BATON ROUGE, La. — Lawmakers have handed him more control and less oversight than ever before.
SB497 gives Governor Landry control over the very ethics board that’s charged him with breaking a state ethics law. He’ll now be able to directly appoint whoever he wants to the board, now that the law eliminates a nomination process by Louisiana colleges.
Senate Bill 462 has been dubbed the "King Landry Bill" by democrats. It gives the governor broad control to appoint about 150 chairs of state boards and commissions across Louisiana. This includes the chairs of the state's four higher education boards. Critics worry it will deeply politicize college leadership. It was signed into law Wednesday and Landry immediately appointed two people.
House Bill 853 gives the governor the power to appoint a brand new position - a Surgeon General. The bill created this brand new position to replace the Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health as the designated state health officer.
House Bill 971 creates the Louisiana Ports and Waterways Investment Commission to advocate for the investment interests of the state's ports and waterways. The Governor has the authority to appoint 10 of the 12 board members.
House Bill 799 loosens protections on the historic Governor's mansion. It limits the areas open to the public, allows the Governor to appoint and fire members of the commission without input from those who work there, and lets the Governor and First Lady make renovations or redecorate the private or public areas without prior approval.
If you've been keeping track, that's nearly unchecked influence over the ethics board, about 150 boards and commissions, publicly-funded colleges, ports and waterways, health department leadership, and the historic mansion that has been home to 10 governors.
And the constituents who put the governor in that mansion will now know less about what he's doing in it.
HB268 allows the governor to shield any records of his schedule that he believes would impair the safety of himself or his family. Under current law, those records are public after a week.
And HB767 was slipped in at the last minute. It restricts public records from the governor’s office, allowing them only to be requested by Louisiana residents.
Landry was denied a few items on his wish list this session, including more control over the State Civil Service commission. Plus, the convention he asked for to re-write the Louisiana Constitution in only two weeks will not be happening just yet. And despite doubling down on refusing federal dollars to feed hungry kids from low-income families this summer, the Summer EBT program will go ahead anyway.
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