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Barack Obama’s 58 percent disapproval rating in Louisiana. Vitter spent much of the last year raising money and positioning himself against Obama in the state. Most of all, voters seem to be generally grouchy. Almost 69 percent said state tax money was not being spent wisely, and 60 percent said lawmakers acted in their own best interest, not that of the state, in the recent redistricting session. There were two exceptions to the anti-tax, anti-government mood: 66 percent of voters were up for raising cigarette taxes (Jindal has already said he won’t allow it), while 75 percent said they didn’t trust BP to do the right thing when it came to oil disaster cleanup and fund disbursement and favored government involvement in the process. Remember the flap in 2008 when a bipartisan majority of state legislators voted to increase their own salaries? Politicians are hoping you don’t. A whopping 86 percent of those polled said they would not re-elect a lawmaker who voted for his or her own pay raise. To see how your representative voted, go to www.votesmart.org/issue_keyvote_member.php?cs_ id=19855. — Kevin Allman
Anti-Bullying Bill up for Committee Vote
Drill Bill: Vol. 2
The U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1230 (the “Restarting American Offshore Leasing Now” Act), which aims to accelerate leasing in the Gulf of Mexico and reopen 3 million acres off the coast of Virginia previously closed during the drilling moratorium that followed the Gulf oil disaster. Supporters of the resolution say its mission is to “expand American energy production, create jobs and generate revenue for taxpayers.” The resolution enters the U.S. Senate amid rising fears about high gas prices over the summer. In 2008, a Democratcontrolled Congress let a moratorium on drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf expire. This time, once again, the gas gloves are off. Voting in favor of the resolution on May 5 were Louisiana Republicans Rodney Alexander, Charles Boustany, Bill Cassidy, John Fleming, Jeff Landry and Steve Scalise, as well as Democrat Cedric Richmond, who last month said, “[BP] should be able to drill, as long as they follow the same rules that everybody else is following. … The permitting process has been revamped and they’re making sure that the safeguards are in place so we don’t have another Horizon accident. ... If BP can make it through that, then I think they should be allowed to drill.” The nay votes on the House floor included all but two House Democrats —Florida’s Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and North Carolina’s Walter Jones. Heather Emmert, Gulf States organizer with Environment America, said in a statement that the bills “double down on offshore drilling instead of protecting sensitive places, making drilling safer, increasing liability for economic damages, or doing anything to restore the Gulf. In effect, Congress is telling oil companies and the drilling agency, ‘Forget the Gulf oil spill, forget the Oil Spill Commission recommendations, and full speed ahead on drilling.’” A White House statement said it opposes H.R. 1230 as it would “undercut critical reforms” committed to “safe and responsible” drilling. — Alex Woodward
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The Louisiana House Education Committee is set to consider a bill that would expand the reach of the state’s anti-bullying law as it applies to public schools and students. House Bill 112, by Rep. Austin Badon, D-New Orleans, will be heard in the committee, which Badon chairs, on Thursday, May 12. The current state law against public school-related bullying specifically exempts six parishes — East Baton Rouge, Livingston, East Feliciana, West Feliciana, St. Helena and Tangipahoa. Those parishes rank among the most conservative in the state. Current law also does not expressly protect students from bullying based on race, color or sexual orientation. The existing law merely defines harassment, intimidation and bullying in general terms. Badon’s bill would remove the exceptions and make the law applicable statewide. It also would define harassment, intimidation and bullying to include “any gesture or written, verbal or physical act by a student directed at another student … that is reasonably perceived as being motivated by any actual or perceived characteristic, such as race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, sexual
orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, physical characteristic, political persuasion, mental disability or physical disability, as well as attire or association with others identified by such categories.” Supporters of the bill are bracing for opposition from conservatives based on the protections extended to students in terms of sexual orientation, and gender identification or expression. — Clancy DuBos
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