Jeremy Alford and Mitch Rabalais / LaPolitics.com
While a proposed hike in the state’s gasoline tax has been hogging the limelight in terms of transportation chatter at the Capitol, members of the House panel that has oversight of the broader policy issue spent part of this past Monday wading through less controversial bills.
That action included votes to create a new specialty license plate to benefit the ALS work of former New Orleans Saint Steve Gleason and to reject a limited proposal that would have allowed a small community to use golf carts on streets.
The tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee will get the first crack at hearing the gas tax bill over the next couple weeks, but it’s ultimately up to members of the House Transportation, Highways and Public Works Committee to help guide future policy on roads and bridges — and all other things connected.
On Monday, that meant an agenda of about a half dozen bills for the transportation committee, which held discussions on classifications in the state highway system, public-private partnerships, permit fees and toll violations.
The committee also approved HB 318 by House Speaker Pro Team Walt Leger, D-New Orleans, which creates the “Team Gleason Foundation” specialty license plate. If at least 1,000 plates are ordered, royalty monies connected to the $28.50 fee will go to help those who have neuromuscular diseases similar to Gleason’s condition.
Gleason is best known for his blocked punt during the first game in the Superdome following Hurricane Katrina, but Leger told the committee is impact is much wider.
“He’s more famous now for the courage he’s displayed since being diagnosed with ALS in 2011,” Leger said.
Receiving a red light from the transportation committee was HB 117 by Rep. Phillip DeVillier, R-Eunice, which sought to authorizes golf carts to be used for crossing certain Louisiana highways within the town of Church Point.
“I just have some major, major concerns,” said House Transportation Chairman Terry Landry, D-Lafayette, echoing other sentiments voiced today before lawmakers put the bill on pause.
Senate chair reaches out to Hank Jr.
If you were a Louisiana legislator pushing legislation that’s connected to the legacy of the late Hank Williams Sr. and one of his classic country ditties, who would you call for help?
If you’re Senate Natural Resources Chairman Norby Chabert, you reach out to the dude with the beard and the shades from Monday Night Football — Hank Williams Jr., who was born in Shreveport in 1949. In a nod to that mile-marker, Hank Jr. wrote “Born to Boogie” in the 1980s, noting he was “born on the bayou on the Texas line, loved Louisiana and raised on jambalaya.”
Chabert, a Republican from Terrebonne Parish, has filed SB 192 for the regular session to designate the late Williams’ “Jambalaya (On the Bayou)” as one of the state’s official songs. The bill would also designate the Cajun waltz as the official state dance.
The senator’s staff has asked Hank Jr. to consider making a trip to the Capitol to support the issue.
“I think just having him here would be awesome,” Chabert said, admitting a Bocephus sighting this session is probably unlikely. he did say he has received letters of support from a country and western museum in Alabama.
While Louisiana already has two “official songs” already on the books, Chabert believes that Williams’ song touches on the Bayou State’s culture far more than the others.
“‘Jambalaya’ speaks to the iconic status of a lot of the symbols that represent Louisiana,” he said.
The bill would not remove any existing designations from the state’s current official songs, “Give Me Louisiana” and “You Are My Sunshine,” the latter being the signature hit of late Gov. Jimmie Davis.
“We are in no way trying to change ‘You Are My Sunshine,’ as a state song,” Chabert said. “This is just us trying to add another song to our official playlist.”
Chabert said that he first noticed some glaring issues with Davis’ song after hearing it at an event for the Louisiana Political Hall of Fame and Museum in Winnfield.
“‘You Are My Sunshine’ is great, but it is a pretty depressing song if you get past the first few lyrics,” he said. “Plus it is not really representative of Louisiana in no way other than Jimmie Davis.”
Chabert said he wanted to designate the Cajun waltz as Louisiana’s official dance after learning that other states had similar categorizations in place. Traditionally, other governors preform a state dance as the opening to their inaugural ball, a custom that Chabert hopes to bring to the Bayou State.
Political History: Qualifying with the Chehardys
While Louisiana’s political history is filled with stories of many colorful characters, it is safe to say that there was never quite an individual like Jefferson Parish’s own Lawrence A. Chehardy.
While in most parishes, the tax assessor was an largely unseen minor elected official, Chehardy easily wielded the most political power in Jefferson Parish. The man known a “Big Lawrence” had won appointment to the job in 1965 and had never faced a serious electoral challenge.
Chehardy’s pet issue was protection of the homestead exemption and he publicly led a crusade for the popular property tax break, often with the media in tow. The assessor knew how to inform the voters of Jefferson Parish about his work, and they rewarded his fight for their taxes with nearly unheard levels of loyalty.
Later recalling a visit to a grocery store with Chehardy, consultant Neil Curran told reporter Tyler Bridges, “People reached for his hand and looked like they were ready to kneel before him and thank him for protecting their Homestead Exemption.”
Chehardy had attended the 1973 Constitutional Convention as a delegate, but even his fellow drafters amid he was concerned with little beyond the document’s taxation article.
“That’s all he cared about,” recalled fellow Delegate Tony Guarisco.
As qualifying for the regularly scheduled elections approached in 1975, Chehardy was unopposed on the ballot for a fourth term. Nobody dared challenge the popular assessor and his legions of suburban supporters.
As Brides wrote in The Rise and Fall of David Duke, however, minutes before qualifying closed, the assessor’s 22-year-old son, Lawerence E. Chehardy, showed up at the courthouse and put his name on the ballot for his father’s seat.
With only seconds left before qualifying closed, the elder Chehardy appeared and withdrew from the race, allowing his son to succeed him with no electoral opposition.
They Said It
“You have to read the fine print to find that.” —House Speaker Taylor Barras, R-New Iberia, on the voting rules for budgets, in The News-Star.
“I believe in term limits, so I’m coming home to run for clerk of court.” —Sen. Mike Walsworth, R-West Monroe, on seeking local office, in The Ouachita Citizen.
For more Louisiana political news, visit www.LaPolitics.com or follow Alford and Rabalais on Twitter via @LaPoliticsNow.