BATON ROUGE – A cadre of Republican lawmakers in the Louisiana Legislature is flagrantly wasting their own time and taxpayers’ money by playing games. The efforts by House Republican leaders to hold meaningless veto override votes represent the very worst partisan, pointless political gamesmanship—- the kind our state can least afford. These hardliners represent the “Jindal caucus”, and their stubbornness and craven obedience to Jindal’s former henchmen already resulted in disaster during the special session. The state of Louisiana is preparing to face over $70 million in cuts to essential services, due in large part to the failures of the Republican leadership.
Instead of looking for solutions, Rep. Cameron Henry and Speaker Taylor Barras are wasting time with empty theatrics. Responsible lawmakers in the state senate will not entertain the House leaderships’ childish antics, making any efforts at a veto override a non-starter.
“This whole stunt is dead-on-arrival, and it should be,” said Stephen Handwerk, executive director of the Louisiana Democratic Party. “Where were these House Republicans when Gov. Jindal was laying waste to healthcare services and higher education? Where were they when responsible leaders were trying to salvage Jindal’s budget nightmare?”
“Cameron Henry and the rest of the Jindal Caucus in the House are playing the same partisan games that helped Gov. Jindal drive our state into the ditch. This stunt is unworthy of the moment, when the state is facing financial disaster and crippling budget cuts. Now is not the time for these sort of childish games.”
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