Today will be a busy one in the state House with representatives scheduled to debate a number of legislative instruments aimed at the emergency rule-making authority of the executive branch. Conservative lawmakers want to in some way curtail the restrictions approved by Gov. John Bel Edwards to help mitigate COVID-19, but that desire has led to proposals that would affect future orders as well as what’s currently in place. Despite what happens Friday morning in the House, this issue still has a long way to go. So far the House has shown an appetite for legislation with more teeth than what the Senate has already passed. With an Oct. 27 deadline for this year’s second special session, time will soon become limited for a compromise. Looking toward next week, the House Labor Committee has scheduled hearings for next Thursday, Oct. 8, for four different instruments related to unemployment compensation. Aside from the executive authority matter and hurricane recovery, addressing the ability of the state to keep pace with unemployment benefits is a top issue for the legislative leadership in this special session.
Hired: Attorney General Jeff Landry has named Cory Dennis as press secretary, which was mentioned here recently, and Emmie Fuson as deputy press secretary, which was not. Dennis is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and the former special adviser to Maryland Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford. Fuson is a Livingston Parish native and an honors graduate of Mississippi College. She previously served as communications assistant for Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant.
They said it: “I’m happy to be the next contestant on The Price is Right.”—Rep. Thomas Pressly, R-Shreveport, upon being told his bill was next in the House and Governmental Affairs Committee.
Jeremy Alford publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter, or on Facebook. He can be reached at JJA@LaPolitics.com.
