It’s Liberal Gov. John Bel Edwards vs. Conservative State Legislature

By Woody Jenkins, editor, Central City News • BATON ROUGE — Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards has vetoed 28 bills passed by the Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature, including 12 conservative bills authored by Republican legislators who oppose much of Edwards’ agenda.  Edwards raised eyebrows by vetoing these bills:

•To allow the Republican and Democratic parties to appoint poll watchers at each precinct and early voting site in the state.

•To prohibit private money from Mark Zuckerberg and others being used in elections by state and local election officials.

•To allow Louisiana citizens to carry weapons concealed on their person or property.

•To prohibit men who call themselves women from competing in women’s sports.

•To prohibit vaccine status being listed on a person’s Louisiana drivers’ license.

Now the legislature appears poised to meet in the first-ever veto session in Louisiana history. While members have until July 15 to vote against having the session.  Republican leaders say the session will definitely happen. Far less certain is whether both the House and Senate will be able to get a 2/3rds vote to override any of the vetoes.  

The stakes are high, because the bills cover some of the most important and controversial issues facing the state. 

Here is a list of the Top 12 Conservative Bills passed by the legislature and vetoed by the governor:

1.

HB 704 by Rep. Valarie Hodges – Poll Watchers to Help Insure Honest Elections – To allow each of the two major parties to designate a poll watcher at each precinct or early voting site in the state. Passed House 68-31 • Passed Senate 37-1 (Conservative Vote is Yes) – Gov. Edwards’ Written Reason for Veto:  This bill unnecessarily politicizes the election process by inserting the state central committee of certain parties into the poll watching process. Republican Response: At present, candidates can appoint poll watchers, but few do because candidates normally don’t have the time nor resources to recruit poll watchers. Currently, the political parties have no authority to appoint election watchers.  Watchers are essential to insure transparency and honesty in elections.  This does not “politicize” the election process. Rather, it prevents fraud by allowing the parties to select a trained watcher in each precinct where there are potential problems. At present, no watchers are allowed at early voting sites, even though 30 to 50 percent of voters vote early.  This would allow watchers at early voting sites for the first time.

2.

SB 118 by Sen. Jay Morris – Constitutional Carry – To allow any citizen to carry a concealed weapon without a concealed weapons permit.  This is called Constitutional Carry.  It would not apply to individuals who are disabled from owning a firearm because of felony convictions or mental incapacity. Passed Senate 26-11 • Passed House 73-28 (Conservative Vote is Yes) – Gov. Edwards’ Written Reason for Veto:  The current law as it stands strikes the perfect balance between public safety and ensuring the Second Amendment is upheld. Allowing concealed carry without a permit would not be in the interest of public safety. Republican Response: The current concealed carry law has a number of problems such as making it a felony to carry in a bar room.  More importantly, the right of self defense is something every person has, and citizens should not have to ask the government for permission to carry.  We know criminals carry without a permit.  Openly carrying a weapon can make people a target.  It is not the government’s prerogative to decide whether we are armed or whether that weapon is concealed.  Misuse of that weapon is what the law should prohibit and punish.

3.

HB 30 by Rep. Blake Miguez – Prohibit Zuckerberg and Other Private Money in Administering Elections – To prohibit the use of private funds in administering elections in Louisiana. Passed House 69-35 • Passed Senate 26-11 (Conservative Vote is Yes) – Gov. Edwards’ Written Reason for Veto: This bill would prevent the local VFW from passing out free donuts to election workers. Republican Response: The governor’s absurd reason for vetoing this important legislation is disingenuous at best.  Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook distributed more that $300 million to election officials across the nation in the November 2020 election.  These funds allowed Zuckerberg to determine how the election was run.  They were used to pay for unsecured ballot drop boxes in Democrat areas but not Republican areas, hiring of Democrat activists as poll workers, get out the vote efforts in Democrat areas but not Republican areas, and many other things.  We don’t need private funds going to our Clerks of Court or Registrars of Voters and having those funds used to tip the scales of an election.

4.

HB 349 by Rep. Kathy Edmonston – Show Us Your “Papers,” Comrade! – To prohibit printing on a driver’s license whether a person has been vaccinated. Passed House 71-18 • Passed Senate 33-3 (Conservative Vote is Yes) – Gov. Edwards’ Written Reason for Veto:  This bill contributes to the false narrative that the COVID-19 vaccines are anything other than safe and incredibly effective.  Republican Response: It is up to each person to determine what medications or preventatives he is willing to take.  Our bodies don’t belong to the governor or the state.  While leftist Democrats know they cannot constitutionally force anyone to take their vaccines, they would like to require people to carry a vaccine passport telling whether they have been vaccinated.  This would then subject people who do not take the vaccine to every type of discrimination, indignity and humiliation.  The bill prevents the state-issued driver’s license from being used as a vaccine passport.

5.

HB 498 by Rep. Kathy Edmonston – Discrimination Against Citizens Who Don’t Take Vaccine – To prohibit discrimination by government if a person refuses the vaccine. Passed House 70-30 • Passed Senate 26-10 (Conservative Vote is Yes)  – Gov. Edwards’ Written Reason for Veto:  The attempts to undermine the public’s faith in the COVID-19 vaccines and change Louisiana’s approach to vaccine requirements for schools and educational facilities, which has been in place for decades without significant controversy.  Republican Response: The governor is wrong. No one in Louisiana is now required by law to receive a vaccine.  As to students, Louisiana law specifically provides that a student or his parents can opt out of any vaccine for religious reasons, health reasons, or no reason at all.  However, some leftist Democrats such as Edwards want to prohibit people who choose not to be vaccinated from attending public meetings, entering public buildings, accepting employment with the government, going on cruises, flying on airlines and any manner of other ordinary activities.  This bill prohibits that.

6.

HB 149 by Rep. Larry Frieman – Allow Legislature to End Any Part of an Emergency Order – To allow the legislature to terminate any part of an emergency order. Passed House 58-33 • Passed Senate 25-12 (Conservative Vote is Yes) – Gov. Edwards’ Written Reason for Veto: This bill was the latest attempt by the Legislature to remedy the obvious and adjudged defects in the petition signed by some House of Representatives members last October attempting to terminate the COVID-19 public health emergency and did not sufficiently improve the vetoed bill from last year. Republican Response: Current law allows either house of the legislature to end a state of emergency after 30 days. The Louisiana House of Representatives did just that, but Edwards ignored their decision and violated existing law.  This legislation provides that both houses would have to concur to end an emergency, but that they could also suspend parts of an emergency order, instead of the entire order.  For example, this would have allowed the legislature to end Edwards’ mask mandate without ending the emergency order entirely.

7.

SB 156 by Sen. Beth Mizell – Prohibit Men Who Consider Themselves Women from Competing in Women’s Sports – To prohibit biological males who “identify” as female from competing in women’s sports. Passed Senate 29-6 • Passed House 78-19  (Conservative Vote is Yes) – Gov. Edwards’ Written Reason for Veto: The bill unfairly targets children who are going through unique challenges and offers solutions to an issue that does not exist in Louisiana. Republican Response: The governor is promoting the fantasy that if a male believes he is female, he should be allowed to function as a female including participating in high school and college sports against women. This absurdity is a good example of just how twisted leftist Democrats like John Bel Edwards will try to make our society.

8.

HB 103 by Rep. Danny McCormick – Intimidation of Businesses that Refuse Vaccine Mandates – No business can be held liable for failing to mandate vaccines. Passed House 65-27 • Passed Senate 23-12 (Conservative Vote is Yes) – Gov. Edwards’ Written Reason for Veto: This bill is not necessary; it contributes to false narrative that the COVID-19 vaccines are anything other than safe and effective; and it does nothing to protect the health and safety of the public.  Republican Response: The bill makes it clear that a private business cannot be sued because they refuse to make their employees or their customers take a vaccine.   The bill supports freedom of choice, while the governor wants private businesses to impose his choice on their employees and customers.

9.

SB 224 by Sen. Heather Cloud – Making Sure Absentee Ballots Are Requested by the Actual Voter and Not Harvested by Political Operatives – To require that the flap on absentee ballots contain the driver’s license number and last four digits of a person’s social security number.   Passed House 68-27 • Passed Senate 36-0 (Conservative Vote is Yes) – Gov. Edwards’ Written Reason for Veto: It would make the application to vote absentee by mail more stringent than what is currently required to actually vote absentee by mail. Republican Response: What it does is make it more difficult for individuals to illegally apply for absentee ballots for persons other than themselves.

10.

SB 220 by Sen. Heather Cloud – Maintaining Election Records in Case of Election Challenge – To require each parish Registrar of Voters to maintain the original absentee ballots, applications for ballots, spoiled ballots, and applications for candidacy, commissioners, and watchers for two years after an election. Passed House 68-28 • Passed Senate 27-10 (Conservative Vote is Yes) – Gov. Edwards’ Written Reason for Veto: This bill possesses separation of powers issues and adds an additional layer of bureaucracy to the elections process. Republican Response: There are no questions of separation of powers or bureaucracy in this bill. The records in question already have to be kept for six months. This simply extends the time to two years. The purpose is to make sure election records are available during the course of any investigation.

11.

HB 138 by Rep. Les Farnum – Annual Canvass of Voters to Insure They Reside Where Listed – To require the Registrar of Voters to annually canvass the voter rolls and send a supplemental verification postcard to persons who are listed by the Post Office as no longer at that address or who have not voted in 10 years.  The purpose is to identify registrants who have moved and need to update their voter registration records to reflect their current addresses. Passed House 64-30 • Passed Senate 28-10 (Conservative Vote is Yes) – Gov. Edwards’ Written Reason for Veto: The registrar of voters in every parish is already required to do an annual canvass of all registered voters under current law. Republican Response: The current system misses a large number of voters who are on the voter rolls illegally.

12-HB 38 by Rep. Rick Edmonds – Online Access to School Board Spending Records – To allow any citizen to have online access to the spending records of each local school board with 2,500 or more students enrolled.  Passed House 76-27 • Passed Senate 20-14 (Conservative Vote is Yes) – Gov. Edwards’ Written Reason for Veto:: Local school systems do not have the resources or technology to comply with this unfunded mandate.  Republican Response: Testimony in committee showed local school boards can comply at minimum expense. Furthermore, taxpayers have the right to know how their tax dollars are being spent.

While John Bel Edwards ran as a moderate to conservative Democrat, his actions during the pandemic and the recent legislative session reveal a political figure very much in line with the national Democratic Party. The Veto Session may demonstrate how those policies play in Louisiana.