Louisiana Politics: House launches search for new clerk
The architects and engineers behind the House of Representatives will often post vaccines and job openings internally before making a broader search for candidates. And that’s what they did this week, only for the elected job of House clerk. At the end of this term, Clerk Butch Speer will be retiring after holding the spot since 1984.
Some lawmakers have been eager to get the replacement process underway, fearing there wouldn’t be enough time to train the next clerk properly. But things being what they are in the Capitol, nothing is that straight-forward. Clerks are elected by members of the House, who individually reserve the right to nominate candidates.
The deadline for internal applications is Nov. 1, with a decision expected from the House leadership sometime before the 2019 regular session. The House Executive Committee, which former Rep. Greg Cromer was the chairman of, will be overseeing the presentations given by the candidates.
House Speaker Taylor Barras said the idea is to let the chosen candidate shadow Speer in 2019, and then that individual would arrive to the 2020 organizational session with a sort of symbolic seal of approval. “This really is the 2020 Legislature’s decision, but it feels irresponsible for this body not to make a recommendation,” said Barras. “Plus someone has to open the organizational session.”
The potential candidates are difficult to peg, although there has been plenty of chatter in the Capitol’s hallways. If there’s going to be a surprise, it may come in the form of a term-limited legislator looking for a new lease on life.
Q&A on the Farm Bill
LaPolitics: As a conferee on the Farm Bill, you have been directly involved in the negotiations around the bill. What, in your opinion, is the biggest impasse that is preventing passage of this legislation?
U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham, R-Alto: We passed it on the House side and there was of course, some controversy on the work requirements for SNAP. As you know, I’m a big advocate of people that can work need to work. We certainly want to take care of those who are disabled, we want to take care of those who are pregnant and certainly the children. But those who are in that 59 to 18 year old age group, that have none of those physical or mental disabilities or don’t fall into any one of those categories, I want them to work a little bit. We’re not asking them to work a lot. If they can’t find that good job, we’re going to give them money to help train for that good job. So that was one of the things on the House side that we were butting heads with the Democrats on but we prevailed. Now, it’s over on the Senate side now and unfortunately you have one or two members on the Democrats side blocking the Farm Bill simply because they think that with Congress returning after the elections, that the Democrats are going to control the Senate. That’s not going to happen, so I do have a problem when you have one member that is able to stall a very good bill for the rest of America.
LaPolitics: You said it yourself, you are a big advocate for these work requirements. This is something that Republicans as a whole are very much for, and we’ve seen the White House and President Donald Trump get behind this. Are the work requirements a deal breaker for Republicans?
Abraham: Well, no, not at all. Look, I mean everything is on the table. But not only are Republicans for these work requirements, if you poll any group, including Democrats, you get over 80 percent favorable polling on this one particular issue. Look, we all want to help those that need the help. I certainly don’t mind my tax dollars going for those who have true food insecurity. I don’t want anybody in America to be hungry, but at the same time, those that are gaming the system and those that can work that are not working, they need to go to work. We have over seven million living wage, not minimum wage, jobs that we can’t fill right now because this economy is so good. And as I said, if they don’t have the education or the training to get that good job, in this particular Farm Bill, we are going to allow them to go and get that training on the taxpayers’ money and hopefully get that good job. So it’s a win-win, as I call it in my arena, an on-ramp to success. Everybody who needs a job should be able to get a job. Everybody that can work, needs to work.
LaPolitics: Something else you mentioned is the timetable on the Farm Bill. Some are thinking that this is going to happen when Congress comes back. In your opinion, is this something that will be handled in December, or are we going to have to wait until new members take office in January?
Abraham: I think what will happen — we’re going to keep the House and we’re going to keep the Senate -- that is certainly my prediction. Sometime between the election and the first of the year, I think we will get this Farm Bill voted on, on the Senate side. They’re going to pass it over there, it will come back to us in the House as what we call a “conferee bill” and we’ll get it to the president’s desk. The president has said that he wants to sign this bill. This is a good bill, not only for our young farmers, it’s a great bill for conservation programs, it’s a great bill for giving our farmers a safety net. Right now, we’re into a soybean crisis because we don’t have anywhere to store soybeans and unfortunately, because it’s been such a wet harvest season, a lot of these are damaged soybeans. So this Farm Bill is a win-win for our farmers. I guess if there is any light at the end of the tunnel, as far as some of these programs expiring, those that are supported by the Democrats are going to run out of money before those that are supported by the Republicans are going to run out of money on this current Farm Bill. Right now, we’re working under the 2014 Farm Bill. So like it or not, the Democrats are going to have to come to the table to get this thing done. But I do predict with us holding the Senate on the Republican side, you will see this happen very quickly when we return after the elections.
For more Louisiana political news, visit www.LaPolitics.com or follow Jeremy Alford on Twitter @LaPoliticsNow.