2016 legislative session the longest in Louisiana history
Jack Richards / Manship School News Service , WWL
5:47 AM. CDT June 07, 2016
BATON ROUGE — When the 2016 Louisiana Legislature
withdraws on June 23 from its Statehouse entrenchment,following a second special session that begins today, it will have served 19 consecutive weeks, the longest weekly stretch in the legislative branch’s 204-year history.Starting Feb. 14, it will have spanned three seasons of the year. Research by Manship School News Service and information supplied from State Archivist Bill Stafford
and the Legislative Research Library revealed lawmakers will have spent
more consecutive weeks in Baton Rouge this year than any other body of
Louisiana legislators since they first convened in 1812. The House of Representatives did have three, four-day weekends since assembling — in between the first special and regular sessions, as well as long Easter and Memorial Day weekends. The Senate had two four-day breaks — after the special session and for the Easter holiday — not to mention frequent three-day weekends. In modern times, extended weekends have been routine until the end of a session. The Louisiana Constitution sets the opening and closing dates of regular sessions, but it’s the governor who calls and sets the duration, not to mention the agenda, for special sessions. The upcoming special session is limited to 18 days. Some legislators expressed dismay at the
circumstances requiring them to stay so long this year, a legislative
span that will cover three seasons of 2016 when it ends on June 23. “It’s unfortunate the way we have to make history,” said Rep. Lance Harris, R-Alexandria. Sen. Francis Thompson, D-Delhi, said this year’s legislative sessions — two special and one regular session — are some of the most challenging in his more than 40 years in the Legislature. Thompson compared the “awesome” fiscal problems the state faces this year to the similarly fearsome problems the state faced after the 2005 Hurricane Katrina. “This is a fiscal storm we’re facing, rather than a hurricane.” Thompson noted the Legislature spent many consecutive weeks working under former Gov. Buddy Roemer, as well. Records show the body met for 14 consecutive weeks in 1989 and 15 consecutive weeks in 1991. Legislators
in 1960 and 1961 spent 15 weeks in back-to-back extraordinary sessions
as they grappled with how to prevent or circumvent racial integration of
schools. House Resolutions from the time speak candidly of separate
public educational institutions by race. In the span of a year, between 1934 and 1935, the Legislature was called into seven separate executive sessions. Lawmakers then, however, had as much as a month and a half break in between those sessions, as opposed to today’s run-on gatherings. Article.
(© 2016 WWL) | 
