Our Views: A doubtful new session

It’s not easy for the Legislature to call itself into special session.

And that’s not entirely because of the fact that legislators are almost entirely in the grip of Gov. Bobby Jindal and his hand-picked leaders of the House and Senate.

The process of calling a special session is easy for a governor. He issues a proclamation, and that’s that.

If lawmakers want to call themselves into session, they must meet two hurdles. First, at least a third of each body, House and Senate, must petition for a vote on the session. Then, a majority of members of each body must vote, by mail, to call the session.

Such a high hurdle is reasonable enough: Special sessions ought to be for a purpose that is special.

There’s got to be a good reason for not waiting for the regular session, that, after all, comes along every year.

But the largest hurdle to lawmakers calling themselves into special session is that they have to organize themselves to do it.

In other legislatures around the country, members consider themselves an independent branch of government. If there is an issue or a crisis big enough to need a session, lawmakers can call one.

Typically, of course, the process of calling a special session would be worked out between governor and legislative leaders. That level of a shared-power relationship simply does not exist in Louisiana.

Louisiana’s Legislatures just don’t have the backbone to assert themselves in sessions against the power of governors, much less organize themselves out of session to push back against gubernatorial policies.

That a third of the members of the House have agreed to the first step, a petition calling for a vote, is a rebuke of sorts by those members against Jindal’s recent budget cuts, which among other things will gut the existing charity hospital system.

Yet even if today’s deadline sees another such petition by one-third of members of the Senate, we have little confidence that the votes ultimately will be there for a new session.

Maybe one day that will change. That will require a considerable level of political change in Louisiana.

Comments

1) Comment by twinkie1cat - 26/10/2012

If we need a new constitution that is what we need and it sounds like the old one is as cumbersome and inappropriate as the old one. Clean it up or clean it out.

2) Comment by twinkie1cat - 26/10/2012

Unfortunately, it will only change when the jindalclones are removed from office. They get too many perks to go against him. We may as well not have a legislature the way they bow to Jindal and this needs to end immediately. America is not supposed to have kings and emperors. If they get their special session there needs to be several issues, all very important: 1) Stop the destruction of health care and the closure of prisons 2) Eliminate vouchers and the destruction of the schools 3) Force Jindal to disclose all travel plans 72 hours in advance 4) Censure Jindal for paying for his security on these out of state trips and any other costs to the taxpayer with our money. The censure should lead to an effort at impeachment. With all these items on the agenda, there is bound to be something that every legislator will agreee on.

3) Comment by [e-mail] - 26/10/2012

Why can't these legislators do what they want to do during the regular session, for which they are very well paid? The answer of course is that they are pandering, posing, and engaging in political theatrics. All of that nonsense costs taxpayers money that goes into the ever deeper pockets of these demagogues.

4) Comment by tradewinns - 26/10/2012

calling a special session is an expensive way to do what they didn't do when they were there. sure the gov. can issue a proclamation and it's done, as he is the entire executive branch you could state it requires a 100% participation for a special session. to only require a 33% response to ask for a special session is low. there are always the opposing party who loves to embarrass the governing party. the vast, vast majority of items can wait till the next regular session to discuss. if something is so egregious to require a special session, both parties will be ready to call one.

5) Comment by bourbon-soda - 26/10/2012

You're right; there's still space for a few more bumperstickers.

6) Comment by lovemykids - 26/10/2012

A new state constitution!!!! Don't be silly, we still have to at least triple the number of amendments in this one first.

7) Comment by bourbon-soda - 26/10/2012

Does "a considerable level of political change in Louisiana" mean a new state constitution?