The second vice chairman to be removed by Speaker Chuck Kleckley believes the governor was behind it. “I don’t think the speaker moves without getting directions from the governor,” says Rep. Jim Morris, R-Oil City, now former vice chairman of the Natural Resources Committee. The governor’s office has denied any involvement; but Morris plainly gave it a few reasons to get involved, having voted against the administration’s two big education bills early in the session. “[Kleckley] told me I didn’t show enough interest in my committee, which is not true,” says the lawmaker, whose district sits atop the Haynesville Shale. “I explained my work on legacy [the oilfield contamination lawsuit issue], and I never missed a meeting. Then he told me I didn’t attend the speaker’s breakfasts and dinners regularly.” Morris says he learned later that other chairmen and vice chairmen had skipped some of those meetings. Morris says he had offered his resignation as vice chairman after his education votes but that Kleckley did not accept.
—Rep. Brett Geymann, R-Lake Charles, turned some heads by taking his fight against the governor’s use of one-time money in the budget beyond the Capitol. He called the practice “shameful” in a meeting of Baton Rouge Republicans, where he was joined by Reps. Hunter Greene, R-Baton Rouge, and Valarie Hodges, R-Denham Springs. Other Republicans are pursuing the cause more quietly in anticipation of a renewed budget battle next year. Rep. Tony Ligi, R-Metairie, says, “A lot of the heavy lifting next year to eliminate one-time money [for recurring expenses] must be done in Appropriations. We will work hard in the interim to drill down into the budget and to find cuts.”
They said it: “Maybe if one person speaks out, it may be better than just folks saying, ‘Well, they cut McNeese again, ho hum. What are we going to have for supper?’ This is serious.” —Vic Stelly, resigning from the Board of Regents in protest of cuts to higher education, on KPLC-TV Lake Charles
(John Maginnis publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com.)
Today’s poll question: Do you believe Gov. Bobby Jindal’s office had a hand in stripping Rep. Jim Morris of his committee leadership position, as Morris alleges?
