LaPolitics: Is the Legislature headed toward another veto session? Which bills should we keep an eye on? When would the session take place?
Speaker Pro Tem Tanner Magee, R-Houma: “I would say it’s 50/50. All the talk is on Rep. [Gabe] Firment’s bill preventing certain kinds of medical interventions for transgender youths. That’s the one I’m receiving emails from the public on. In an election year, the members need to decide whether they want to spend their time in Baton Rouge making headlines or be in their districts campaigning. At the end of the day, I think this bill will pass in Louisiana regardless. It’s more of a matter of timing. Is it this year in an override session or next year with a Republican governor?”
LaPolitics: What’s the likelihood of a special session for redistricting? Is anyone discussing possible timelines inside the rails?
Magee: “There’s a lot of speculation, but no one really knows what is going to happen. This is more of a court and legal issue than a political one at the moment.”
LaPolitics: Media reports suggest there’s an “open war” among House Republicans. Is that true? If so, what’s the path forward? If not, how would you describe the divisions on the conservative side of the chamber?
Magee: “The stories are a little overblown. There’s always a degree of sausage-making and infighting behind the scenes. That said, there has always been a couple legislators who wanted to make Speaker (Clay) Schexnayder’s time with the gavel as difficult as possible. They’ve said this privately and to some extent publicly. This came to a head this session. Last term, I don’t remember passing a single budget that wasn’t on the last day with little time to consider it, but there was never a public lambasting by Republicans against the speaker. This term, we’ve largely avoided that scenario until this session. I think it being an election year has amplified the rhetoric. People are running for office or jockeying for speaker, which makes this a convenient talking point. For the most part, 99 percent of us want to get along with each other. There’s just a couple of loud voices who created this storm that thrive off of division, but they’re the exception, not the rule.”
LaPolitics: What will the next speaker have to do to win in January’s organizational session?
Magee: “Unfortunately, the real issues of the next speakership will be obscured. We are desperately in need of overhauling the internal nuts and bolts of the office. We’ve had a lot of staff turnover and more are departing. I venture to say that most people do not understand how the office actually works and all of the things that happen that are not politics. I wish the next speaker candidates would present plans on how they will revamp the inner workings of the office. Instead, we will probably have some goofy division of who wants to be the governor’s lackey versus those of us who want to remain independent from the Governor’s Office.”
They said it: “I don’t know. I don’t know the facts. I just know DOJ gave him a good deal, and he sucked it up like a Hoover Deluxe. I can’t blame him.”—U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, when asked by reporters about Hunter Biden’s plea deal.
Jeremy Alford publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter, or Facebook. He can be reached at JJA@LaPolitics.com.
