In light of the devastation brought on by Hurricane Ida, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards ordered the delay of upcoming fall elections that featured important Constitutional questions statewide and municipal elections in New Orleans.

The October 9 primary election will be held instead on November 13 and the November 13 general election will be held on December 11.

The October 9 ballot was full of primaries for three legislative seats, along with the mayor, sheriff, assessor, and the seven city council members in New Orleans.

It also has four Constitutional amendments and a number of questions for locals around the state, such as a renewal of a property tax that funds the bus system in Baton Rouge.

The November 13 general election had been scheduled as runoffs for those contests not decided in the primaries.

Many parts of the state are still without power, some voting locations are damaged and a number of people are still displaced from their homes after Hurricane Ida.

The Louisiana Legislature ended its first-ever veto override session July 23 after failing to gather enough support to overturn any of the 28 bills Gov. John Bel Edwards had vetoed.

During the session, which could have lasted until midnight July 24, lawmakers failed to reach the necessary two-thirds majority in each chamber to revive the vetoed legislation.

The most noteworthy proposal, Senate Bill 156, would have banned transgender athletes from taking part in girls’ and women’s sports.

The House voted 68-30 July 21 in favor of overriding the governor’s veto of the bill with two votes shy of the 70 needed to make the bill law.

This does not affect lobbyist reporting.

Louisiana lawmakers will convene for the first veto override session in history as the Republican-dominated Legislature plans to challenge Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards’ vetoes on a transgender sports ban, a gun rights expansion and as many as 26 other vetoes.

The veto session, which will begin at noon July 20 and must end by midnight July 24, was triggered when a majority of legislators in both the House and Senate withheld their ballots that would have canceled the session.

Only 12 of 39 senators returned ballots to cancel, while 35 of 104 members of the House returned ballots to cancel. One seat is vacant in the 105-members House.

The most often mentioned targets for override have been Senate Bill 156 by Sen. Beth Mizell, R-Franklinton, to ban transgender athletes from competing on girls sports teams and Senate Bill Senate Bill 118 by Sen. Jay Morris, R-Monroe, to allow anyone 21 and older to carry a concealed firearm without a permit or training.

If any veto is overturned, the bill becomes law without the governor’s signature.

This does not affect lobbyist reporting.

Candidates for office in Louisiana will soon no longer be subject to aggregate contribution limits from political committees combined under a bill signed into law June 22 by Gov. John Bel Edwards.

Effective August 1, the new law will remove the limitation on combined contributions for both the primary and general elections that may be accepted by any candidate and his principal and subsidiary campaign committees from a political committee.

Before the change, PAC donations have been limited to $80,000 for major office candidates in Louisiana, $60,000 for district office candidates and $20,000 for smaller office candidates. That cap is a total applied to the combined primary and general elections for a candidate.

Gov. Edwards signed the legislation despite opposition from the state board of ethics.

The Louisiana Legislature will adjourn sine die no later than 6 p.m. June 10 in accordance with state law.

Gov. John Bel Edwards will hold a media briefing about the 2021 legislative session 30 minutes after adjournment sine die.

During the session, a bill eliminating certain aggregate campaign contribution limitations passed.

Senate Bill 4 removes the limitation on combined contributions for both the primary and general elections that may be accepted by any candidate and his principal and subsidiary campaign committees from a political committee.

Present law provides the total amount of combined contributions for both the primary and general elections that may be accepted by a candidate and his principal and subsidiary campaign committees from political committees must not exceed $80,000 for major office candidates, $60,000 for district office candidates, and $20,000 for other office candidates in aggregate.

Senate Bill 4 was sent to the governor on June 1 and has an effective date of August 1.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards will call a special election on March 20 to fill the 5th Congressional District.

This seat was previously held by the late Luke Letlow, who died December 29 from COVID-19 complications.

Letlow, 41, had been elected to replace incumbent Congressman Ralph Abraham, who had previously chosen not to seek reelection.

Letlow is survived by his wife, Julia Barnhill Letlow, and two children.

The special election would coincide with already scheduled spring elections on March 20 for the primary and April 24 for a runoff.

Until then, the 5th Congressional District will be without a representative once Abraham’s term expires and the new Congress is sworn-in January 3.

The Louisiana Legislature adjourned the second special session Friday, June 16, 2017 after passing the state’s budget.

The Legislature could not reach an agreement to pass the budget during the 2017 regular legislative session forcing Gov. John Bel Edwards to call a special session to set an operating budget for the 2017 fiscal year.

The legislature is not scheduled to convene again until the 2018 regular legislative session.

The 2016 regular session of the Louisiana Legislature adjourned sine die on June 6, 2016. Upon transmittal of a bill, Gov. John Bel Edwards will have 20 days to sign or veto legislation.

A special session was also convened on June 6 and must adjourn by midnight on June 23. Edwards called the special session in May for the Legislature to address the state’s budget shortfall for the fiscal year beginning on July 1.