There really hasn’t been much coming out of state government this term, other than an “agreement to proceed,” Jeremy Alford says in his latest column.
“That’s what Senate President John Alario told the dean of the Capitol press corps, Jim Beam, last week, before the year’s first special session convened,” Alford writes. “Now, of course, legislators are pacing the carpeted floors of the House and Senate, knowing full well that the only thing concrete in that building is what resides beneath their feet.”
The Legislature’s first extraordinary session of 2018 kicked off on Monday—the seventh legislative session to be held during the past 24 months, Alford notes. Gov. John Bel Edwards personally called five of those sessions.
“That figure, quite frankly, is ridiculous, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise,” he writes. “As many sessions should not have been needed to avoid structural budget and tax alterations, in exchange for temporary solutions. But here we find ourselves, back at it again—debating familiar topics that previously bombed with the same factions taking similar stances.”
Local radio host and political analyst Jim Engster also recently noted on WAFB-TV that it’s the same story every year at the Capitol. “If Bill Murray were doing another movie, maybe ‘Groundhog Day 2,’ he’d play Gov. Edwards, because it’s the same story every year,” Engster said.
“Yet despite this well-worn record, there’s no certainty or predictability in the process at the Capitol these days,” Alford writes. “That means the chances for failure or inaction are unfortunately heightened. Under such a gloomy scenario, the governor will surely act quickly to blame the House, and Republicans will counter by painting Edwards as the culprit. Hopefully they’ll realize, sooner than later, that no one will look good if the special session goes belly-up.”
Jeremy Alford publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter, or on Facebook. He can be reached at JJA@LaPolitics.com.
