Jeremy Alford and David Jacobs: Vacancies mean freshman class will keep growing

During the last term of state government, the Louisiana Legislature was forced to call eight special elections as lawmakers moved to other elected jobs, decided to go home or moved into positions offering better pay. With roughly 21 months remaining in the current term, there have already been 11 special elections and more are potentially on the way.
Rep. Paul Sawyer of Baton Rouge is one of seven new members who have joined the Legislature in just the past three months. Only 16 percent of the eligible voters in Baton Rouge’s District 69 turned out for the March special election to replace Paula Davis.
As with the rest of the brand-new freshman members, it’s likely that most of his constituents have no idea who he is, or even that there was an election in the first place. 
“I have to spend the next year and a half to two years communicating vigorously to those people,” he said. “I have to let them know that I’m their representative and I need to hear from them and hear their priorities.” 
Sawyer joins a massive freshman class that has 40 members — accounting for 38 percent of the entire House of Representatives. Over in the Senate, its 14 freshmen account for 35 percent of the body.
They are the future leaders of the Louisiana Legislature, especially when you consider most will be re-elected next term and serve alongside at least 19 other freshmen in the House and six more in the Senate, based on term limits alone.
Will they bring a new approach to policymaking in Baton Rouge? Do their views differ greatly from term-limited members? How will they shape the terms to come?
Answers to some of these questions begin with understanding who the newest members are, and what ideals drive them.
Sawyer, for one, argues legislation should be the last resort for addressing an issue, preferring to work with agencies and within existing authorities. 
All legislative bodies are incentivized to over-legislate, he said. Along with their voting record, passing bills tends to be the way they are judged on various scorecards. 
“If I had a wand and ruled the world for a day, I’d love to compress the code and pare it down to its essentials,” Sawyer said. “That begins with the state’s Constitution.” 
This was Sawyer’s first run for office, though he was chief of staff for Congressmen Garret Graves and Richard Baker. He is currently senior adviser for the Amite River Basin Drainage & Water Conservation District.  
Sawyer said his biggest issues will be crime, insurance and traffic. His HB 1130 would provide hunting courses for public school students. 
Reese “Skip” Broussard was elected in February, knocking off former Jefferson Davis Parish Sheriff Ivy Woods. He took over the seat Troy Romero gave up to take a rural development job with the Trump administration. 
“I’ve got big shoes to fill,” Broussard said. “I want to leave my footprints behind.”
He said his daughter recently moved back to the area to take the reins of the family’s convenience store business, which gives him the luxury to be able to take time off from work for a session and helped spur his decision to run. 
Broussard has filed two bills: HB 692 would authorize local governments to join purchasing groups to save money, while HB 1059 revises TOPS math requirements. He said the experience of joining the body two years into the term can be “overwhelming,” so he’s doing a lot of listening and learning, which includes getting everyone’s names straight. 
“Nothing against reporters or lobbyists, but I’m trying to remember these 105 names before anybody else’s,” he said, gesturing at the House chamber floor. He said he wants to learn from those he aligns with politically, “but you can learn from everybody, no matter what side of the equation you’re on.”
Other rookies consistently expressed the same sentiment: The veterans are happy to help you, even if they’re not part of your party or caucus. 
“Everybody’s very friendly, very welcoming,” said Rep. Dana Henry, who filled the seat Jason Hughes gave up to move over to the New Orleans City Council.
Henry outpaced fellow attorney Kenya Rounds in the March 14 runoff to win his first office after three tries. 
When talking to voters in the New Orleans East-based District 100, he found that the cost of homeowners’ insurance was far and away the biggest concern. 
“The issue of homeowners insurance is getting to a point of critical mass where people are thinking about selling their homes and moving to Mississippi,” Henry said. 
He also wants to work toward expanding the New Orleans East Hospital and promote economic development in his district, which includes increasing lighting and beautification. 
When interviewed for this story, Henry was working on legislation dealing with regulations around catastrophic losses and bad faith claims, in hopes of getting claims paid quicker and resolving litigation sooner. He also had filed HB 1133, which would create the Dream Starter Program, an assistance fund for first-time homebuyers. 
Sen. Sidney Barthelemy II, son of the former New Orleans mayor, won this year’s only special election for a Senate seat after Joe Bouie stepped down to lead Southern University’s New Orleans campus. This was the younger Barthelemy’s first run for office. 
“There’s sort of a brain drain in New Orleans,” he said, discussing his motivation to run. “I think through legislation, we can try to keep our families in Louisiana and not have our kids leave.”
Senate District 3 overlaps with House District 97. Former Rep. Matt Willard, who hails from the district and chaired the House Democratic Caucus, likely would have been the favorite to join the upper chamber had he not made a successful run for the City Council instead.
So Barthelemy had a political opening to join the Senate without serving in the House first. His message focused on affordability, making sure schools throughout the district have the proper resources and economic development. 
His SB 506, like Henry’s HB 1133, also seeks to help new homebuyers. His SB 507 would require the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to establish a standardized process for public school systems to determine and document when a student is nonenrolled due to incarceration or unknown whereabouts.
“Everyone wants each other to succeed, and they’ll find a way to help you through that process,” Barthelemy said. “Obviously, we’re not going to agree on everything, but in general, they want you to be successful.”
Like Barthelemy, new Rep. Ed Murray, son of the namesake former state senator, is a political legacy who just made his first run for office. The attorney defeated Eugene Green III on Feb. 7 to win Willard’s former seat without the need for a runoff. 
Murray got to the Capitol a bit earlier than some of the other new members and was able to file five bills. His HB 874 would add new credentials to the digital LA Wallet, while his HB 1048 would establish early voting on Sundays and provide for adding new early voting days when an emergency cancels part of the early voting period. 
He might have filed more, but his colleagues already have proposed some of the same changes he supports. Like basically everyone else, he would like to find ways to make homeowners’ insurance cheaper, adding that he wants to ensure homeowners’ rights are protected. 
“Because if your insurance is dirt cheap, but it doesn’t kick in when you need it, what is it doing for you?” Murray said. 
He echoes Barthelemy’s call to do more to retain the state’s “best and brightest,” which he sees as a problem statewide, not just in New Orleans. 
“I want us to think about the future,” Murray said. “Let’s not be selfish and just think about us. Let’s think about Louisiana in 20, 30, 40 years.”
Members elected this year also include Reps. Doyle Boudreaux and Chasity Martinez. Boudreaux was the only candidate to sign up to replace Julie Emerson in District 39 when she joined Gov. Jeff Landry’s office, while Martinez, a Democrat, knocked off Republican Brad Daigle to finish out Chad Brown’s term in District 60.
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