After failing to pass reform legislation aimed at the payday loan industry last year, Sen. Ben Nevers, D-Bogalusa, said he’s considering bringing a bill again, but is still on the fence.
“I haven’t decided yet. There’s an audit advisory meeting I want to attend in October that should give me a better idea. I’ve been told there are strides being made in monitoring the industry. I’m trying to listen to all sides right now and figure out what is best.”
Nevers doesn’t sound eager to repeat the huge lobbying battle that was waged during the spring session. Yet he is still interested in learning more about the issues of repeat lenders, meaning consumers who repeatedly take out payday loans, and what reporting requirements look like.
Right now, local-level governments, such as the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Council, are taking turns looking into the industry, but there’s no telling where that might all end up.
Meanwhile, the industry has formed a new trade group, the Louisiana Payday Loan Assoc. Lobbyist Danny Ford, a spokesman for the association, said members will be meeting soon to discuss a 2015 legislative agenda and address regulations that may be handed down by the federal government.
“But it’s too early to tell what kind of strategy we might have for next year,” he said.
Ford pointed out that the industry supported HB 766 by Rep. Erich Ponti, R-Baton Rouge, during the most recent session. It would have given the state the ability to regulate online lending; establish debt consolidation and extended payment plans; and abolish delinquency fees.
Amendment Battle Moves To Airwaves
The Louisiana Hospital Assoc., Louisiana Nursing Home Assoc., Louisiana Pharmacists Assoc., ambulance providers and intermediate care facilities are pooling their resources and planning for a statewide media buy to promote the passage of the first two constitutional amendments on the November ballot.
Sources say the buy will include TV, radio and web, but no specific dollar amount has been set. The hospital association has already launched a website, VoteYes1and2.org. But a major component of the campaign will be on the grassroots level, with face-to-face contacts made in community meetings and other venues.
“We’re not taking this for granted,” said Sean M. Prados, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Louisiana Hospital Assoc. “We’re going to be doing a lot of education.”
It’ll be a tough fight to grab the attention of voters with a major U.S. Senate race being waged. But the recent headlines about financial turmoil at hospitals in Baton Rouge and LaPlace will help make the amendments relevant and timely.
According to the Public Affairs Research Council, which has a new guide to the amendments, Constitutional Amendment No. 1 would give constitutional protection to the Louisiana Medical Assistance Trust Fund. It would also set a baseline compensation rate for nursing homes and other health care providers such as ambulance companies that pay a special fee.
One group, Louisianans United for Home Care, is already sponsoring web videos arguing the amendment could make it harder for some individuals to obtain home care as opposed to institutionalized care.
Constitutional Amendment No. 2 would create the Hospital Stabilization Fund, which would allow hospitals to deposit assessments and draw down additional federal Medicaid money.
Critics argue this could further open up higher ed and other health care providers to budget cuts, since they wouldn’t have the same protections as the institutions covered in the amendments. To be certain, universities may be wishing they had done something similar if the second amendment on the ballot passes.
State Legislative Elections Take Shape
It’s never too early to start thinking about next year’s legislative races.
After all, the potential candidates are already making moves and at least one special election will be needed before the 2015 balloting, and possibly more than one.
But before that happens, there’s a special election on this year’s November ballot in House District 97 for a seat that was left vacant by now-New Orleans Councilman Jared Brossett.
Only two candidates qualified in August for the Crescent City race. They weren’t the high-profile names that were batted around in the preceding months — names like those of state Sen. Ed Murray, D-New Orleans, and Sidney Cates.
Instead, two Democrats with roots in old-school New Orleans politics emerged: Eugene Green, who once worked for disgraced former Congressman Bill Jefferson and former Mayor Marc Morial, and Joe Bouie, who challenged and lost to Brossett in the council elections held earlier this year.
Given Bouie’s recent loss in a council district that takes up a large part of the local House district, sources give Green the early edge. Rep. Jeff Arnold, D-New Orleans, is also said to be helping Green, who lost his own at-large council race against an incumbent in February, but supposedly managed to build strong coalitions in the process.
“Both kind of feel like throwback candidates from an older school of politics,” said a source. “But nobody else qualified and that’s what we’re working with.”
Meanwhile, Rep. Jeff Thompson, R-Benton, has won a gavel in the 26th Judicial District in the best way imaginable: without opposition. As a result, the game of musical chairs now begins in north Louisiana’s House District 8.
“I don’t take office until Jan. 1,” Thompson said, “so between now and then, I’ll send notice to the House so they can prepare for either a December election, or maybe one at the beginning of the year.”
The biggest splash has been made by those lining up for the special election. Especially prominent has been constitutional law attorney Mike Johnson, who’s picked up endorsements from Congressman John Fleming and U.S. Sen. David Vitter.
Other possible candidates are Bossier Police Jury President Doug Rimmer, and Duke Lowrie, a retired fireman who lost to Thompson in 2011.
While a special election in House District 8 could easily be added to the already-scheduled December runoff ballot, legislative leaders want to wait and see what happens in the other November races featuring lawmakers as candidates.
For example, Rep. Alfred Williams, D-Baton Rouge, is facing two challengers in the 19th Judicial District. With only one opponent, Rep. Hunter Greene, R-Baton Rouge, will have his race decided for the city’s Family Court after the November vote.
In Greene’s House District 66, Baton Rouge Metro Councilman Buddy Amoroso has already announced he is running, should Greene win. Supporters of former councilman Darrell Ourso are said to be encouraging him to consider the race as well.
In Rapides Parish, Rep. Chris Hazel, R-Ball, is running for district attorney in a three-way field that should produce a runoff between either him, former Rep. Chris Roy or Pineville City Judge Phillip Terrell.
In Bossier Parish, Rep. Patrick Williams, D-Shreveport, is running against six others for mayor of Shreveport. With his fundraising base partly in Baton Rouge and supposedly thriving, local elected officials expect him to at least make the runoff.
How much Shreveport Mayor Cedric Glover gets involved in the race to replace him remains to be seen. Connected to Glover are the candidacies of Shreveport Councilman Sam Jenkins and Ollie Tyler, the former Caddo school superintendent and interim state education superintendent.
Also worth watching is whether Sen. Greg Tarver, D-Shreveport, steps into the race as an influencer. He heads up a political machine that’s at odds with Glover, and he could very well pick his own candidate. The animosity between the two has apparently led to speculation that Glover may stand toe-to-toe next year to challenge Tarver’s re-election to the Senate.
Playing out in the background of these possible special elections is the maneuvering that’s already underway for the seats that will open next fall.
In House District 45, term-limited Rep. Joel Robideaux, R-Lafayette, is running for city-parish president next year, creating an open field that several takers are eyeing.
Andre Comeaux, an insurance agent; Jean-Paul Coussan, a real-estate lawyer; and Jan Swift, an economic development professional, have all been cited as likely contenders.
In House District 72, Rep. John Bel Edwards, D-Amite, is opting to run for governor next year instead of for re-election, so of course, he will leave behind a vacancy. The developing race has been very quiet, with only one candidate making noise.
That would be Hunter Carter, who was elected alderman in the town of Greensburg at the age of 21 as a pro-life, pro-gun Democrat.
Ballot Confusion Feared
The Louisiana Secretary of State’s Office sent 6,112 mail ballots overseas so that members of the military, and citizens in foreign lands who have requested ballots, can vote in the November primary election. However, the recipients may find a bit of confusion in their envelopes.
More than 100 candidates either withdrew from their races or have been disqualified since the mail ballots were printed following the August qualifying period.
“No one remembers this many withdraws ever happening,” said SOS press secretary Meg Casper. “But this is also the largest election in terms of candidates and races on the ballot anyone can remember in the last 10 years.”
Special notices had to be included with the mail ballots to let voters know which candidates are no longer running in spite of the fact that they are listed. The same kind of notices, in a more noticeable form, will be placed at polling precincts as well.
It’s not a perfect process. Casper said two or three more candidates have withdrawn from their races since the mail ballots and notices were sent out.
Could this create problems?
“It certainly could,” Casper said. “Any votes cast for someone no longer running are just not going to be counted.”
Voters are being asked to review their local ballots on the SOS website, which is updated in real time.
For more Louisiana political news, visit www.LaPolitics.com or follow Jeremy Alford on Twitter @LaPoliticsNow.
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