Monday at 6 p.m. is when many lawmakers abandoned hope for passing last-minute bills out of the regular session. That was the deadline for representatives to have their bills passed by the full House and for senators to have their proposals off the Senate floor. As of this morning, it now takes a two-thirds vote for lawmakers to move a bill from their own chamber to final passage. House Speaker Jim Tucker, R-Algiers, and Senate President Joel Chaisson, D-Destrehan, were expected to address the change in a meeting this morning. “We’re going to figure out a procedure,” Tucker says. Still, there’s no getting around the required two-thirds vote. That’s why the session’s final days offer so many surprises, mostly in the form of voluminous bills that suddenly become amendments—or rather, hitchhikers.
Today, the two chambers were slated to convene at 9:30 a.m. and the House has the state budget bill on its agenda. Concurrence is anticipated, although nothing is a sure thing during the final 72 hours of a session. In the Senate, meanwhile, there are more than two dozen bills that could potentially be sent to Gov. Bobby Jindal for his signature today. Chief among them are Senate Bills 52 and 53 by Sen. John Alario, R-Westwego. They represent the constitutional amendment package that directs more money to the TOPS scholarship program. And, thanks to a surprise amendment approved by the House yesterday, it would allow voters to decide whether a 4-cent tax on cigarettes should be renewed. —Jeremy Alford
Today’s question: Will you vote to renew a 4-cent cigarette tax if it ends up on the ballot this fall?
