot of fluff. It continued: “The legislature further recognizes that protecting elements of the deliberative process safeguards the process through which government decisions and policies are shaped and formulated and that this privilege has long been acknowledged and upheld by the United State Supreme Court and various federal and state courts.” This privilege fosters open communication within government agencies by allowing public servants to provide uninhibited opinions and recommendations without fear of public ridicule or criticism and guards against public confusion by preventing the premature disclosure of proposed policies before they have been finally formulated or adopted.

The average person may not be aware that the legislature has “privileges and immunities” as laid out in the Louisiana Constitution, Article III § 8. In short, it says, “A member of the legislature shall be privileged from arrest, except for felony, during his attendance at sessions and committee meetings of his house and while going to and from them.  No member shall be questioned elsewhere for any speech in either house.” This allows the legislators to communicate among themselves, experts, and even constituents without those conversations being officially deemed “public record.” If we were to issue a public records request for such communication, the legislator may provide it, or they may decline, citing their privilege.

The bill would allow for such a broad and unwarranted exception in every political body in the state. It was an absolutely horrible bill obviously crafted by someone who hates transparency in government or perhaps wishes to do nefarious things without detection.

There is a reason our Legislature has such broad privileges and immunities. They are a part-time body. Aside from perhaps this year, they do not spend the majority of their time law making. So, time is of the essence for them. The Governor and most executive elected officials aren’t in the same situation.

Cloud’s language about relying on the “United States Supreme Court and various federal and state courts” is equally alarming. Again, the Legislature is the policy maker. Not the Executive, not the Courts. Louisiana public records law is unique to Louisiana. It makes absolutely no sense that a Legislature would ever interject a circular reliance on federal courts’ decisions when addressing state public records law. It is contradictory to the very thing Cloud stated she was trying to accomplish in the passage of the bill–to fulfill the duty of the Legislature to codify what exemptions existed in the law so the public could know without having to be a lawyer.

How is that accomplished by referencing every possible opinion of the “United States Supreme Court and various federal and state courts,” past, present and future in a statute? It isn’t. In the end, Cloud’s bill was never called for a vote on the floor. It just died and Louisiana is better because it did.

I hope the people of Louisiana will really reflect on the nature and organization of our state political system. As we move into July with its celebrations of independence, we should take some time to reflect on the need to reform Louisiana. If you are happy to be carrying concealed without a permit on that day, don’t be overly joyful of the single bone you were thrown. We still live in Huey P. Long’s Louisiana. You may have a bone now, but the precedent isn’t good as to what tomorrow will hold.

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