Louisiana Senate President Page Cortez considers himself a coalition builder with an independent streak. The Republican lawmaker says he intends to work with Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards on any important legislation to help find a path to success.
However, as The News Star reports, Cortez also says he won’t commit to concurring with the state economists’ forecasts used to craft the budget as a member of the Revenue Estimating Conference, which infuriated Edwards when former Republican House Speaker Taylor Barras blocked previous forecasts.Â
Cortez was elected unanimously Jan. 13 as the first Louisiana Senate president not handpicked by a governor or who wasn’t a foregone conclusion as former Senate President John Alario was during Edwards’ first term.
“You’ll see more independence this time around; the Senate won’t be the backstop for the governor or special interests,” Cortez says.
Independence from the Democratic governor will be demanded by GOP members in a body that has grown even more conservative with a Republican supermajority, especially from those who believe Alario, also a Republican, was too cozy with the Democratic governor.
But Cortez says the Senate can stand independently without the level of fractiousness displayed between the House and Edwards during the governor’s first term. “I’m not a grenade launcher,” Cortez says.
Cortez, 58, was a high school football coach and teacher before he joined wife Angela’s family furniture business in Lafayette. He came to the Legislature as a state representative in 2008, where he served one term before being elected twice to his Senate seat. Cortez is term limited in the Senate. Read the full story.
