The three Republican candidates running in a special election to fill Louisiana’s House District 66 seat, which includes portions of southeast East Baton Rouge Parish, showed off their conservative credentials this afternoon to an appreciative crowd at a lunch forum hosted by the local Republican Party.
Metro Councilman Buddy Amoroso, attorney Rick Bond and former Metro Councilman Darrell Ourso all said they favor lower taxes, Louisiana’s ban on gay marriage, and getting a better handle on the millions of dollars in tax credits the state offers businesses as an economic development incentive.
At the same time, all voiced opposition to cutting any more money from the state’s higher education budget, though none offered any ideas as to where other cuts could be made in the state budget. And they all agreed on the need to do something about the area’s traffic and infrastructure problems, which they concur is the single biggest issue facing District 66. The candidates also said tweaks should be made to the state law concerning the controversial Common Core educational standards, but none elaborated in detail on what tweaks they prefer.
When asked what single piece of legislation they would most wish to introduce and get passed, Amoroso said he would sponsor a bill limiting when tax elections can be held.
“You can only have tax elections when you have other major issues on the ballot,” he said, referring specifically to the special May 2 election that may be held to consider Mayor Kip Holden’s proposed $335 million bond issue. “I will oppose the mayor’s efforts to put a massive tax on voters during a low voter turnout election.”
Bond said his signature legislation would be something that brings greater transparency to the judiciary.
“I would want to do something about jury trial threshold because that contributes to hidden taxes on businesses,” he said.
Ourso said he would want to address the state’s $12 billion backlog of infrastructure projects, some of which could help alleviate the Capital Region’s notorious gridlock.
“Transportation issues are critical and we have a $12 million backlog of projects,” Ourso said. “So we have to continually work on improving the transportation issues in our district.”
The forum was sponsored by the East Baton Rouge Parish Republican Party, which invited the three GOP contenders in the race. A fourth announced candidate in race, consultant Susan Nelson, does not list any political party affiliation.
The special election for House District 66 will be held Feb. 21, with a March 28 runoff if none of the candidates earn at least 50% of the vote in the primary. The seat is being vacated by Rep. Hunter Greene, who unseated longtime family court judge Annette Lassalle in last fall’s elections. —Stephanie Riegel
