As U.S. Rep. Bill Cassidy flirts with running for the U.S. Senate in 2014, who is flirting with running for his House seat, should it become open? Legislators contacted were not reticent in talking about running for Congress if the opportunity arises. “Sure I would be,” says Sen. Dan Claitor, R-Baton Rouge, about his interest in the 6th District seat should Cassidy not run for re-election. “Absolutely,” chimes in Rep. Erich Ponti, R-Baton Rouge. “As a small business owner who just ran in an overlapping district, I have been approached by people who want me to run.” Ponti lost a PSC bid to Scott Angelle last year. Rep. Hunter Greene, R-Baton Rouge, is also said to be interested. Another likely contender mentioned is BESE Chairman Chas Roemer, should he decide not to run for the Senate.
—Legislators annually shoot down bills to put financial caps on TOPS college scholarships, but Rep. Steve Carter, R-Baton Rouge, hopes to make them harder to pick off in the upcoming session. He says that changes made over the years through the Administrative Procedures Act have weakened the required core courses. Strengthening core courses would save the TOPS program money by limiting eligibility, but only four years from now, because the requirements cannot be changed for current high school students, he says.
They said it: “There are people that shouldn’t have guns—angry liberals should not have guns.” —Gun Owners of America Executive Director Larry Pratt, to The Shreveport Times.
(John Maginnis publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com.)
