(Citizens for a New Louisiana) —

by Chuck Owen, District 30, member of the Louisiana House of Representatives.

Finding My Place in Baton Rouge

A few times in recent years, and in mailouts, I’ve mentioned being a member of the Louisiana Freedom Caucus. When I list who I am affiliated with in Baton Rouge as a legislator, I usually list (1) The Rural Caucus; (2) The Louisiana Freedom Caucus; (3) The Central Louisiana Delegation, and (4) The Republican Party.

During my first two or so years in the legislature, I was basically a lone wolf —more of a free agent —or occasionally ran in small packs with other wolves. We fended for ourselves, mostly. Little to no top cover. Very disorganized.

Outnumbered and Outmaneuvered

For a lot of reasons, the Republican Delegation in the House was disorganized and outmaneuvered mainly because we were outmaneuvered structurally—decades of Democrat Party dominance had created an administrative structure that favored the party of Huey Long, Edwin Edwards and a lot of RINOs who skulked around as pretend Republicans and conservatives.

Here’s how bad it was: We had literally zero staff support in the House. If a bill came to us, it was OUR responsibility to read it and be ready for it. We are part-time legislators, not full-time like Congress, and a legislative session has around 1,600 bills to read, analyze, understand, and vote on from the House and the Senate in a short two-to-three-month session. It’s just us.

Chaos at the Capitol

Keep in mind, we have a few committee assignments, and all of these bills are being amended in committees that legislators do not sit on. At the same time, we are writing our own bills, keeping up with amendments to those in committee, and sometimes writing our own. It is an environment where everything is constantly changing. Then you have your committee hearings in the mornings, and 20 to 60 bill votes on the floor schedule for the afternoon, which are sometimes amended on the floor.

The truth is, it is ultimately our responsibility, and I own every vote I ever took. I volunteered for this. There have been times when I was more prepared than others to make good decisions because of the structure we have.

A Stacked Deck

Under the former Speaker, my fellow House members in the Democratic Party had a Democratic Party Delegation, a New Orleans Delegation, a Black Caucus, and a few other structural entities in the House that had staff, took time to review legislation, and prepared Democrats for what happened every day.

The rank-and-file GOP members had none of that. The former Speaker seemed to like it that way — putting us always behind the curve, refusing to put us on even footing with the Dems, even though we outnumbered them two to one. TWO TO ONE, and the Democrats were given many times greater structural support.

Enter the Freedom Caucus

Creating and passing legislation is complex. Writing it, editing it, analyzing it, and understanding it through the lens of constituent AND political impact is not always easy. My friends who were and are Democrats got lovely notes every day before every bill, explaining the details, offering nuances, etc. We had laptops to read on our own. A handful of us would talk amongst ourselves, but we were basically a bunch of independent legislators, without a team. AI wasn’t a thing, so we couldn’t ask GROK or ChatGPT to help look up references in bills that were steeped in statute numbers instead of plain English. The first two years were absolute pandemonium, trying to keep up.

This got old, and some of us decided to change the paradigm. My good friend, State Representative Danny McCormick, spoke with people in DC and in the State and worked to connect us with the Freedom Caucus.

The National Model

The House Freedom Caucus at Congress started as a DC entity — a small number of House Republicans who were tired of being left out in the cold in Congress by the left-wing Republicans and establishment types. They decided in 2015 to coalesce into a small unit —a group of people who banded together and realized there was safety in numbers and strength in unity.

The House Freedom Caucus has been very effective. Sometimes they make people mad because they take the positions they do, but they don’t back them up. They can be stubborn and, in the eyes of some, intransigent. But they are conservatives — they call themselves the True North of Conservatism. Congressman Clay Higgins is a House Freedom Caucus member. He’s the only one from Louisiana.

Louisiana Joins the Network

Some of the leading legislative strategists from the House Freedom Caucus decided to expand this support system formula to the states, forming the State Freedom Caucus Network. They handpicked a few states to grow into, and Louisiana was the 12th state to be admitted.

These DC folks spent about 2 years looking at who had voted and how they had voted in Louisiana. They drilled down into every vote, zeroing in on how many days or votes were missed. They looked at who was willing to fight and stand up for what mattered.

Once this process for Louisiana was done in late 2022, they issued invitations to members of the Louisiana House. A small number were invited to meet. They had us fly to Washington for in-person screenings and face-to-face expectation leveling. I will tell you it was intense. Not everyone invited wanted in because the expectations are high.

A Higher Standard

We were told we would be expected to be the true north of conservatism. We were told we would be expected to support good legislation. They don’t tell us how we have to vote; they tell us what the standard is for being part of this group.

Liberty and freedom are critical to the Caucus. So is good government, as a rule, and fiscal responsibility. There’s a lot that goes into the Louisiana Freedom Caucus, but we get a lot out of it—teammates who are serious and who stand for the right things.

Teamwork and Transformation

We now get help with all of our bills. People read all the bills and help us analyze things that are often confusing. We meet and discuss things frequently throughout the year. We discuss rules of the legislature, caucus strategy, operations, and tactics. Things have changed significantly for members of the Louisiana Freedom Caucus who are in the House.

On a broader scale, the House is now much more functional than it was. We actually get more staff support than we did when I first started. Our current Speaker is a strong, accessible, and capable leader, as is our Pro Tem. They’re both also good men.

Standing Together for What’s Right

The Louisiana Freedom Caucus is a strong element of how I function now. Our team members are not flawless — not one of us. We all come from different parts of the State, but we have one goal in mind — representing our citizens well and remaining true to the principles of good government.

The Freedom Caucus defends and stands up for each other, and that should never be forgotten. We are honest, we stand for what is right, and we work for our constituents.

I said all that to say this: We in the Louisiana Freedom Caucus take our oaths of office as legislators seriously. We work hard and we defend each other. We are also organized. Bad things still happen, and we have to be on guard ALL the time. But we stand for what is right—every day. And, by the way, we stand with each other.