BATON ROUGE, La. — The Louisiana Legislature will gather at the state capitol next week for a veto session.
Lawmakers can ask for a vote to override any of the 28 items rejected by Governor John Bel Edwards this year.
That includes bills that would ban gender-affirming health care for transgender children and teenagers and Louisiana’s version of “Don’t Say Gay” legislation.
Sen. Beth Mizell, R-Franklinton supported both bills and says she plans to vote to override the governor’s vetoes.
“I feel pressure from my constituents who write to me by the dozens everyday with the expectation that we’re going to protect the children of Louisiana,” Mizell said. “We’ve got to take a stand to protect children for the long term.”
Sen. Royce Duplessis, D-New Orleans warns letting bills become law that target the LGBTQ+ community could cost the state jobs and future major sporting events.
“We’re not going to let that taint the image of New Orleans,” Duplessis said. “We’re going to continue to make ourselves attractive to conventions and things like the Super Bowl which is scheduled to come in 2025.”
Rep. Joe Marino, I-Gretna, says the veto session is not necessary.
“I don’t intend to change any of my votes, and I voted with the governor. I voted against those bills,” Marino said. “It costs money to go into a veto session over things that I believe are mean-spirited and callous and indifferent towards children who are vulnerable and at risk.”
The veto session is expected to convene at noon, next Tuesday.
WWL-TV Political Analyst Clancy Dubos says it’s not a question of whether any vetoes will be overridden, but rather how many and which ones.
“It’s a question of who can put together a two-thirds vote or whether the governor can put together one vote more than one-third,” Dubos said.
The governor will likely spend a lot of time lobbying the Senate during the special session, Dubos added.
“It will be interesting to watch the Senate because in the Senate 12 senators voted not to come back. The governor needs 14 senators to prevent an override. That will be where I think he works the hardest.”
Lawmakers expect heated debate during the override session.
“These culture war bills are great for political partisanship and division,” Marino said. “These divide us, and they do not unite us.”
“We are majority Republican legislative body,” Mizell said. “I think our voices were very loud during session when we voted for that, and I believe most of us feel that we need to affirm that vote that we took.”
“It sends a terrible message to people across the country, quite frankly,” Duplessis said. “We’re really going backwards. This is not the issue that we should be focused on.”
The veto session can last no longer than 5 days.
It is now set to adjourn by the end of the day on July 22.
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