With the new legislative session calendar, the long Memorial Day weekend allows lawmakers to gather their strength and wits for the final weeklong push. Before Thursday adjournment, both Senate President John Alario and Speaker of the House Chuck Kleckley advised members to “bring your toothbrushes” and prepare to meet straight through to June 4 sine die. The time at home also offers legislators the opportunity to gauge constituent opinions on the looming budget battle, mainly centered on using so-called one-time money or taking more big cuts to higher education and health care. If they follow the pattern of last year, senators will match up one-time spending with one-time means of finance and will send back to the House a budget that is within this year’s $340 million threshold of one-time money, as per House rule. If the House refuses to concur in Senate amendments at first, it likely will be because representatives object to how the senators refashioned spending when putting the one-time funds back in. The ultimate vote may come down to whether legislators want to go home for good on June 4 or to come back for a special session.
—The field of judges interested in running for the Supreme Court in the capital area now includes District Judge Tim Kelley, a Republican. “I am considering it,” says Kelley, who lost a First Circuit race to Toni Higginbotham in 2010 in a relatively low-turnout contest. The dynamics could change in a crowded field with a bigger turnout. The notion of a half dozen or so circuit and district judges running for the high court but keeping their current offices if they lose is dread-inducing for Baton Rouge area lawyers. “The bottom line is, they want to support whoever will be there, and they don’t want to offend any sitting judges,” observed one attorney.
They said it: “Please don’t ask me any questions. I don’t know what this bill does.” —Sen. Danny Martiny, R-Metairie, handling a House bill. It passed.
(John Maginnis publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com.)
