labi legislative scorecard - acce...legislative scorecard for the 2015 regular legislative session....

bizmagsb.com http://www.bizmagsb.com/labi-releases-2015-legislative-scorecard/

Jul 14,

2015

LABI releases 2015 Legislative Scorecard

BATON ROUGE – The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI) today released scores from its

legislative scorecard for the 2015 regular legislative session.

The scorecard tracks the votes of individual members in both the House and Senate on specific legislative items

LABI prioritized. LABI scored 28 bills in the House and 21 bills in the Senate in its compilation of the data.

LABI’s Legislative Scorecard is an annual opportunity to recognize members of the Louisiana Legislature who

supported a pro-growth agenda that will help expand Louisiana’s economy. The scorecard also identifies legislators

who voted against LABI’s priorities, particularly the decision to raise taxes on employers and individuals by more

than $600 million annually in 12 bills that the governor has subsequently signed into law.

“Throughout the regular legislative session, many lawmakers repeatedly insisted their only choice to fund higher

education and health care was to raise taxes. We are disappointed that numerous legislators fell for this trap. The

Legislature voted to prioritize an ever-growing government and increase taxes on small and large companies across

the state,” Stephen Waguespack, president of LABI, said. “LABI’s 2015 Legislative Scorecard highlights how

lawmakers voted on measures to reduce credits and incentives recognized by experts as vital to economic

competitiveness, and provides voters with valuable information and direction in advance of the upcoming elections.”

“The LABI scorecard is an excellent tool to gauge legislators’ support for policies that help create jobs and

investment,” Terry Baugh, chair of NORTHPAC, said. “Our PAC members will be active in the fall elections, and

these scores will help us decide who NORTHPAC will support and oppose on Election Day.”

According to LABI’s 2015 Legislative Scorecard:

One senator earned an “A” down by seven from 2014,

11 representatives earned an “A” up from two last year,

the average score for senators was 45 percent, and

the average score for representatives was 54 percent.

Nine senators and 21 representatives reside in the NORTHPAC territory, which stretches from the Texas border in

the northwest across the state to the Mississippi border in the northeast region of Louisiana. Of these 30 legislators,

four representing NORTHPAC constituents achieved “Most Valuable Policymaker” (MVP) status in the 2015 LABI

Scorecard for voting against 100 percent of tax increases opposed by LABI.

NORTHPAC MVPs all represent the greater Shreveport area and include: Reps. Richard Burford, R-Stonewall; Mike

Johnson, R-Bossier City; James “Jim” Morris, R-Oil City; and Alan Seabaugh, R-Shreveport. This is the second

consecutive year that LABI has named Rep. Burford a MVP.

Furthermore, three of these same legislators – Reps. Burford, Johnson and Seabaugh – also made LABI’s 2015 All-

Star Team, which required a score of 90 percent or higher on all issues supported by LABI in 2015.

Rep. Roy Burrell, D-Shreveport, earned the lowest score in the NORTHPAC territory. Burrell voted to support the

priorities of employers in the state just 22 percent in 2015.

“We are pleased and proud that more north Louisiana legislators achieved MVP status than in any other region of

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the state, demonstrating a firm commitment to growing our economy and creating new jobs,” Baugh said. “We

appreciate their efforts and look forward to working with new and returning legislators to ensure that 2015 was only a

temporary setback for Louisiana employers.”

In the past, legislators voting with LABI 75 percent or more have received an automatic endorsement in campaigns

for re-election. After this session, however, LABI’s NORTHPAC is considering changing its endorsement rules,

effective immediately, allowing PAC members to consider more than this one threshold in order to endorse

candidates.

LABI entered the 2015 legislative session by encouraging senators and representatives to focus on making

Louisiana’s business climate more competitive.LABI’s 2015 Program of Work served as an important roadmap to

educate legislators on the issues considered most important by LABI members and the business community as a

whole.

Throughout session, as votes on priority issues approached, LABI staff, leadership, and members communicated

with legislators indicating the importance of the vote to the business community.

While 1,947 bills and resolutions were filed, and 473 of them passed both chambers this year and were enacted by

the governor as of July 1, LABI has a focused agenda and the actual votes used to calculate legislators’ scores are

those votes that tie directly to LABI’s Program of Work.

You can download the score card HERE. A snapshot is below.

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businessreport.com https://www.businessreport.com/article/labi-legislative-scorecard-gives-failing-grade-majority-lawmakers

LABI Legislative Scorecard gives failing grade to majority of

lawmakers

The annual legislative scorecard compiled by the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, released today,

serves up a failing grade for 94 out of the Louisiana Legislature’s 144 members.

LABI President Stephen Waguespack and Chairman Jay Lepeyre didn’t beat around the bush when describing the

recent session’s end product in the introduction of the scorecard: “This was the highest tax increase in Louisiana in

decades.” They specifically cited the Legislature’s decision to raise taxes on employers and individuals by more than

$600 million annually through a dozen different bills subsequently signed into law by the governor.

Rep. Steve Carter, R-Baton Rouge, chairman of the Capital Region Legislative Delegation, was among those to

receive an F this go around—a 51% ranking in LABI’s voting formula. Carter says it’s incredibly challenging to

succinctly explain why lawmakers were faced with so few options in closing a $1.6 billion shortfall. From a lack of

viable proposals from Gov. Bobby Jindal to a session that ran short on time, Carter says lawmakers made the best

decisions they could.

“My game plan all along was to save higher education and to get our students in a good position to move forward,

rather than cutting our colleges and universities to the bone,” says Carter. “When you push that red or green button,

there’s always someone you’re going to hurt or help.”

Freshman Rep. Darrell Ourso, R-Baton Rouge, likewise received a failing grade of 53%.

“I had a mission to help protect and fight for higher ed and LSU and Pennington,” he says. “On one side of the

equation I succeeded. Certainly, the headline we did not read about this session was the one that could have seen

higher ed declaring financial bankruptcy in Louisiana.”

Waguespack and others argued during various debates this session that lawmakers were looking only at business-

related taxes to close the shortfall and the pain wasn’t being properly shared.


education and health care was to raise taxes,” Waguespack says. “We are disappointed that numerous legislators

fell for this trap. The Legislature voted to prioritize an ever-growing government and increase taxes on small and

large companies across the state.”

As such, the majority of incumbent lawmakers received an F this session in the scorecard, with 64 failing in the

House and 30 in the Senate, which will make pulling money out of LABI’s political action committees this fall all the

more difficult for them. The rankings, which are important to many lawmakers, could also open up new opportunities

for incumbents to be challenged.

Only two lawmakers failed to break 20%, representing the lowest scores in the Legislature. They are Rep. Jack

Montoucet, D-Crowley, with 16%, and Sen. David Heitmeier, D-New Orleans, with 18%. Only 12 lawmakers earned

A grades. The lone Capital Region lawmaker to get an A grade is Rep. Barry Ivey, R-Baton Rouge, who had the

highest score of all lawmakers, at 99%.

According to Camille Conaway, LABI’s vice president for policy and research, the bills that raised taxes this session

were weighted heavily in the scorecard, pulling down the 2015 and overall cumulative scores for a number of

legislators. Between half and two-thirds of the 2015 score relies upon the tax votes, she says.

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See a listing of Capital Region lawmakers’ grades and scores from LABI , and check out the complete 2015

Legislative Scorecard.

—Jeremy Alford

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labi.org http://labi.org/labi-news/lawmakers-could-lose-business-groups-support-for-tax-votes

Lawmakers could lose business group's support for tax votes

By Melinda Deslatte, Associated Press on July 14, 2015

Tax votes that lawmakers took to balance this year's budget may cost them the support of Louisiana's leading

business lobbying group in the fall elections.

The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, known as LABI, released its legislative scorecard Tuesday,

grading the performance of lawmakers based on specific votes taken during the recent legislative session.

Many lawmakers who previously received high scores instead got failing marks this time, mainly because they voted

to scale back tax breaks for businesses, to plug gaps in the budget. Sixty-one percent of House members and 77

percent of senators received an "F."

Camille Conaway, the organization's vice president for policy and research, said the scorecard is the main tool that

LABI's four regional political action committees use to determine which candidates they will endorse - and to which

campaigns they'll contribute.

"This gives them a lot of in-depth guidance on how (lawmakers) voted on the issues that mattered," Conaway said.

Legislative elections are Oct. 24.

Many Republicans who tend to score well with the business organization and who tout their pro-business marks in

campaigns performed poorly on this year's scorecard and are at risk of losing the LABI backing they have previously

received. In tight elections, that could be a blow to a campaign.

The organization's four PACs are even considering tweaking their rules to make it tougher to receive LABI support.

Previously, any lawmaker who supported 75 percent of LABI's issues across their four-year terms received an

automatic endorsement from their regional PAC.

But that would mean some legislators who received failing scores this year because of their tax votes could still have

achieved the automatic endorsement threshold, so the organization's four PACs are reconsidering their rules. The

individual boards for each PAC, made up of business leaders in the region, will decide in the next few weeks,

Conaway said.

"I think there will certainly be some endorsements of legislators who did vote for taxes," Conaway said. "But by and

large, the PACs really wanted to have some discretion."

No matter the scores, Conaway said the PACs could still decide to endorse and financially support candidates on an

individual basis, depending on their positions on key LABI initiatives and the makeup of districts and candidate

pools.

Senators were graded on 21 pieces of legislation considered in their chamber, while House members were judged

on 28. Some were LABI-backed bills that steered more money to roadwork and that would have given public college

systems more authority over their tuition and fees. But the larger focus was on tax votes.

Lawmakers said the hundreds of millions of dollars they raised through tax changes were needed to stop deep cuts

to public colleges and public health care services in the fiscal year that began July 1.

In a written statement about the scorecard, LABI President Stephen Waguespack said the approach was short-

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sighted and harmful to businesses that are paying increased taxes.

"The Louisiana Legislature not only failed to structure the tax increases to minimize harm to jobs and the economy,

but also refused to control government growth, make reductions in less critical services or even debate structural

reforms to the state budget that would allow lawmakers to prioritize needs across state government," Waguespack

wrote.

The scorecard is available at: http://bit.ly/1GjQpFx

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businessreport.com https://www.businessreport.com/article/business-groups-disappointed-outcome-2015-session

Business groups disappointed by outcome of 2015 session

The 2015 legislative session may not go down in history as the single-worst session for the state’s business

community, but it was one of the worst, according to business leaders who weighed in on the session today.

In a recap of the six-week session, which ended June 11, the Baton Rouge Area Chamber says bills passed to help

balance the state’s $1.6 billion budget shortfall have set the state’s business climate back and decreased

Louisiana’s overall competitiveness.

“The best we can say is the Legislature increased business taxes less than the governor sought to do,” says the

BRAC Legislative Review. “While some positive steps were taken and some much worse outcomes were avoided …

describing the session as a missed opportunity would be an exercise in understatement.”

Louisiana Association of Business and Industry President Stephen Waguespack puts it this way: “You’re talking

about $2.2 billion over five years that will be falling primarily on the backs of business. By no means can you call that

a successful session.”

The biggest problem with the session, from the business community’s perspective, is a series of legislation that

reduces business tax credits, exclusions and rebates. Among other things, those bills will cut the digital interactive

media and software tax credit, angel investor tax credit and the inventory tax credit. They will also cap the motion

picture tax credit at $180 million a year for the next three years, gut the solar tax credit program, reduce the

Corporate Headquarter Relocation Program rebate and limit which businesses are eligible for participation in the

Enterprise Zone program.

“The Legislature did not try to balance the state’s economic competitiveness or balance the increase in taxes

between business and non-business payers,” BRAC says. “Instead the Legislature primarily sought to enact

changes on business in lieu of enacting fairer structural changes to the tax code.”

Waguespack says LABI believes the tax changes have serious constitutional problems and he expects legal

challenges to follow, though he says his organization will not be filing suit against the state.

“We are arming our members with as much information as possible and leaving it up to them,” Waguespack says.

Treasurer John Kennedy has said several of the bills to raise taxes have a “excellent chance” of being declared

unconstitutional if challenged in court, citing Article 7, Section 2 of the state’s constitution, which says any “new tax,

an increase in an existing tax, or a repeal of an existing tax exemption” needs a two-thirds majority from both the

House and Senate to become law. However, Louisiana House of Representatives Clerk Alfred “Butch” Speer late

last week told the Leaders With Vision group in Baton Rouge that Kennedy is wrong.

“One of the things I do in the Legislature is I defend them in court, and I will tell you today that I will win that case,”

Speer said, referring to any possible legal challenge on constitutional grounds. “And I won’t break a sweat to win the

case.”

See a video of both Kennedy and Speer’s comments on the issue.

Both LABI and BRAC credit lawmakers with restoring some of Gov. Bobby Jindal’s proposed cuts to higher

education funding, but both groups say other ways were possible to restore those cuts without raising taxes on

businesses.

One of the high points of the session was the compromise reached over the controversial Common Core educational

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standards. Business groups had lobbied hard before the session to keep Common Core in place. Waguespack says

the compromise that emerged is encouraging.

“We’re cautiously optimistic this will keep the high standards in place,” he says.

LABI will issue a legislative scorecard later this summer. Read BRAC’s complete report on the session.

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nola.com http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/07/labi_legislative_scorecard_lou.html

LABI blasts legislators for 'populist agenda' that brought huge

tax increases

The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry blasted the state legislature on Tuesday (July 14) for

championing what it called a "Louisiana populist agenda" that included tax increases on business that threaten to

curtail the state's economic expansion.

Louisiana's top business lobbying group also accused lawmakers of choosing the easier path of ramming through

the biggest tax increase in decades rather than doing the hard work of fixing "a fundamentally broken tax code." As

a result, LABI predicted that the tax increases "will be felt by employers in every industry sector" -- not just the "big

business" corporations that legislators said they were plumbing for new revenue.

"The 2015 regular legislative session represents a pivotal point in Louisiana politics," LABI said in its annual

scorecard report. "The legislature sent a resounding message that maintaining the size and operations of state

government was as important -- if not more important -- than growing jobs and opportunities for citizens in the

private sector across this state."

LABI details how it opposed most of the $600 million in tax increases the legislature passed as it sought to close a

$1.6 billion deficit. But the group laments that much of its lobbying did not work, saying that the only thing the group

could convince legislators to do was to place three-year sunsets on many of the tax bills.

Legislators also came under fire for refusing to stem the growth of government, with LABI writing that the state's

"budget problems are not due to a lack of taxpayer dollars."

Lawmakers maintained that their only choice to fund priorities like higher ed. and health care was to raise taxes

"They are due to a maze of lock boxes and dedicated funds that prohibit existing tax dollars from being eligible for

higher education and health care," LABI wrote. "Lawmakers maintained that their only choice to fund priorities like

higher education and health care was to raise taxes this legislative session. The reality is there were many more

options available."

There were a few bright spots in this year's legislative session, however. The legislature made some inroads in

fixing the state's transportation infrastructure by passing laws that will limit the State Police from draining funds for

"traffic control" from the Transportation Trust Fund, which was approved by taxpayers 26 years ago for rebuilding

state roads.

But even though there was progress, LABI said there's more work to do when it comes to transportation. The state

still has an $11 billion backlog of road improvements it needs to make, and it's still too difficult to get products

shipped through the state.

"Even with anticipated economic growth, Louisiana's highway infrastructure system is still considered unsustainable

for manufacturers, plant workers and residents," LABI wrote.

LABI also said lawmakers did a good job on educational issues, which has an impact on workforce development and

training. The legislature's Common Core compromise was a positive, LABI wrote, and legislators succeeded in

killing a bill that would have limited school choice in higher-performing districts.

The "scorecard" section of LABI's report singles out legislators who the organization either identifies as strongly pro-

business or those it said stood in the way of progress on economic development issues. Only one legislator -- state

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Rep. Raymond Garofalo, R-Chalmette, scored the full 100 percent.

LABI said Garofalo was "one of the few who spoke on the House floor in defense of employers and taxpayers while

debating the tax increase bills."

The lowest-scoring legislator was state Rep. Jack Montoucet, D-Crowley, who supported LABI's positions with votes

16 percent of the time, LABI said.

The Senate and House leadership also scored low: House Speaker Chuck Kleckley, R-Lake Charles, scored a 36

percent and Senate President John Alario, R-Westwego, scored a 39 percent.

LABI also scored the legislature on how often the parties as a whole voted for LABI-supported positions. Democrats

scored a 38 percent and Republicans scored a 60 percent.

Of the seven legislators singled out as the "most valuable policymakers" in the State Capitol, only one -- state Rep.

Sam Jones of Franklin -- was a Democrat.

2015 LABI Scorecard

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shreveporttimes.com http://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/local/2015/07/24/labi-bites-back-lawmakers-dig/30626745/

LABI bites back; lawmakers dig in

The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry's report card for lawmakers' work during the 2015 Legislative

Session has more red marks than someone who's walked through a Louisiana swamp full of swarming mosquitoes.

By any measure, whether it be Common Core standards or the Common Core compromise legislators passed

during the session, more than two-thirds of lawmakers flunked in LABI's eyes — 94 F's. Only 36 legislators scored

C's and above.

"We have to be honest, and our scorecard is an attempt to give an accurate reflection of what happened in the

session," LABI President Stephen Waguespack said.

LABI fumed as legislators passed more than $600 million in new taxes or reductions in tax exemptions and credits to

protect higher education and health care from devastating cuts.

And now Louisiana's most powerful and feared lobby is preparing to strike back, even at those who have been

staunch allies during past sessions, potentially recruiting and funding candidates against incumbents who didn't toe

the line.

"I've been told I'm on the LABI hit list," said state Rep. Jay Morris, R-Monroe, who scored an F but hasn't drawn an

opponent yet for the fall elections. "If everybody flunks the test, there's something wrong with the test."

Rep. Lance Harris, R-Alexandria, who scored an F, said LABI may face repercussions of its own from lawmakers like

himself who have been considered business friendly for their entire political careers.

"I'm not sure LABI is making a good decision by burning bridges with its friends," said Harris, chairman of the House

Republican delegation. "Who's going to get their bills out of committee next year?"

Sen. Page Cortez, R-Lafayette, scored a D and joked, ""If this was graded on a curve, I would have gotten an A or a

B considering the majority of legislators got an F.

"But seriously, how can LABI suggest that lawmakers who have consistently supported business interests all of the

sudden are no longer pro-business?" Cortez said.

Sen. Barrow Peacock, R-Bossier City, said LABI should be grateful it wasn't "a whole lot worse. There was a

movement to increase the utility tax by 3 or 4 cents and we kept the increase to 1 cent," he said.

Few escaped LABI's sharp grading pencil.

Eleven of northeastern Louisiana's 12 lawmakers flunked with F's. Rep. Steve Pylant, R-Winnsboro, earned a D.

Only one of eight central Louisiana lawmakers passed. Rep. Robert Johnson, D-Marksville, earned a rare B.

In northwestern Louisiana, nine of 14 legislators earned F's from LABI, although Reps. Alan Seabaugh, R-

Shreveport, Mike Johnson, R-Bossier City, and Richard Burford, R-Stonewall, scored three of only 12 A's.

Almost half of Acadiana's delegation flunked with nine F's.

In the past, LABI has used a cumulative four-year average to determine whether to fund or endorse candidates. A 75

percent score earned an automatic endorsement.

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But this year Waguespack said LABI's four regional political action committees are considering scrapping past

performances and the cumulative average "to take it on a case-by-case basis."

"Right now we're meeting with our PAC boards and getting their feedback on what they think," Waguespack said. "I

would expect in the coming weeks you would see us come out and endorse some candidates and be aggressive in

our support of those who want to protect private sector economy."

Morris said he expected the backlash from LABI.

"There was fear of retribution from LABI during the session, but people overcame their fear," Morris said. "That's the

definition of courage. Of course when your name appears on a hit list it's disconcerting.

"I'm sure LABI will do everything it can to punish lawmakers who didn't vote exactly the way it wanted. Maybe I

struck a nerve because LABI takes its marching orders from a handful of large multinational companies, not its

membership as a whole."

Harris said he remains comfortable with his votes.

"LABI can say and score like it wants, but my choices were to either pacify LABI and decimate higher education and

heath care or do something to keep the doors open at our universities and hospitals," said Harris, who is unopposed.

"It was an easy choice for me.

"I did what I believe was right for the state, not what was right for special interests groups. I think voters realize that

even if LABI doesn't. We were boxed in as a state and we're coming with reforms to make sure Louisiana never

gets boxed in like this again."

Cortez, who hasn't drawn an opponent, also believes voters will consider a legislator's body of work rather than a

single grade from LABI for one session.

"Most voters make their decisions by looking at the context of an overall voting record," he said.

"The issue came down to whether or not we were going to be able to fund our universities, the LSU medical school

and health care," said Peacock, who hasn't drawn an opponent. " As far as I'm concerned that was a bigger priority

than making the decisions LABI asked us to make.

"The only people I answer to are the people in Senate District 37, not special interest groups."

Follow Greg Hilburn on Twitter @GregHilburn1

Northeastern Louisiana

Sen. Rick Gallot, D-Ruston: F (32 percent)

Sen. Bob Kostelka, R-Monroe: F (32 percent)

Sen. Neil Riser, R-Columbia: F (52 percent)

Sen. Francis Thompson, D-Delhi: F (42 percent)

Rep. Andy Anders, D-Vidalia: F (34 percent)

Rep. Bubba Chaney, R-Rayville: F (41 percent)

Rep. Jim Fannin, R-Jonesboro: F (32 percent)

Rep. Frank Hoffmann, R-West Monroe: F (41 percent)2/4

Rep. Marcus Hunter, D-Monroe: F (34 percent)

Rep. Katrina Jackson, D-Monroe: F (28 percent)

Rep. Jay Morris, R-Monroe: F (25 percent)

Rep. Steve Pylant, R-Winnsboro: D (63 percent)

Rep. Rob Shadoin, R-Ruston: F (36 percent)

CENLA

Sen. Rick Gallot, D-Ruston: F (32 percent)

Sen. Gerald Long, R-Winnfield: F (39 percent)

Sen. Neil Riser, R-Columbia: F (52 percent)

Rep. Chris Hazel, R-Ball: D (61 percent)

Rep. Terry Brown, I-Colfax: F (44 percent)

Rep. Jeff Hall, D-Alexandria: F (25 percent)

Rep. Lance Harris, R-Alexandria: F (39 percent)

Rep. Robert Johnson, D-Markville: B (81 percent)

Acadiana

Sen. Jonathan Perry, R-Kaplan: B (85 percent)

Sen. Page Cortez, R-Lafayette: D (64 percent)

Sen. Elbert Guillory, R-Opelousas: A (90 percent)

Sen. Eric LaFleur, D-Ville Platte: F (37 percent)

Sen. Fred Mills, R-New Iberia: F (55 percent)

Rep. Vincent Pierre, D-Lafayette: F (29 percent)

Rep. Taylor Barras, R-New Iberia: B (84 percent)

Rep. Stuart Bishop, R-Lafayette: A (90 percent)

Rep. Mickey Guillory, D-Eunice: F (23 percent)

Rep. Bob Hensgens, R-Abbeville: C (77 percent)

Rep. Mike Huval, R-Breaux Bridge: B (86 percent)

Rep. Sam Jones, D-Franklin: A (91 percent)

Rep. Nancy Landry, R-Lafayette: A (92 percent)

Rep. Terry Landry, D-New Iberia: F (24 percent)3/4

Rep. Bernard LeBas, D-Ville Platte: F (32 percent)

Rep. Jack Montoucet, D-Crowley: F (16 percent)

Rep. Stephen Ortego, D-Carencro: B (82 percent)

Rep. Joel Robideaux, R-Lafayette: F (41 percent)

Rep. Ledricka Thierry, D-Opelousas: F (33 percent)

Northwestern Louisiana

Sen. Robert Adley, R-Benton: F (36 percent)

Sen. Barrow Peacock, R-Bossier City: F (39 percent)

Sen. Sherri Smith Buffington, R-Shreveport: F (28 percent)

Sen. Greg Tarver, D-Shreveport: F (34 percent)

Rep. Jim Morris, R-Oil City: B (81 percent)

Rep. Roy Burrell, D-Shreveport: F (22 percent)

Rep. Barbara Norton, D-Shreveport: F (32 percent)

Rep. Patrick Williams, D-Shreveport: F (34 percent)

Rep. Alan Seabaugh, R-Shreveport: A (92 percent)

Rep. Thomas Carmody, R-Shreveport: F (53 percent)

Rep. Richard Burford, R-Stonewall: A (97 percent)

Rep. Mike Johnson, R-Bossier City: A (97 percent)

Rep. Henry Burns, R-Haughton: B (89 percent)

Gene Reynolds, D-Minden: F (56 percent)

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theind.com http://theind.com/article-21360-Robideaux-rubs-LABI-the-wrong-way.html

Robideaux rubs LABI the wrong way

The annual legislative scorecard compiled by the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry was released July

14 and includes a grade of “F” for 94 members of the Louisiana Legislature, including Lafayette Republican state

Rep. Joel Robideaux, who is running for city-parish president.

The rankings represent a major review for some lawmakers, who rely on their scores to trigger campaign donations

from LABI’s political action committees. The need for cash and support is even more noticeable this year, with

elections slated for the fall.

It’s no secret lawmakers leaned heavily on business to close a $1.6 billion budget shortfall, passing a slew of

measures that amount to tax increases. Although LABI and others managed to negotiate sunsets on the measures,

meaning they’ll expire in one to three years in some cases, the business lobby walked away from the session feeling

many lawmakers had switched jerseys in the final session of their term.

The scorecard reflects that, said LABI President Stephen Waguespack, who wrote in the scorecard’s introduction

that “this was the highest tax increase in Louisiana in decades.”

The majority of lawmakers received a grade of “F” this session, with 64 failing in the House (Robideaux and

Opelousas Dem Ledricka Thierry among them) and 30 in the Senate (Fred Mills, R- Parks, and Eric Lafleur, D-Ville

Platte), which will make pulling money out of LABI’s political action committees this fall all the more difficult. It could

also open up new opportunities for incumbents to be challenged.

Only two lawmakers failed to break 20 percent, including Rep. Jack Montoucet, D-Crowley, with 16 percent, and

Sen. David Heitmeier, D-New Orleans, with 18 percent. And only 12 lawmakers earned “A” grades (Elbert Guillory,

R-Opelousas, and Lafayette Republicans Nancy Landry and Stuart Bishop).

Only two lawmakers failed to break 20 percent, including Rep. Jack Montoucet, D-Crowley, with 16 percent, and

Sen. David Heitmeier, D-New Orleans, with 18 percent. And only 12 lawmakers earned “A” grades (Elbert Guillory,

Nancy Landry and Stuart Bishop).

According to Camille P. Conaway, LABI’s vice president for policy and research, the bills that raised taxes were

weighted heavily in the scorecard, pulling down the 2015 and overall cumulative scores for a number of legislators.

Between half and two-thirds of the 2015 score relies on the tax votes, she added.

But LABI isn’t the only group with a scorecard that causes heartburn for tax-supporting Republicans. The Louisiana

chapter of the conservative Americans For Prosperity released its tally in early July.

AFP has already sunk $60,000 into radio ads promoting LouisianaScorecard.com and may dump just as much into

fall field operations like door-to-door outreach and online advertising.

“It was a disappointing session with legislators throwing tax after tax at the wall to see what would stick,” said AFP

state Director Phillip Joffrion.

The radio spot lashes out at lawmakers for passing “gimmicks, short-term fixes and over $700 million in tax hikes” to

balance the budget, and for adopting “a scheme to usher in Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion.”

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http://www.hannapub.com/ouachitacitizen/news/local_state_headlines/nela-lawmakers-earn-f-for/article_2e032188-2afa-11e5-a98b-6fa2c248996c.html

NELA lawmakers earn ’F’ for 2015By Zach Parker [email protected] Jul 15, 2015

Members of northeast Louisiana's legislative delegation earned an “F” grade in the scorecard releasedby the state's largest business lobby, the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI).

According to LABI’s 2015 Legislative Scorecard, the average score for senators was 45 percent, and theaverage score for representatives was 54 percent.

LABI released the scores from its legislative scorecard for the 2015 regular legislative session, trackingthe votes of individual members in both the House and Senate on specific legislative items LABIprioritized. LABI scored 28 bills in the House and 21 bills in the Senate in its compilation of the data.

“Throughout the regular legislative session, many lawmakers repeatedly insisted their only choice to fundhigher education and health care was to raise taxes,” said Stephen Waguespack, president of LABI. “Weare disappointed that numerous legislators fell for this trap. The Legislature voted to prioritize an ever-

growing government and increase taxes on small and large companies across the state.”

The scorecard identified several northeastern Louisiana lawmakers who voted against LABI’s priorities,particularly the decision to raise taxes on employers and individuals by more than $600 million annuallyin 12 bills that the governor has subsequently signed into law.

Among those earning “F” grades — on a 0-59 scale — for the 2015 legislative session were state Sens.Bob Kostelka, R-Monroe, (32 percent), Neil Riser, R-Columbia, (52 percent), Francis Thompson, D-Delhi,(42 percent), and Mike Walsworth, R-West Monroe (44 percent).

Also earning “F” grades — on a 0-59 scale — for the 2015 legislative session were state Reps. AndyAnders (34 percent), Bubba Chaney (41 percent), Jim Fannin (32 percent), Frank Hoffmann (41 percent),Marcus Hunter (34 percent), Katrina Jackson (28 percent), Jay Morris (25 percent), and Steve Pylant (63percent).

In the past, legislators voting with LABI 75 percent or more have received an automatic endorsement incampaigns for re-election. After this session, however, LABI’s NORTHPAC is considering changing itsendorsement rules, effective immediately, allowing PAC members to consider more than this onethreshold in order to endorse candidates.

“The LABI scorecard is an excellent tool to gauge legislators’ support for policies that help create jobsand investment,” Terry Baugh, chair of NORTHPAC, said. “Our PAC members will be active in the fallelections, and these scores will help us decide who NORTHPAC will support and oppose on ElectionDay.”

LABI entered the 2015 legislative session by encouraging senators and representatives to focus onmaking Louisiana’s business climate more competitive. LABI’s 2015 Program of Work served as animportant roadmap to educate legislators on the issues considered most important by LABI membersand the business community as a whole.

Throughout session, as votes on priority issues approached, LABI staff, leadership, and memberscommunicated with legislators indicating the importance of the vote to the business community.

While 1,947 bills and resolutions were filed, and 473 of them passed both chambers this year and wereenacted by the governor as of July 1, LABI has a focused agenda and the actual votes used to calculatelegislators’ scores are those votes that tie directly to LABI’s Program of Work.

www.nfib.com

LABI Flunks N. LA Legislators

lincolnparishnewsonline.wordpress.com /2015/07/14/labi-flunks-n-la-legislators/

Several North Louisiana Legislators were given “F” grades by the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry

(LABI) for their support of taxes in the just ended session of the Louisiana Legislature.

Among those cited:

Rep. Frank “Butch” Hoffman, R – West Monroe

Rep. Rob Shadoin, R – Ruston

Rep Jim Fannin, R – Jonesboro

Rep John “Jay” Morris, R – Monroe

Sen Mike Walsworth, R – West Monroe

Sen Bob Kostelka, R – Monroe

Sen Rick Gallot, D – Grambling

Wrote LABI President Stephen Waguespak:

While legislators publicly advocated for a universal “haircut” in their rhetoric throughout the session,

the private sector alone was handed the bill and required to pay it. Without question, a traditional

Louisiana populist agenda won this session. The budget passed by the 2015 Legislature and signed

into law by the governor:

• Spent more than $600 million in new taxes on critical components of a healthy economy, such as

inventory, electricity and research;

• Made no attempt to address the structural problems in the state budget that have plagued the state

for years and is derided by policymakers and experts alike;

• Maintained the overall size, scope and structure of state government, which is almost $9 billion

larger in 2015 than a decade ago;

• Failed to reform or restructure nationally-high levels of state support for local government, making

no reduction whatsoever to these annual subsidies;

• Utilized no viable analysis of tax credits to focus on those least harmful to the economy and actually

ignored existing facts, research and data;

• Spent millions more on K12 public schools to pay for increasing costs primarily due to entitlements

without making any reforms or demands that dollars be prioritized for the classroom;

• Provided a COLA for state pension recipients (that the governor eventually vetoed) that raised

immediate concerns by national rating agencies and directly circumvented pension reforms that were

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passed just one year earlier; and

• Made no reductions whatsoever to certain areas of state government, including the legislative

budget which received zero cuts and to the judiciary budget, which actually grew this year to account

for salary increases for judges.

See here the complete report and scorecard.

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labi.org http://labi.org/labi-news/labi-legislative-report-card-tax-votes-flunk-94-lawmakers

LABI Legislative Report Card: tax votes flunk 94 lawmakers

July 21, 2015

Share

Louisiana Association of Business and Industry vice president Brian Landry discussed LABI's 2015 Legislative

Scorecard with Kevin and Bill on BATON ROUGE AM. Of the 144 members of the state House and Senate, 94

received failing grades for voting for bills that raise taxes only on Louisiana businesses.

Landry says LABI's political action committees (PACs) will definitley use this to campaign against incumbents who

received failing grades.

►Click here to listen to Brian Landry on TALK 107.3.

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labi.org http://labi.org/labi-news/labi-releases-2015-legislative-scorecard-1

LABI Releases 2015 Legislative Scorecard

July 14, 2015

By KTVE KARD News on July 14, 2015

BATON ROUGE -- 94 state lawmakers, many from northeast Louisiana, earned 'F' grades in Louisiana Association

of Business and Industry (LABI) 2015 legislative scorecard.







Click here to view 2015 Scorecard Snapshot

Click here to view complete 2015 Scorecard

Copyright 2015 Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc.

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ktbs.com http://www.ktbs.com/story/29749160/legislative-report-cards-and-failing-lawmakersBy Jeff Beimfohr Connect

[email protected]

Legislative report cards and failing lawmakers

Posted: Aug 10, 2015 9:05 AM CDT Updated: Aug 10, 2015 9:05 AM CDT

SHREVEPORT, La -

Faced with a huge budget deficit—the buck had to stop somewhere. And in this summer’s fiscal session of the

Louisiana Legislature—it stopped on business and industry—which is now faced with $600 million in new taxes over

the next three years.

LABI—the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry—is one of the most influential lobby’s in Baton Rouge. As

one might imagine, all the new taxes are not setting well with its members.

As a result—the recent findings of LABI’s annual legislative report cards—could send lawmakers scrambling for

some extra credit assignments; the grades were not pretty.

But, how important are these report cards? How much significance do lawmakers give them?

“Everyone wants to see how they scored and we put letter grades on these scores,” said Brian Landry, “of course

this past session, being a fiscal session and quite a tough fiscal session—we had quite a few folks that got the “F”

grade.”

Landry is the VP Political Action for LABI.

“This was really the first year we’ve ever seen so many lawmakers receive failing grades,” said Jeremy Alford of

lapolitics.com, “I believe 94 lawmakers. The overwhelming majority of the legislature received “F’s” from LABI this

year.”

That included most members of the Northwest Louisiana delegation—with a few exceptions—including

Representative Richard Burford of Stonewall; Bossier City Representative Mike Johnson; and Shreveport

Representative Alan Seabaugh. All three scored “A’s” from LABI.

Only 12 legislators graded “A”—and 25 percent were from Northwest Louisiana.

Shreveport Representative Henry Burns got a “B”; as did Representative Jim Morris of Oil City. Everybody else

flunked.

“If they don’t score well with LABI it could mean that they don’t get an endorsement and they don’t get access to

LABI’s PAC money for their political action committees.” Alford said.

“It’s something everybody looks for,” said Seabaugh, “because what your LABI score is factors into endorsements. It

factors into fund raising when it comes to re-election time.”

“This is a big deal because re-election is right around the corner,” said Alford, “cash is king in politics, so everybody

wants to get that check.”

But, how seriously do lawmakers take the LABI report cards?

“The scorecard itself is not something I put a lot of stock into,” Seabaugh explained, “but the votes that they scored

on that scoreboard—are something very important to me.”

“We had an onslaught of so many really bad bills that came at us this particular session,” said Landry, “and it

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showed when folks who voted for taxes ended up getting scores of “F”.

“I voted against all the tax increases,” Seabaugh said, “there are a lot of people out there who think business is evil

and taxing business is the way to do. I fundamentally disagree.”

As a result—LABI not only gave Seabaugh an “A”, but also placed him on its ALL-STAR team as just one of eleven

legislators with grades of 90 percent or higher. Burford and Johnson joined him on that team.

The same trio was named to LABI’s MVP team—Most Valuable Policymakers. Morris was also an MVP.

“You look at someone like Seabaugh,” said Landry, “he did well on taxes. And if you look at his cumulative work—the

first three years before this year’s fiscal session—he was at 97 percent.”

“It’s important to remember that LABI bases its endorsements on a cumulative scored based on an entire four year

term.” Alford explained.

“Burford is a perfect example,” said Landry, “he is the highest scoring LABI legislator when it comes to points and

what he’s done for LABI. For four years he has scored 98 percent; he’s just on the highest tier. He is a very pro-

business legislator.”

So, getting a good score on the LABI report card can lead to endorsements and money; what about the legislators

that didn’t do so well?

“Obviously we saw a number of lawmakers from north Louisiana fail in LABI’s scorecard.” Alford said.

“The reason the scorecard was so bad for so many of my colleagues,” said Seabaugh, “is because they decided to

raise taxes on small business.”

“LABI has said just because lawmakers didn’t stand with them in this one session, does not mean it will outright

reject endorsements for their long time allies.” said Alford.

So, those who received an “F” on this latest report card can still work their way back into LABI’s good graces. But, in

making that pursuit it might be important to remember this: “When you step over that line and do something that

negatively impacts business,” Seabaugh said, “they are putting the scorecard out and getting involved in the

legislative races to let people know that these people cast votes that were bad for the state of Louisiana and bad for

Shreveport.”

LABI has handed out endorsements for several members of the Northwest Louisiana delegation already—and there

may be more to come.

Seabaugh, Johnson and Morris all received the endorsement of LABI—not unexpected considering their grades.

But, Representative Patrick Williams, who got an “F”, also got an endorsement—so it’s not all about the grades.

Senators Barrow Peacock and Greg Tarver also received endorsements despite failing grades.

In the next legislative session the rest of the NWLA delegation will no doubt be looking for improved grades—and a

LABI endorsement to call their own.

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Scorecard on how legislatures voted for businesses and

industry

www.katc.com /story/29558522/scorecard-on-how-legislatures-voted-for-businesses-and-industry

More than half of all legislatures received an F on the LABI scorecard.

Lawmakers across the state are getting their report cards from the recent legislative

session and the results, for some, are surprising.

The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry grades each lawmaker based

on what they did to improve the business climate in their districts and on how

legislators voted on bills that raised taxes on businesses and individuals.

More than half of representatives across the state received an F, including seven from Acadiana. LABI said

legislators raised taxes on employers and individuals by more than $600 million a year. The report also claims this is

the highest tax increase Louisiana has seen in decades.

State Rep. Joel Robideaux, R-Lafayette, who is running for Lafayette Parish President was one of the local

legislators who received an F. State Rep. Ledricka Thierry, D-Opelousas, was another.

"Some of the issues that I supported that weighed heavily on their score cards, and the way I voted, I knew they

would be against that," Thierry said. "However, it was a matter of making a decision of funding healthcare, education

our justice system, public defender board and agricultural economy."

For example, putting a cap on film tax credits was something that figured heavily in the report card.

"I voted against those and particular the ones that would have harmed the revenue streams for local governments

like the inventory tax offset," state Rep. Sam Jones, D-Franklin said.

Jones received an A on the scorecard. He says he thinks there were other options than raising taxes for businesses.

"We don't need to be harmful where it makes it easy for those business to leave and go somewhere else," Jones

said. "But in the same token we need to be responsible to the consumers. We can do both."

Thierry said considering the $1.6 billion shortfall the government had to tackle, she thinks the way she voted was the

best solution.

"Some legislators may have focused on not voting because they didn't want to upset or offend the lobby scorecard,"

Thierry said. "But the question you have to ask yourself is if we all thought that way where would our state be

financially right now. I think voters are smarter than to focus on this one scorecard."

List of Acadiana Representatives scores:

A: Nancy Landry, R-Lafayette 92%

Elbert Guillory, R-Opelousas 90%

Sam Jones, D-Franklin 91%

Stuart Bishop, R-Lafayette 90%

B: Mike Huval, R-Breaux Bridge, 86%

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Taylor Barras, R-New Iberia 84%

Stephen Ortego, D-Carencro 82%

Blake Miguez, R-Erath 80%

C: Bob Hensgens, R-Abbeville 77%

D: Page Cortez, R-Lafayette 64%

F: Fred Mills, R-Parks 55%

Joel Robideaux, R-Lafayette 41%

Eric LaFleur, D-Ville Platte 37%

Ledricka Thierry, D-Opelousas 33%

Vincent Pierre, D-Lafayette 29%

Terry Landry, D-New Iberia 24%

Jack Montoucet, D-Crowley 16%

For the full list click here

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blogs.theadvocate.com

http://blogs.theadvocate.com/politicsblog/2015/07/14/labi-releases-legislative-scorecard-grades-are-not-very-good-for-many-louisiana-

legislators/

Elizabeth

Crisp

LABI releases legislative scorecard; grades ‘are not very good’

for many Louisiana legislators

The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry has released its scorecard from the 2015 legislative session,

and the results are not pretty for many Louisiana lawmakers — even those who have traditionally sided with the

business interest group.

Ninety-four state legislators got Fs from LABI this session, while only a single senator and 11 House members were

given As. The average score in the Senate was 45 percent, and in the House it was 54 percent.

The results have prompted LABI to change how it endorses candidates up for re-election to the Legislature. In a

news release, LABI notes that the organization has, in the past, automatically endorsed re-election campaigns for

legislators who voted with the group 75 percent or more.

“After this session, however, LABI’s political action committees – NORTHPAC, EASTPAC, SOUTHPAC and

WESTPAC – are considering changing the endorsement rules, effective immediately, allowing PAC members to

consider more than this one threshold in order to endorse candidates,” the release notes.

LABI President Stephen Waguespack, a former chief of staff to Gov. Bobby Jindal, teased the scorecard on Monday

in an email bluntly noting, “In short, the grades are in and they are not very good.”

In releasing the full score card on Tuesday, Waguespack chided lawmakers for their votes on tax legislation that was

considered crucial to passing a budget that Jindal would agree to.


education and health care was to raise taxes,” he said. “We are disappointed that numerous legislators fell for this

trap. The Legislature voted to prioritize an ever-growing government and increase taxes on small and large

companies across the state.”

According to LABI, the organization scored legislators on 28 bills in the House and 21 bills in the Senate. Here’s a

scorecard snapshot, and you can search for individual legislators here.

Click here for a PDF of the full report from LABI.

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LABI’s 2015 Scorecard Is Out And It Has Bad News For

Numerous Incumbent Legislators

thehayride.com /2015/07/labis-2015-scorecard-is-out-and-it-has-bad-news-for-numerous-incumbent-legislators/

� by Kevin Boyd

This week LABI released their scorecard of those legislators they view as pro-business and the results were very

disappointing. One of the biggest set backs for the business community was the passage of over $600 million in tax

hikes on employers. But LABI had some victories on tort reform and school standards.

LABI President Stephen Waguespack said in the scorecard:

Throughout the regular legislative session, lawmakers repeatedly insisted their only choice to invest

in priorities such as higher education and health care was to raise taxes. The reality is there were

many other options that could have been placed on the table to do so. The Louisiana Legislature not

only failed to structure the tax increases to minimize harm to jobs and the economy, but also refused

to control government growth, make reductions in less critical services or even debate structural

reforms to the state budget that would allow lawmakers to prioritize needs across state government

each and every year.

The tax hikes were not the only setback for the business community and limited government advocates this session.

Tax policy was not the only area where the Legislature made the choice to prioritize government over

private citizens. The House of Representatives refused to take a vote on a bill to end the role of

government as the middle-man between taxpayers and public unions, instead allowing the mandate

of automatic deduction of union dues to continue across state and local government. A House

committee rejected a package of bills to require additional transparency and disclosure by the judicial

branch, choosing to keep buried court finances in a state routinely criticized nationally for having a

poor legal climate.

This year, only 11 members of the State House and 1 State Senator, Elbert Guillory (R-Opelousas), scored 90% or

above. The 11 state reps who scored 90% or above were:

Neil Abramson (D-New Orleans)

Stuart Bishop (R-Lafayette)

Richard Burford (R-Stonewall)

Ray Garofolo (R-Chalmette), who was the only one to score 100% this year.

Paul Hollis (R-Covington)

Barry Ivey (R-Baton Rouge)

Mike Johnson (R-Bossier City)

Sam Jones (D-Franklin)

Nancy Landry (R-Lafayette)

Alan Seabaugh (R-Shreveport)

Lenar Whitney (R-Houma)

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In the old days, LABI’s rules were lawmakers must score above 75% in order to get LABI’s endorsement. Those

rules have been changed after this session to add additional criteria, but the 75% rule is still a good indicator of who

the fiscal conservatives are. In the House, here are the Republicans who scored above that mark, with their score in

parentheses.

Henry Burns (89)

Kevin Pearson (88)

Mike Huval (86)

Taylor Barras (84)

John Guinn (84)

Julie Stokes (83)

Thomas Willmott (82)

Jim Morris (81)

Blake Miguez (80)

Sherman Mack (78)

Joe Lopinto (77)

Bob Hensgens (77)

Valerie Hodges (76)

Chris Leopold (76)

Out of the 58 strong Republican House delegation, only 23 scored 75% or above from LABI. This means we have a

lot of work to do in the upcoming year. There were even two Republicans who scored worse than Democrat

candidate for governor John Bel Edwards (26). Those two are “fiscal conservative” Jay Morris and Kenny Havard,

both scoring 25.

There were some RINOs singled out by LABI for their anti-business votes. Here’s how LABI described the head of

the Republican delegation, our buddy Lance Harris:

A vocal leader in the House to raise taxes on employers of all sizes.

Jay Morris was also singled out for his “fiscal conservatism.”

Argued strongly on both the House floor and social media for the need to raise tax revenue.

Last but certainly not least in the House, Speaker Chuck Kleckley was singled out for his work trying to raise

business utility taxes even more so he and his buddy Lance Harris, could oppose raising the cigarette tax further. Oh

by the way, Kleckley and Harris are both C-store owners.

In the closing days of session, Rep. Kleckley pushed to increase taxes on business utilities by an

extra $200 million.

The Senate side is even more depressing. Other than Guillory; only Jonathan Perry, Joey Amedee, and Dale Erdey

scored above a 75. Only 9 Senators scored above a 59.

We expect that the business community will decide to punish many of these guys for their votes this year. This is

certainly good news for challengers who are looking to raise money.

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bayoubuzz.com

http://www.bayoubuzz.com/buzz/item/934565-see-the-labi-legislative-grades-who-excelled-who-failed-in-louisiana-legislature

See the LABI legislative grades--who excelled, who failed in

Louisiana legislature

The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI)

today released scores from its legislative scorecard for the 2015

regular legislative session, tracking the votes of individual

members in both the House and Senate on specific legislative

items LABI prioritized. LABI scored 28 bills in the House and 21

bills in the Senate in its compilation of the data.

(LABI PRESS RELEASE)

LABI’s Legislative Scorecard is an annual opportunity to recognize members of the Louisiana Legislature who

supported a pro-growth agenda that will help expand Louisiana’s economy. The scorecard also identifies legislators

who voted against LABI’s priorities, particularly the decision to raise taxes on employers and individuals by more

than $600 million annually in 12 bills that the governor has subsequently signed into law.







“As Election Day approaches, it is absolutely critical that the business community clearly understands how their

representatives voted in Baton Rouge,” Steve Stumpf, chair of SOUTHPAC, said. “It’s one thing to talk the talk and

another to walk the walk, and LABI’s legislative scorecard will help SOUTHPAC determine which legislators are truly

walking with Louisiana’s employers when it counts.”

According to LABI’s 2015 Legislative Scorecard:

One senator earned an “A” down by seven from 2014,

11 representatives earned an “A” up from two last year,

the average score for senators was 45 percent, and

the average score for representatives was 54 percent.

Thirteen senators and 35 representatives reside in the SOUTHPAC territory, which includes the Greater New

Orleans Area, the Bayou Region and parts of the Northshore. Of these 48 legislators, only three SOUTHPAC

constituents achieved “Most Valuable Policymaker” status in the 2015 LABI Scorecard by voting against 100

percent of the tax increases opposed by LABI. SOUTHPAC MVPs include Reps. Raymond Garofalo, R-Chalmette;

Sam Jones, D-Franklin; and Lenar Whitney, R-Houma. This is the second consecutive year that Rep. Whitney has

achieved MVP status with LABI.

Furthermore, Reps. Neil Abramson, D-New Orleans, and Paul Hollis, R-Covington, join these same three legislators

to total five lawmakers that attained “All-Star” status in the SOUTHPAC area, which required a score of 90 percent

or higher on all issues supported by LABI in 2015.

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Sen. David Heitmeier, D-New Orleans, earned the lowest score in the SOUTHPAC territory, voting to support the

priorities of employers in the state just 18 percent in 2015. Heitmeier also scored the lowest of any senator in the

state. Reps. Austin Badon and Joseph Bouie, both democrats from New Orleans, earned the lowest score (27

percent) among SOUTHPAC representatives.

“We appreciate the bold efforts of the SOUTHPAC area legislators who achieved MVP and All-Star status,

demonstrating a firm commitment to growing our economy and creating new jobs,” Stumpf said. “We are

disappointed that the vast majority of the 48 representatives in our region chose to maintain the size, cost and

operations of state government over a pro-growth agenda. We look forward to working with new and returning

legislators to ensure that 2015 was only a temporary setback for Louisiana employers.”

In the past, legislators voting with LABI 75 percent or more have received an automatic endorsement in campaigns

for re-election. After this session, however, LABI’s SOUTHPAC is considering changing its endorsement rules,

effective immediately, allowing PAC members to consider more than this one threshold in order to endorse

candidates.

LABI entered the 2015 legislative session by encouraging senators and representatives to focus on making

Louisiana’s business climate more competitive.LABI’s 2015 Program of Work served as an important roadmap to

educate legislators on the issues considered most important by LABI members and the business community as a

whole.

Throughout session, as votes on priority issues approached, LABI staff, leadership, and members communicated

with legislators indicating the importance of the vote to the business community.

While 1,947 bills and resolutions were filed, and 473 of them passed both chambers this year and were enacted by

the governor as of July 1, LABI has a focused agenda and the actual votes used to calculate legislators’ scores are

those votes that tie directly to LABI’s Program of Work.

See the scorecard and the grades

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ALFORD: Fallout Certain From Grading Of Lawmakers

lapolitics.com /2015/07/fallout-certain-from-grading-of-lawmakers/

How do you flunk 94 lawmakers, most of which are facing re-election in the fall, and then turn around next year and

ask them for their help? That’s the question many political insiders are asking in light of the legislative scorecard

released recently by the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry. A vast majority of the Legislature received

“F” grades; that means your representative and senator are probably on the underachiever’s list, according to the

state’s most influential business lobby.

Unlike the schools we all attended, lawmakers do not have to repeat a term, but most are seeking re-election this

fall. So the timing is terrible for them. They won’t be able to run to the mailbox to get their scorecard before their

constituents see it, and they won’t be able to turn that “F” into an “A” by drawing a line down the righthand side.

No, lawmakers will have to explain their votes on more than $600 million worth of tax-related measures that

ensnared companies big and small alike. They do have explanations, to be certain, but they won’t play as well on

direct mail pieces and in radio spots as those big fat “Fs” surely will.

Members of the House and Senate were faced with an unprecedented $1.6 billion shortfall, which had to be closed

with little to no guidance from the administration. Lawmakers will rightly say that higher education would have

suffered greatly had business and industry not been temporarily taxed. Then again, representatives and senators

could have spent more time trying to reduce spending and cutting the more bloated corners of government.

Yet that’s easier to write in a sentence than to deliver in a regular session. Especially when the governor has

saddled you with a complicated and unnecessary “revenue neutral” rule — meaning for every $1 in taxes created by

lawmakers, they had to decrease the budget by an equal amount elsewhere. Gov. Bobby Jindal was promising

critical vetoes if lawmakers didn’t follow through, and they didn’t appear to have enough will, or votes, for a veto

override.

So what happens next, with the votes cast and scorecards distributed? For starters, there’s going to be some major

blowback any which way you slice this political pie. By failing a majority of the Legislature, LABI has chosen to cut

many of them off from receiving donations from the organization’s four political action committees — and, really, the

PACs run by other business groups, too. LABI has also weaponized candidates who are challenging incumbents

and, in what may be LABI’s most important contribution this session, they could end up recruiting folks to run against

lawmakers on their target list.

On the other hand, LABI has itself become a target for those flunked lawmakers who will return to the Capitol next

year. One can’t help but wonder what that first lobbying outreach meeting will be like with a lawmaker wearing the

Scarlet “F.” Will lawmakers turn their backs on LABI? It’s highly doubtful. LABI rarely comes to the table alone, so for

lawmakers to seek revenge on LABI they would also have to go against several others, like the petrochemical

industry and the energy sector.

LABI president Stephen Waguespack said that while a number of the organization’s longtime allies scored poorly

this year, it won’t necessarily equate to non-endorsements for them all. “You can expect a number of people who

received failing grades to still get our backing,” he said. “The goal now is to work toward next year to make sure we

see different results.”

But if there is an opportunity where LABI is flying solo on an issue during the 2016 session, you can bet your last

dollar that lawmakers will be waiting in the blinds like its duck season. That makes LABI’s scorecard one of the

biggest political gambles of the season. It’s either going to be one of the most influential factors in this fall’s

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legislative elections or the fuel that ignites a mini-battle next year — maybe both.

However, LABI’s top brass was left with very few choices after lawmakers ignored their warnings during the spring

and summer about increasing taxes on their membership. Lawmakers knew at the time there would be some kind of

hell to pay, but few realized at the time how far LABI would push it. The bills that raised taxes this session were

weighted heavily in the scorecard, more so than usual, pulling down the 2015 and overall cumulative scores for a

number of legislators. Between half and two-thirds of the 2015 score relies upon the tax votes, meaning just a

handful of votes are to be blamed for this political headache afflicting lawmakers.

It’s difficult to overstate what is taking place. Friendships are coming to an end because of the scorecard. People

may be pushed out of elected office. The tone of business-related policy discussions at the Capitol may carry an

edge for the foreseeable future.

Whatever happens, this year promises to be a benchmark of sorts at the intersection of business and politics. Both

may suffer from the fallout to come, possibly one more than the other, but for now there’s no turning back for either

side. The die is cast.

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LABI Issues Their 2015 Legislative Scorecard

www.cajunconservatism.com /blog/2015/7/15/labi-issues-their-2015-legislative-scorecard

It's apparent that the votes cast by the legislature in the recently completed 2015 session did not sit well with LABI,

as referenced below from their 2015 report. A large majority of those in Baton Rouge have scored an "F" on this

report; many of those were considered fiscally responsible Republicans and quite of few of these lawmakers are up

for re-election this fall.

It seems that voting to support $600 million in tax increases upon the citizens and businesses of the State of

Louisiana is not a very good idea after all.

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heraldguide.com http://www.heraldguide.com/details.php?id=15847

Business scorecard delivers poor grades for most of Legislature

Jeremy Alford

July 17, 2015 at 9:58 am |

The annual legislative scorecard compiled by the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry was released

Tuesday and includes a grade of “F” for 94 members of the Louisiana Legislature.

The rankings represent a major review for some lawmakers, who rely on their scores to trigger campaign donations

from LABI’s political action committees. The need for cash and support is even more noticeable this year, with

elections slated for the fall.

It’s no secret that lawmakers leaned heavily on business to close a $1.6 billion budget shortfall, passing a slew of

measures that amount to tax increases. Although LABI and others managed to negotiate sunsets on the measures,

meaning they’ll expire in one to three years in some cases, the business lobby walked away from the session feeling

many lawmakers had switched jerseys in the final session of their term.

“The scorecard will reflect that,” said LABI president Stephen Waguespack, who wrote in the scorecard’s

introduction that “this was the highest tax increase in Louisiana in decades.”

The majority of lawmakers received a grade of “F” this session, with 64 failing in the House and 30 in the Senate,

which will make pulling money out of LABI’s political action committees this fall all the more difficult. It could also

open up new opportunities for incumbents to be challenged. Only two lawmakers failed to break 20 percent,

including Rep. Jack Montoucent, D-Crowley, with 16 percent, and Sen. David Heitmeier, D-New Orleans, with 18

percent. Only 12 lawmakers earned “A” grades.

According to Camille P. Conaway, LABI’s vice president for policy and research, the bills that raised taxes were

weighted heavily in the scorecard, pulling down the 2015 and overall cumulative scores for a number of legislators.

Between half and two-thirds of the 2015 score relies on the tax votes, she added.

But LABI isn’t the only group with a scorecard that causes heartburn for tax-supporting Republicans. The Louisiana

chapter of the conservative Americans For Prosperity released its tally last week.

AFP has already sunk $60,000 into radio ads promoting LouisianaScorecard.com and may dump just as much into

fall field operations like door-to-door outreach and online advertising.

“It was a disappointing session with legislators throwing tax after tax at the wall to see what would stick,” saidAFP’s

state director Phillip Joffrion.

The radio spot lashes out at lawmakers for passing “gimmicks, short term fixes and over $700 million in tax hikes” to

balance the budget, and for adopting “a scheme to usher in Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion.”

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labi legislative scorecard - acce...legislative scorecard for the 2015 regular legislative session....

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