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Along with preparing for the next round of elections this fall, the biggest job facing Secretary of State Nancy Landry right now is making progress in the state’s multiyear saga to buy new voting machines.
Last week, her office hosted a public demonstration of a new voting system, following the certification of five voting systems and one ballot marking device last year. According to state law, a potential vendor can request certification at any time, Landry says. But any additional requests won’t be part of this next procurement.
“We had to draw the line somewhere,” she says. Next, the Division of Administration will issue an invitation to negotiate, which Landry describes as less rigid than a traditional request for proposal. Different vendors could end up providing different components.
“We wanted to have that option to be flexible and to be able to pick the best for our needs, regardless of the vendor,” Landry says. “We hope to have a contract in place by the end of the year, and we still think we’re on schedule to do that.”
—Cassidy’s committee rejects DOE breakup: The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions that U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy chairs approved a bill this week that would keep core Education Department functions at the department, which the Trump administration is seeking to shut down. Though Cassidy voted against the final bill, he shares supporters’ concerns about moving special education oversight to the Department of Health and Human Services, reportedly arguing the change could turn students with disabilities into patients to diagnose rather than learners to educate. “This risks reversing decades of progress,” he says.
—Speaker lineup announced: Leaders for a Better Louisiana has announced the speaker lineup for its annual Future Louisiana Conference. The event will conclude with “fireside-chat keynote conversations” with Margaret Spellings, president and CEO of the Bipartisan Policy Center; Jeff Jenkins, founder and partner with Bernhard Capital Partners; and David McCullough III, co-founder and CEO of the American Exchange Project. The event also features a panel discussion with mayors from Louisiana’s major metros that is expected to include Alexandria Mayor Jacques Roy, East Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sid Edwards, Mayor-President Monique Boulet of Lafayette, Lake Charles Mayor Marshall Simien Jr., Monroe Mayor Friday Ellis and Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux. The conference is scheduled to begin with an evening reception on Aug. 19 followed by a day of programming on Aug. 20 at L’Auberge Casino Resort in Lake Charles, along with LegisGator.
—They said it: “There’s all sorts of domestic events going on with 435 members of Congress all the time. It’s not my business to get engaged in it.” –U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, on the reported scandals of members of Congress, in Politico
Jeremy Alford publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter, or Facebook. He can be reached at JJA@LaPolitics.com.
