Jeremy Alford: Legislative players will remain on veto watch

Gov. John Bel Edwards issued a set of vetoes last week, his first since the regular session was adjourned earlier this month.

The executive actions grabbed a few headlines here and there, but they failed to answer the larger questions looming over Capitoland. 

Speculation continues to grow over how Edwards will address the main budget bill and its surprise $100 million cut to the state Health Department.

The governor has also vowed to ax a package of anti-LGBTQ+ bills, which alone could trigger a veto override session.

According to an Edwards spokesperson, the governor is unlikely to act on these specific measures until the week of June 26.

Last week the governor vetoed Senate Bill 196, the Litigation Financing Disclosure and Security Protection Act, and, more importantly, issued line item vetoes for House Bill 560, a supplemental spending bill.

Lawmakers who took pronounced positions against busting the spending cap this spring saw their projects cut from the latter, including but not limited to Reps. Raymond Crews of Shreveport, Dodie Horton of Haughton and Danny McCormick of Oil City.

The decision by the Legislature to increase the state’s expenditure threshold was a big loss for some conservatives who fought hard to bank the money for a rainy day.

Whether conservatives will want to transfer that angst into another issue remains to be seen, but a veto override session might be the perfect venue.  

“The pressure from groups in the districts that would potentially benefit from additional projects and funding proved to be too much,” said Rep. Brett Geymann of Lake Charles.

“Not many calls and emails were coming from the regular folks worried about the future of the state. Having an administration and both House and Senate leadership pushing to raise the limit put those who were concerned about raising it at a big disadvantage.”

(The supplemental spending plan found in House Bill 560 was just one of the measures lawmakers used to spend $2.2 billion in excess cash. The House has prepared this document and this one to show how the total sum was distributed.)

As for those anti-LGBTQ+ bills, Louisiana Republican Party Chairman Louis Gurvich told lawmakers last week they should plan to support these measures from veto — particularly the legislation on gender-affirming care — or “suffer the consequences.”

That was an early sign Republicans plan to use the gender-affirming care issue during the fall elections.

When it comes to the budget, Edwards seems comfortable waiting to see what the Senate can find in its own review this week. Senate Health and Welfare Chairman Fred Mills of Parks, for instance, has scheduled a hearing on the $100 million surprise reduction to the Health Department. 

During an online forum hosted recently by the Public Affairs Research Council, Appropriations Chairman Zee Zeringue of Houma predicted Edwards would veto other areas of
the budget, possibly pulling from debt payments or legislative projects, to cover the Health Department’s shortfall.

There are, of course, other bills under review by the governor and various special interests are lobbying him aggressively. 

Among the latest is Secretary of State Kyle

Ardoin, who sent a letter to the governor last week asking him to sign House Bill 646 into law.

The bill by Rep. Les Farnum of Sulphur sets up a revised canvass protocol for election officials.

Edwards vetoed a similar proposal last year.

“In last year’s veto message, you state: ‘it is simply unnecessary,’” Ardoin wrote in his letter.

“You cite the fact that the ‘registrar of voters in each parish is already required to conduct an annual canvass.’

"Yet, your message ignores the fact that it is an entirely different subset of data used in each of these canvasses.

"This is not a duplication of efforts nor an overlap of voters. Instead, the additional subset of data would allow us to canvass voters with absolutely no voter activity over the past 10 years.

"Voters would have an opportunity to respond to the canvass; and even then, would not be removed from the voter rolls. They would be placed on the inactive list for an additional two federal elections.”

For now, we wait.

The governor has the luxury of time on his side to make his final decisions related to the regular session.

You can keep track of the session’s vetoes here: https://legis.la.gov/archive/23RS/veto.htm.

For more Louisiana political news, visit www. LaPolitics.com or follow Alford on Twitter @ LaPoliticsNow.