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2020 Louisiana legislative session

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Some states made changes to 2020 state legislative sessions and legislative activity in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
For a full list of changes, visit: Changes to state legislative session dates in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020.
Louisiana: The Louisiana State Legislature suspended its session, effective March 16, 2020. The legislature resumed its session on May 4, 2020. It adjourned on June 30, 2020.
Louisiana State Legislature

Seal of Louisiana.png
General information
Type:   State legislature
Term limits:   Senate: 3 terms (12 years)
House: 3 terms (12 years)
Session start:   March 9, 2020
Website:   Official Legislature Page
Leadership
Senate President:  
Patrick Cortez (R)
House Speaker:  Clay Schexnayder (R)
Structure
Members:  39 (Senate), 105 (House)
Length of term:   4 years (Senate), 4 years (House)
Authority:   Art III, Louisiana Constitution
Salary:   $16,800/year + per diem
Elections
Last election:  November 16, 2019
Next election:  November 18, 2023
Redistricting:  Louisiana Legislature has control

In 2020, the Louisiana State Legislature was scheduled to convene on March 9 and adjourn on June 1.

Several state legislatures suspended their sessions or otherwise limited legislative activity in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The Louisiana State Legislature initially suspended its session from March 16, 2020, through March 31, 2020.[1] After reconvening on March 31, 2020, the legislature suspended its session indefinitely. The legislature resumed its session on May 4, 2020. It adjourned on June 30, 2020.[2][3]

At the start of the 2020, Louisiana was one of 28 state legislatures where neither party had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers. Following the 2019 election, Republicans had a 27-12 supermajority in the Senate and a 68-35 majority over Democrats in the House and two independent members. Democrats controlled the governorship, meaning neither party held a state government trifecta.

At the beginning of the 2020 legislative session:
  • Republicans held a supermajority in the Louisiana state Senate and a majority in the state House.
  • Louisiana was one of 14 states with a divided government.
  • Louisiana’s governor was Democrat John Bel Edwards.

    • Black.png Click the links to read more about the 2023 state Senate and state House elections.
    Black.png Click the links to read more about the 2019 state Senate and state House elections.

    Partisan control in 2020

    See also: State government trifectas

    Louisiana was one of 14 states without a state government trifectas at the start of 2020 legislative sessions. A state government trifecta occurs when one political party holds the governor's office, a majority in the state Senate, and a majority in the state House. For more information about state government trifectas, click here.

    Louisiana was also one of 28 state legislatures where neither party had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers. Veto overrides occur when a legislature votes to reverse a veto issued by an executive such as a governor or the president. If one party has a majority in a state legislature that is large enough to override a gubernatorial veto without any votes from members of the minority party, it is called a veto-proof majority or, sometimes, a supermajority. To read more about veto-proof supermajorities in state legislatures, click here.

    The following tables show the partisan breakdown of the Louisiana State Legislature in the 2020 legislative session.

    Louisiana State Senate

    Party As of January 2020
         Democratic Party 12
         Republican Party 27
    Total 39

    Between 1991 and 2020, partisan control of the Louisiana State Senate shifted from being heavily Democratic to a Republican majority. Democrats went from having a 27-seat advantage following the 1991 elections to being at an 15-seat disadvantage after the 2019 elections. The table below shows the partisan history of the Louisiana State Senate following every general election from 1991 to 2019. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

    Louisiana State Senate election results: 1991-2019

    Party 91 95 99 03 07 11 15 19
    Democrats 33 25 27 24 24 15 14 12
    Republicans 6 14 12 15 15 24 25 27

    Democrats maintained control of the Louisiana State Senate from 1991 to 2011 but their majority steadily decreased. Senate Democrats held their largest majority following the 1991 elections when Democrats held a 27-seat advantage. Throughout the period, Democrats usually controlled between 24 and 33 seats, while Republicans controlled between 6 and 15 seats. Democrats also held more than the 26 seats required to override a gubernatorial veto from 1991 to 1994 and again from 2000 to 2003.

    As a result of party switches and special elections, Republicans gained control of the chamber in February 2011.[4][5] The last time Republicans controlled the Senate prior to 2011 was during post-Civil War Reconstruction. For the first time in the state's modern history, Republicans controlled both chambers of the legislature and the governor's office at the same time. Republicans had a trifecta in the state from 2011 to 2015.[6] Heading into the 2011 elections, Republicans held a 22-17 majority. Republicans gained two seats in the election, giving them a 24-15 majority. Republicans gained one seat in the 2015 elections, giving them a 25-14 majority. The Republican gains from 2011 to 2015 were in line with a national trend toward Republican state legislatures during the presidency of Barack Obama (D). From 2009 to 2017, Democrats experienced losses in state legislative elections, totaling 968 seats all together.

    In 2019, Republicans gained two seats to win a 27-12 majority.


    Louisiana House of Representatives

    Party As of January 2020
         Democratic Party 35
         Republican Party 68
         Independent 2
    Total 105

    Between 1991 and 2020, partisan control of the Louisiana House of Representatives shifted from being heavily Democratic to a Republican majority. Democrats went from having a 69-seat advantage following the 1991 elections to being at a 33-seat disadvantage after the 2019 elections. The table below shows the partisan history of the Louisiana House of Representatives following every general election from 1991 to 2019. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

    Louisiana House of Representatives election results: 1991-2019

    Party 91 95 99 03 07 11 15 19
    Democrats 86 76 75 68 53 45 42 35
    Republicans 17 28 30 36 50 58 61 68
    Other 2 1 0 1 2 2 2 2

    Democrats maintained control of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1991 to 2010 but their majority steadily decreased. House Democrats held their largest majority following the 1991 election when Democrats held a 69-seat advantage. Throughout the period, Democrats usually controlled between 53 and 86 seats, while Republicans controlled between 17 and 50 seats. Democrats also held more than the 70 seats required to override a gubernatorial veto from 1991 to 2002.

    As a result of party switches and special elections, Republicans gained control of the chamber in December 2010. Prior to the party switches, the last time Republicans controlled the House was during post-Civil War Reconstruction.[7] Heading into the 2011 election, Republicans held a 57-46 majority with two independent members. Republicans gained one seat in the election, giving them a 58-45 majority with two independent members. Republicans gained three seats in the 2015 election, giving them a 61-42 majority with two independent members. The Republican gains from 2011 to 2015 were in line with a national trend toward Republican state legislatures during the presidency of Barack Obama (D). From 2009 to 2017, Democrats experienced losses in state legislative elections, totaling 968 seats all together.

    In 2019, Republicans gained seven seats to win a 68-35 majority with two seats held by non-major parties.


    Leadership in 2020

    Louisiana State Senate

    Louisiana House of Representatives

    Regular session

    The following widget shows up to 25 pieces of legislation in the 2020 legislative session that most recently passed both chambers of the legislature, were signed by the governor, or were approved by the legislature in a veto override. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation met these criteria in 2020. This information is provided by BillTrack50.

    Standing legislative committees

    See also: Standing committee and List of committees in Louisiana state government


    A standing committee of a state legislature is a committee that exists on a more-or-less permanent basis, from legislative session to session, that considers and refines legislative bills that fall under the committee's subject matter.

    At the beginning of the 2020 legislative session, there were 35 standing committees in Louisiana's state government, including two joint legislative committees, 17 state Senate committees, and 16 state House committees.

    Joint legislative committees



    Senate committees


    House committees


    Legislatively referred constitutional amendments

    In every state but Delaware, voter approval is required to enact a constitutional amendment. In each state, the legislature has a process for referring constitutional amendments before voters. In 18 states, initiated constitutional amendments can be put on the ballot through a signature petition drive. There are also many other types of statewide measures.

    The methods by which the Louisiana Constitution can be amended:

    See also: Article XIII of the Louisiana Constitution and Laws governing ballot measures in Louisiana

    The Louisiana Constitution provides two mechanisms for amending the state's constitution— a legislative process and a state constitutional convention. Louisiana requires a simple majority vote (50% plus 1) for voters to approve constitutional amendments.

    Legislature

    See also: Legislatively referred constitutional amendment

    According to Article XII, the state Legislature can refer constitutional amendments to the ballot for voters to decide. A two-thirds (66.67%) vote is required during one session of the Louisiana State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 70 votes in the Louisiana House of Representatives and 26 votes in the Louisiana State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot. Amendments can be referred to the ballot in odd-numbered years and even-numbered years in Louisiana.

    Convention

    See also: Convention-referred constitutional amendment

    According to Article XII, the state legislature can provide for the calling of a constitutional convention by law enacted by two-thirds of the members of each chamber of the legislature.


    Historical context: The following statistics are based on legislatively referred constitutional amendments between 1995 and 2019 in Louisiana:

    • Ballots featured 189 constitutional amendments.
      • Even-year ballots featured 121 constitutional amendments.
    • An average of 10 measures appeared on even-year statewide ballots.
    • The number of ballot measures on even-year statewide ballots ranged from four to 21.
    • Voters approved 75 percent (141 of 189) and rejected 25 percent (48 of 189) of the constitutional amendments.
    Legislatively-referred constitutional amendments, 1995-2018
    Total number Approved Percent approved Defeated Percent defeated Even-year average Even-year median Even-year minimum Even-year maximum
    189 141 74.6% 48 25.4% 10.1 8.0 4 21


    Historical partisan control

    The table below depicts the historical trifecta status of Louisiana.

    Louisiana Party Control: 1992-2025
    Eight years of Democratic trifectas  •  Seven years of Republican trifectas
    Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

    Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
    Governor D D D D R R R R R R R R D D D D R R R R R R R R D D D D D D D D R R
    Senate D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R
    House D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R

    See also

    Elections Louisiana State Government State Legislatures State Politics
    Ballotpedia Elections Badge-VOTE-no shadow-Square.jpg
    Louisiana State Flag-Close Up.jpg
    State Houses-Tile image.png
    State Courts-Tile image.png

    External links

    Footnotes

    1. ↑ WDSU, "Louisiana state legislature will temporarily adjourn due to COVID-19," March 16, 2020
    2. ↑ Bossier Press-Tribune, "Louisiana legislature meets briefly before suspending session again," March 31, 2020
    3. ↑ The Advocate, "75% in attendance and many without masks: Louisiana legislature reconvenes amid coronavirus," May 4, 2020
    4. ↑ Louisiana Republican Legislative Delegation, "Republican Delegation Welcomes Senator Norby Chabert to the Republican Party," accessed October 5, 2017
    5. ↑ Four state senators switched their party affiliation from Democrat to Republican and Republicans flipped two seats in special elections.
    6. ↑ Nola, "Senate election completes Republican takeover of Louisiana government," February 21, 2011
    7. ↑ NOLA, "Louisiana Republicans take first House majority since Reconstruction with latest party switch," December 17, 2010
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