Jeremy Alford and David Jacobs: Landry moves to consolidate power
Gov. Jeff Landry rolled deep for last week Thursday’s press conference on the Capitol’s fourth floor, with an entourage of more than a dozen heavyweights who — and this was the intended takeaway — had his back.
There was a state Supreme Court justice, a couple of statewide elected officials and a public service commissioner, to name a few of the folks who comprised the human backdrop for Landry’s constitutional convention pitch.
Heck, there was even a Southern Baptist pastor (Family Research Council President Tony Perkins) and a Harvard University grad (former Rep. Loulan Pitre) flanking the governor.
Just further proof that no one runs political central casting like Landry, a Cajun powerbroker who can now move personalities around like chess pieces.
Reporters asked Landry what he wanted in a new constitution. But many also harbored inquires about the new governor’s desire to control Louisiana’s boards and commissions and his continued — and hurried — reorganization of departments and agencies.
At one point during the Thursday morning press conference, as the governor attempted to leverage the Capitol Press Corps to convince the people of Louisiana to give him a convention, Landry sounded like he knew what some of the reporters were thinking. As he approaches his fifth month in office, Landry surely knows other people are thinking it too.
“Anybody who says, ‘Governor, this is about you trying to consume more power,’ I will tell you, that’s complete nonsense,” Landry said to those gathered in the press room.
After a string of special sessions where he was allowed to dictate the agendas and pacing, Landry has crossed the halfway mark of his inaugural regular session, where the Senate is holding up convention negotiations and reminding everyone it takes three to tango at the Capitol.
He probably wouldn’t say this himself, but Senate President Cameron Henry has emerged as a voice for the anti-Landry faction in Capitoland. At least on the constitutional convention proposal. Senators dislike the enabling legislation due to timing and other issues, and they’re certainly aware they’re inviting a war.
A super PAC, Protect Louisiana Values, has two info-based spots running on digital platforms this week in support of Landry and the call for a convention.
Who knows? While there’s no such indication yet, maybe the PAC will soon dedicate resources to helping the Senate better understand the governor’s mission.
Look, no ever said being the next Huey P. Long was going to be easy. Still, Landry persists on his largely overlooked and way-too-quiet march to consolidate power in Louisiana on aggressive and ambitious levels that are unparalleled in modern history.
Landry also wants his office and future governors to have more influence over the Ethics Administration, which has been critical of Landry (and a whole lot of other politicians) in the past. From removing the entire membership of the Tax Commission to proposing the forced extinction of public records laws aimed at his office, Landry clearly has a vision for an Executive Branch that would reshape Louisiana’s government.
The larger effort is missed by most eyes, since there are so many moving pieces. Yet Landry, to his credit, is openly attached to all of these endeavors.
He paid a visit to the Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday to support SB 462, which would allow the governor to appoint the chairs, or any other officers, of state boards and commissions. The bill passed without objection.
“There are some boards and commissions under which the governor would have to spend two terms before he or she has an opportunity to institute the policies that the people elected him or her to do,” Landry said. “That’s unfair to that governor, whoever that may be, based upon the way that we have, over time, staggered these particular terms.”
While not yet a target legislatively, the idea of eliminating staggered terms has been discussed among Landry supporters at high levels. That would give all future governors, and Landry, the ability to replace memberships of hundreds of boards in one fell swoop.
To some, like run-of-the-mill moderates and Democrats, the executive actions and legislative proposals amount to overreach. But for the Landry supporters who filled the Texas Club for a country music concert last year to support his campaign, and for those who support Landry because he has the support of former President Donald Trump, this is exactly what’s needed — dramatic alterations to the fabric of government.
“We have a rare opportunity to consider and make changes,” said Energy Secretary Tyler Gray, a key policy player in the Landry Administration and trusted voice at the Governor’s Mansion.
Landry, in fact, specifically appointed Gray to integrate the Department of Energy and Natural Resources with the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority and other related agencies. An executive order called for a report by Feb. 23, but Gray asked for more time for a deep-dive review.
Gray’s initial work, though, is reflected in HB 806 and HB 810 by House Natural Resources Chair Brett Geymann. The package is now pending in the Senate.
The bills would streamline CPRA’s board, removing appointees from the departments of transportation, agriculture and insurance, as well homeland security and the Division of Administration.
Only coastal-related agencies and departments would remain involved. The package also reshapes DENR to take on the Oil Spill Coordinator’s Office and house new offices for enforcement and energy, and another for land and water.
Landry didn’t need any help from statute or procedure to remove the entire membership of the Louisiana Tax Commission, which he did in February. But what now?
Jason DeCuir of Advantous Consulting, Speaker Phillip DeVillier’s appointee to the Louisiana Tax Institute, said new commission members are positioned to tackle a hot one for local governments: carbon capture. There are currently no rules about the value of carbon capture wells or the carbon itself. Does it have taxable value, and if so, how do you determine what that value is?
Now that the state is entering regulatory mode, carbon capture projects may begin moving more quickly, and Landry’s hand-picked Commission could play an important role in deciding who profits and by how much.
Economic Development Secretary Susan Bourgeois also has a mandate to restructure her agency, and she’s open to public-private partnerships.
Over at the Capitol, SB 494 by Senate Commerce Chair Beth Mizell could be transformative for LED, according to the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, which supports the legislation. The bill would establish an advisory board culled from the private sector and establish a nonprofit corporation that could engage in cooperative endeavors with the federal government. The bill is pending before Senate Finance.
At this point in the current term, it’s not a question of if the Landry Administration gets the changes it wants, but rather when and in what form and fashion.
While the push for a constitutional convention seems challenging at the moment, most of Landry’s other efforts to consolidate power for his branch of government are going his way.
From there, the only other questions involve what Landry intends to do with his shiny, new branch of government. Those are the answers that will matter most.
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