Jeremy Alford: Women's Caucus goes to work on agenda

For the first time in 10 years, the Louisiana Legislative Women’s Caucus met for a retreat this past weekend.

It was a notable gathering for both Democrats and Republicans alike as female legislators discussed getting behind a few policy issues ahead of the upcoming regular session.

While there are slightly more women than men in the state of Louisiana, that’s certainly not the case in the Legislature.

There are 23 women serving in the 105-member House right now and there are five women in the Senate out of 39 sitting senators.

Those numbers fall short when it comes to holding any semblance of a majority, but there are enough women in the Louisiana Legislature to influence the policymaking process. When representatives and senators convene on April 10 for their regular session, this voting bloc may be on full display.

“We want to send a signal,” said Senate President Pro Term Beth Mizell, R-Franklinton, the caucus chairwoman.

“It’s a cliche to say it, but we mean business and we want to show the power that exists in working together.”

Mizell said she and others were encouraged by the attendance from this past weekend’s retreat, which focused largely on policy.

She said caucus members shared their thoughts on several different topics and sought “common ground between Republican and Democrat and rural and urban and white and black.”

Sen. Regina Barrow, D-Baton Rouge, said it was an “absolutely wonderful” experience that allowed the members of the Women’s Caucus to reflect on the issues that brought them together this term.

The caucus fought hard on a number of topics that may resurface during the regular session, such as Title IX and the growing concerns over the core mission of the Department of Children and Family Services.

“I think we’re going to see at least two major issues that we care about addressed during the regular session,” said Barrow.

“One involves the safety of women and children and the other is the fentanyl issue. Right now we don’t have enough beds for pregnant women with addiction issues. In fact, there’s only one place in the Baton Rouge area. The safety and welfare of our children are at risk over cybersecurity issues, too. We found a good starting place on a lot of these issues.”
Mizell added, “The women heard from a wide variety of presenters, including Father

Mark Beard, women from the GRACE program at Woman’s Hospital, a director of a pregnancy resource center and an expert on child exploitation from the Attorney General’s Office. Needless to say, these issues brought strong responses from the Women’s Caucus on what we can do to make Louisiana a better state for all those involved.”  

Caucus members likewise heard a presentation on the judicial system from state Supreme Court Justice Piper Griffin.

“There were a lot of conversations and we’re going to consider a lot of strong bills,” said Mizell, who wouldn’t tip her hat yet on what exactly might be in the caucus’ policy package. “The most thrilling thing for me is we’re unified. I’ve never seen us like this.”

The other big issue the Women’s Caucus has not yet touched on, but may in the future, is candidate recruitment — because the only way to get more women in the House and Senate is to recruit them and help them get elected. 

To some extent that’s already happening. The Republican Party, for example, has become more aggressive about recruiting women to run for office.

Plus there are groups that cater to all corners of the political spectrum, like EMERGE Louisiana and the conservative-leaning Louisiana Women Lead.

For now, however, the focus for the Women’s Caucus will be on policy, which will be a welcome addition to the Capitol this year.

“It has been a very long time since we have been able to come together with a package of bills,” said Barrow.

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