The Senate narrowly approves the waiver of the veto on the transgender sports bill. Will House finalize it? | Legislature

Republican lawmakers convened the state’s first-ever veto session on Tuesday with high hopes of overriding major bills vetoed by Gov. John Bel Edwards, the culmination of a power struggle of several months between the Democratic governor and the strongly Republican legislature.

By the end of day one, filled with protests and emotional debate, the Senate had agreed to override Edwards’ veto on a bill targeting trans athletes, but rejected attempts to bypass the governor on several others. law projects.

Among those that failed was the other main bill targeted by legislative leaders for an attempted exemption: a proposal to allow concealed firearms to be carried without a license.

The action is now moving to the State House, where Republican leaders will try to get enough Democrats to vote with them to turn the transgender bill into law through a veto override process that is extremely rare in Louisiana history.

The Senate action on Tuesday raised questions about whether the chamber has the urge to override bills other than Senate Bill 156, which bans girls and transgender women born of sex. male, to participate in female and female sports. And the political dynamics in the House lead to an extremely close vote, with Republicans facing a slim margin.

Senators voted 26-12 to overturn the governor’s veto on the transgender bill, garnering the exact number needed on a strictly partisan vote. Senator Beth Mizell, R-Franklinton, urged members not to vote on a ‘stick’ or ‘carrot’ basis – apparently alluding to an intense lobbying effort by Edwards and many members of the business community – but rather on the basis of their conscience.

“If you haven’t heard the voices of the vast majority of people in this state through emails, phone calls, personal visits, there are no words I can give you,” said Mizell, as dozens of spectators crowded into the chamber watched the proceedings.

Republican Sen. Jay Morris, from Monroe, debate over Mizell’s bill and gun measurement sparked passion at the State Capitol, where a half-dozen transgender lawyers were forcibly evicted from the balcony of the House after unfurling a banner protesting against the bill. Senator Patrick Connick, a Republican from Marrero and a decisive vote on the waiver attempts, read the hate mail he received about the gun bill and emotionally berated what he called division during the veto session.

Just before the start of the historic veto session, House Speaker Clay Schexnayder R-Gonzales clamped down on press access to the House, announcing he would expel two of the four journalists from the House prosecution. and relegate other reporters who usually work alongside the room to the balcony. The Legislature is expected to spend at least tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars for the veto session.

Schexnayder, who recently admitted he dislikes the media, claimed the move was made as a COVID precaution. Schexnayder refused to demand masks throughout the pandemic and even led the charge to remove all of Edwards’ pandemic restrictions last year, which failed.

The Louisiana Legislature has previously struck down governors’ vetoes, but this is the first time lawmakers have called a session just to reverse vetoes.

Connick was one of three Republicans to change his vote on the gun bill and refuse to overturn it, along with Sens. Louie Bernard, from Natchitoches, and Franklin Foil, from Baton Rouge. Bernard underlined the opposition of the police; scores of sheriffs have spoken out against the bill, saying it will make communities less safe.

Still, Connick voted with Republicans on the transgender bill, sending it to the House where a vote could take place as early as Wednesday.

But Connick said the veto on the transgender bill was the only one he would vote for, reducing the prospect of waivers on any other bill. The Senate rejected several more attempted waivers on Tuesday, but the House has a long list of bills that could be overturned if both houses agree.

Connick, a Republican from a historic political family, is a crucial vote as Republican Senator Ronnie Johns, of Lake Charles, is not attending the session for health reasons. That means if a Republican votes against a waiver, a Democrat will have to cross the aisle to vote for Edwards, who is the only Democrat elected to a statewide post.

Democrats in the Senate echoed several business leaders who wrote a letter on Tuesday warning lawmakers that by turning the transgender bill into law they risk losing business opportunities. Senator Karen Carter Peterson, D-New Orleans, noted that the NCAA has warned states that they could lose big events – like the Final Four slated for New Orleans next year – if they adopt such a legislation.

Peterson said lawmakers must decide whether they want companies to come to Louisiana or if they “want to discriminate.”

“The governor did what was necessary to protect the people of Louisiana from discrimination and to protect the economy of Louisiana,” said Peterson.

The Louisiana High School Athletic Association, which governs high school sports, already makes it virtually impossible for transgender teens to participate in sports that match their gender identity through its rules. Senator Jay Luneau, D-Alexandria, said the association is already setting “high hurdles” for these athletes, and called the bill a “problem-finding solution.”

But Republicans rejected these arguments. Mizell said threats that the NCAA might remove the state’s Final Four amounted to “extortion,” and noted that the LHSAA had expressed support for his bill.

After the vote, attention immediately shifted to the House, which can rule transgender people by securing two-thirds approval – 70 votes – to override the governor’s veto.

But the calculation is difficult in the lower house.

Only 69 members of the House voted to participate in a non-veto session, including a Democrat, Representative Francis Thompson, of Delhi, and a non-party representative, Representative Roy Daryl Adams, of Jackson.

The other two non-party members will not attend the session for the remainder of the week. This means Republicans need at least two Democrats on their side to turn the transgender bill into law. The bill received 78 votes in the House in the regular session, but Democrats are much more reluctant to vote to override the governor, which last happened in 1993, when Edwin Edwards was governor . The only other registered veto waiver was in 1991 on abortion. Both waivers took place while the Legislative Assembly was still in session.

Edwards set up a plenary press to block a veto waiver, sending high-level aides to lobby lawmakers.

One Democrat who could be on the line is Representative C. Travis Johnson, of Vidalia, who is a co-sponsor of the transgender sports bill. Shortly after the Senate vote on Tuesday, a crowd of Democratic senators gathered to speak to Johnson in the Senate.

Representative Sam Jenkins, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said Tuesday morning that he did not expect any of the governor’s vetoes to be rescinded.

Jenkins also said the vote to override Edwards was significantly different from the original vote on the issue.

This idea was verified in the Senate on Tuesday. Democrats voted en bloc against waivers to guns and transgender bills, although several voted for the bills in the regular legislative session.

Schexnayder said Monday he was “100% comfortable” that the House would have the votes to override Edwards’ veto on the transgender sports bill.

Rep. Blake Miguez, head of the House Republican delegation, said the waiver effort is a “very heavy” one in a morning radio interview.

“If the legislature is to succeed in these waivers, it will require the participation of independents and Democrats,” he said. “If lawmakers stay consistent and vote as they will during the session, we will have a lot of overrides. Unfortunately, the governor has worked very hard on these bills. “

It is not clear exactly which House bills may be the subject of an attempted derogation. Some grassroots Republicans, including Conservative House caucus chairman Jack McFarland, want to race against some of Edwards’ vetoes on budget bills. The governor removed several funding allocations for lawmakers’ projects thanks to his power to veto specific lines of budget bills. But it is not clear whether House leaders will put these bills to a vote.

The House, which has only read the vetoed measures, meets again on Wednesday at 1 p.m. The Senate enters at 4 p.m.

Will Sentell of the Capitol Press Office contributed to this report