Legislators have been distracted by rising floodwaters from the slow start to the fiscal session, except for the proposed merger of the University of New Orleans and Southern University at New Orleans. Representatives predict a very close vote on the House floor next week for a measure that requires two-thirds approval, or 70 votes. If all 55 Republicans (including Rep.-elect Bob Hensgens, to be sworn in next week) stick together, along with Rep. Rickey Hardy, D-Lafayette, and if the other 19 African-American lawmakers stay opposed, the bill would need 14 votes from the 30 white Democrats and independents. Two of them, Reps. John Bel Edwards and Harold Ritchie, voted no in committee. So the governor and speaker will need half of the remaining 28 members, six of whom represent majority black districts.
Add the name of Rep. Erich Ponti, R-Baton Rouge, to the list of legislators who aspire to be the next Speaker of the House. “I am a candidate for speaker,” he said this week. Also running or thinking hard about it are: Speaker Pro Tem Joel Robideaux, I-Lafayette; Reps. Chuck Kleckley, R-Lake Charles; Noble Ellington, R-Winnsboro; and Jeff Arnold, D-Algiers. Assuming all get re-elected, it could be a crowded field.
They said it: “CABL said we have to be bold. Well, jumping off a bridge is bold.” —Southern University President Ronald Mason, opposing the merger of UNO and SUNO.
(John Maginnis publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com.)
Today’s poll question: Will a measure to merge SUNO and UNO be approved by the Legislature?
