BATON ROUGE – In the waning days of this year’s legislative session, when crucial budget negotiations are coming down to the wire and the entire body struggles to address the $1.6 billion gap, the Democratic leadership in both houses continues to stand strong. Under the steady hand of leaders like Caucus Chairs Sen. Eric LaFleur and Rep. John Bel Edwards, along with Sen. Karen Carter Peterson, Rep. Katrina Jackson, House Speaker Pro Tempore Walt Leger and Sen. President Pro Tempore Sharon Weston Broome, Democrats in the legislature along with a handful of Republicans are fighting to hold the line against budget chicanery and the kind of craven, cynical politics that this governor and his acolytes have been mired in.
With scam legislation that has been openly acknowledged as a money-laundering scheme to appease Grover Norquist being pushed by Jindal’s loyal cronies, it falls to the Democratic leadership to stand up for Louisiana families and refuse to take their marching orders from an out-of-state Republican power broker. The working men and women of our state can’t balance their household budgets with a fake paper scam, and they can’t send their children to college with a funding gimmick.
“We are proud of our leadership for holding strong and refusing to back down,” said Stephen Handwerk, executive director of the Louisiana Democratic Party. “Leaders like Rep. Leger and Rep. Jackson are doing the will of their constituents and the work of their conscience fighting back Norquist’s ‘SAVE’ shell-game. These are leaders doing the work they were elected to do— fighting for Louisiana values and standing up against the failed policies of the past.”
###