About Town…
7th April 2014 · 0 Comments
By Christopher Tidmore
Contributing Writer
Murray to Beat Term Limits to House… Winding around the legislative halls of Baton Rouge, speculation has centered on one competitive New Orleans House seat, and whether one of the deans of the State Senate would throw his hat into the ring for the position.
Sen. Ed Murray once represented much of this seat, prior to its recent census driven redraw. House District 96, which he once held parallels may of the precincts of the current District 97, will come open on May 1, when Rep. Jared Brossett will be sworn in as a New Orleans City Councilman.
Murray, facing term limits in 2015, would have the ability to fill the remaining year of Brossett’s term, and run three more times. It would be 2028 before the former mayoral candidate needed to worry about term limits again, when he would be 67 years old—prime for retirement.
Murray has remained cagy about whether he planned to make a bid, not confirming whether he would or would not run. Likely, the Senator has engaged in an attempt not to render himself a lame duck in the current session. Should Brossett resign at the last possible moment, there would not be enough time to call an election prior to the June 6 end of the current session. Murray could finish his legislative work, and then look to a bid by summer’s end or during the Congressional elections in the early fall.
Murray would not run unopposed. Both Sidney Cates Jr., son of Judge Sidney Cates, and businessman Randy Greenup, have indicated an interest in the job. And, as noted last week, quite a lot of speculation has centered on a bid by outgoing District D Councilwoman Cynthia Hedge-Morrell. Both her husband and son represented the area in the State House, and her son JP Morrell still does in the State Senate.
That would create a war of incumbents, undermining Murray’s strong name recognition and fundraising potential. So far, though, Hedge-Morrell has made no moves to run for the District 97 seat.
And there is no guarantee that is status as a veteran of both the Senate and the House will provide Murray a warm welcome if he opts to return to the lower house.
Several Senators have attempted to return to their former House seats when term limits rendered them officeless. Sen. James David Cain and others made splashes, only to come up short when the voters opted for new blood.
One who was successful, Democrat-turned-Republican Rep. Noble Ellington openly ran in 2008, after three Senate terms, declaring that he planned to run for Speaker of the House. Ellington justified his experience as a reason for the electorate to overcome their reticence, and send him back to the House for a third non-consecutive term.
However, Jim Tucker of New Orleans already had the Speakership effectively tied up, and the Republican’s Black Caucus allies guaranteed the Pro Tem position for one of their own. Ellington’s next bid to become Chair of House Appropriations also failed, and he resigned after one term to join the Insurance Department under his old friend Jim Donelon.
Jindal Unveils ACA Alternative… Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal announced on Wednesday a repeal and replace President Obama’s health-care law. Citing his experience as former Heath and Hospitals Secretary in Louisiana and former Undersecretary at the Federal Department of Heath and Human Services, his proposal draws upon conservative healthcare reform ideas floated for the last two decades.
The clearest message Jindal makes, however, is that Republicans must have a healthcare alternative to the Affordable Care Act, and called his ideas “an open source” platform upon which the GOP could draw. Many commentators believe that it’s a platform of another sort, for a Presidential nomination bid in 2016.
The 26-page plan begins with Jindal critiquing what he calls throughout as “Obamacare”, and his disagreements with fellow Louisiana leaders like Mary Landrieu that the answer is not “mend it, don’t end it”. Instead, the Governor emphasizes his contention to repeal the entire law, noting that insurance premiums have risen in most states; 53 percent in his native Louisiana. (The same percentage, interestingly enough, of voters that disapproved of his term in office.)
Jindal proposes to eliminate the long-standing tax preference for employer-based insurance, allow insurance to be sold across state lines, and encourage expanded usage of “health savings accounts,” including letting people use money in such accounts to pay their monthly insurance premiums.
Mike Czin, a spokesman for the Democratic National Committee, called the plan a “rehash of failed Republican ideas,” noting that more than one in five people in Louisiana lack health insurance. He predicted the Jindal plan could lead to “millions of Americans being kicked off their current health care plans” while bringing back “the worst parts of the old, failed healthcare system.”
This article originally published in the April 7, 2014 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
