“We can understand the first 30 days, but looking back seven months later, we just don’t feel that any one person should have that much power,” said Rep. Blake Miguez.
Hunter Woodall
Politics Reporter
Updated Sep. 25, 2020 9:08AM ET / Published Sep. 25, 2020 4:13AM ET
The state of Louisiana has already suffered through a pair of devastating surges during the coronavirus pandemic. But as Republicans prepare for a special legislative session next week, there is concern they are preparing to take a “kamikaze” approach, as one Democrat put it, that could send the state’s fortunes tumbling.
Democrats in the conservative state of Louisiana are bracing for Republicans to attempt to drain Gov. John Bel Edwards’ emergency powers during a special legislative session set to start Monday night, as the executive authority of statewide leaders in a time of crisis continues to be a point of friction across party lines.
To Senate Minority Leader Troy Carter “there’s a potential for a kamikaze flight,” where some lawmakers are “willing to explode and blow the whole state up for frivolous politics.”
“I mean, anytime you’re willing to make a statement that is so grand that you’re willing to impact the state constitution, dilute the governor’s authority as it relates to declarations of emergencies and risk federal dollars, that’s tantamount to a pilot flying a kamikaze plane,” Carter, a Democrat, told The Daily Beast. “You’re going to crash and burn, and you’re going to kill a bunch of people that you were sworn to fight for.”
The coronavirus pandemic has forced governors across the country to utilize their emergency powers as they try to protect their states, with efforts ranging from statewide shutdowns to the mask mandates that have become a key aspect of containing the virus in recent months.
Those decisions have been met with varying degrees of opposition, from litigation to legislation, that look to undercut the often broad executive powers that governors have wielded to help control the virus. Republican state lawmakers in places like Louisiana have cried foul about the governor not working with the legislature as emergency orders get extended and more time passes.
Rep. Blake Miguez, the Louisiana House Republican delegation chairman, dismissed Carter’s words as “fearmongering,” and emphasized that Republicans in both chambers are in agreement they want to reopen the state and “it’s just a matter of discussing exactly how we’re going to achieve that goal.”
“We’re definitely challenging the governor’s emergency powers and we’re definitely looking to cut into them and take some of that power back into the legislature and have a voice and a seat at the table again,” Miguez said. “I mean, it’s been seven months. We can understand the first 30 days, but looking back seven months later, we just don’t feel that any one person should have that much power.”
The heads of the GOP-controlled House and Senate made clear in news releases earlier this week that COVID-19 would be a major concern of the special session, along with dealing with the fallout from Hurricane Laura, and Louisiana’s unemployment trust fund.
“A significant number of House members have also asked to address the continued proclamations issued by the Governor during the pandemic and what many see as an imbalance of power,” Republican House Speaker Clay Schexnayder said in a statement about the upcoming session. “This special session will not end without a solution to this problem.”
The resistance Edwards is continuing to face is similar to the challenges thrown at other Democratic governors throughout the pandemic. President Donald Trump roared with approval on social media at news earlier this month over a federal judge throwing out several of Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s coronavirus measures as unconstitutional, including gathering restrictions, and measures like the (currently suspended) stay at home order.
“There’s no sense debating a ruling that will be appealed,” Wolf said in a statement last week. “Two of three federal judges upheld what we did.”
Other orders in the state remain in place, a spokesperson from the governor’s office said in an email, including the state’s mask mandate.
In the fellow pivotal swing state of Wisconsin, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers was dealt a blow back in May when a Republican-led court challenge resulted in the state Supreme Court finding his administration’s safer-at-home order “unlawful, invalid, and unenforceable.” He was able to later put in place a statewide mask order.
“This can have a political valence but it doesn’t exclusively have a political valence,” said Meryl Chertoff, executive director of the Georgetown Project on State and Local Government Policy and Law. “But it is troubling that in so many of these cases it is Republican legislators who are conflicting with Democratic governors and where it appears that part of this has to do with the presidential election, or with statewide elections going on, and not so much to do with the best interests of people in their state, because we’re seeing second waves.”
(Continued)
Hunter Woodall
Politics Reporter
Updated Sep. 25, 2020 9:08AM ET / Published Sep. 25, 2020 4:13AM ET
The state of Louisiana has already suffered through a pair of devastating surges during the coronavirus pandemic. But as Republicans prepare for a special legislative session next week, there is concern they are preparing to take a “kamikaze” approach, as one Democrat put it, that could send the state’s fortunes tumbling.
Democrats in the conservative state of Louisiana are bracing for Republicans to attempt to drain Gov. John Bel Edwards’ emergency powers during a special legislative session set to start Monday night, as the executive authority of statewide leaders in a time of crisis continues to be a point of friction across party lines.
To Senate Minority Leader Troy Carter “there’s a potential for a kamikaze flight,” where some lawmakers are “willing to explode and blow the whole state up for frivolous politics.”
“I mean, anytime you’re willing to make a statement that is so grand that you’re willing to impact the state constitution, dilute the governor’s authority as it relates to declarations of emergencies and risk federal dollars, that’s tantamount to a pilot flying a kamikaze plane,” Carter, a Democrat, told The Daily Beast. “You’re going to crash and burn, and you’re going to kill a bunch of people that you were sworn to fight for.”
The coronavirus pandemic has forced governors across the country to utilize their emergency powers as they try to protect their states, with efforts ranging from statewide shutdowns to the mask mandates that have become a key aspect of containing the virus in recent months.
Those decisions have been met with varying degrees of opposition, from litigation to legislation, that look to undercut the often broad executive powers that governors have wielded to help control the virus. Republican state lawmakers in places like Louisiana have cried foul about the governor not working with the legislature as emergency orders get extended and more time passes.
Rep. Blake Miguez, the Louisiana House Republican delegation chairman, dismissed Carter’s words as “fearmongering,” and emphasized that Republicans in both chambers are in agreement they want to reopen the state and “it’s just a matter of discussing exactly how we’re going to achieve that goal.”
“We’re definitely challenging the governor’s emergency powers and we’re definitely looking to cut into them and take some of that power back into the legislature and have a voice and a seat at the table again,” Miguez said. “I mean, it’s been seven months. We can understand the first 30 days, but looking back seven months later, we just don’t feel that any one person should have that much power.”
The heads of the GOP-controlled House and Senate made clear in news releases earlier this week that COVID-19 would be a major concern of the special session, along with dealing with the fallout from Hurricane Laura, and Louisiana’s unemployment trust fund.
“A significant number of House members have also asked to address the continued proclamations issued by the Governor during the pandemic and what many see as an imbalance of power,” Republican House Speaker Clay Schexnayder said in a statement about the upcoming session. “This special session will not end without a solution to this problem.”
The resistance Edwards is continuing to face is similar to the challenges thrown at other Democratic governors throughout the pandemic. President Donald Trump roared with approval on social media at news earlier this month over a federal judge throwing out several of Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s coronavirus measures as unconstitutional, including gathering restrictions, and measures like the (currently suspended) stay at home order.
“There’s no sense debating a ruling that will be appealed,” Wolf said in a statement last week. “Two of three federal judges upheld what we did.”
Other orders in the state remain in place, a spokesperson from the governor’s office said in an email, including the state’s mask mandate.
In the fellow pivotal swing state of Wisconsin, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers was dealt a blow back in May when a Republican-led court challenge resulted in the state Supreme Court finding his administration’s safer-at-home order “unlawful, invalid, and unenforceable.” He was able to later put in place a statewide mask order.
“This can have a political valence but it doesn’t exclusively have a political valence,” said Meryl Chertoff, executive director of the Georgetown Project on State and Local Government Policy and Law. “But it is troubling that in so many of these cases it is Republican legislators who are conflicting with Democratic governors and where it appears that part of this has to do with the presidential election, or with statewide elections going on, and not so much to do with the best interests of people in their state, because we’re seeing second waves.”
(Continued)
