SNAPSHOT OF THE LEGISLATURE

Transcription

1 TIMELINE - and House 72 to 76 72: Alario (Rep.: 72 to 8)(Sen.: 8 to date) 7: F. Thompson (Rep.: 7 to 8)(Sen.: 8 to date) 76 to 8; 8 to 8 None Still Serving 8 to 88 8: Tarver (Sen.: 8 to ) (Sen.: 2 to date) 88 to 2 88: John Smith (Rep.: 88 to 8)(Sen.: 8 to date) 2 to 6 2: T. Carter (Rep.: 2-)(Sen.: 6 to date) : Colomb (Rep.: to 8)(Sen.: 8 to date) : Martiny (Rep.: to 8)(Sen.: 8 to date) COMBINED LEGISLATIVE SENIORITY CHART 6 to 6: R. Carter (Rep.: 6 to 8 and 6 to date), Johns (Rep.: 6 to 8)(Sen.: 2 to date), Glover (Rep.: 6 to 6 and 6 to date) Walsworth (Rep.: 6 to 8)(Sen.: 8 to date) 7: Morrish (Rep.: 7 to 8)(Sen.: 8 to date) : K. Carter Peterson (Rep.: to )(Sen.: to date) to : Erdey (Rep.: to 8)(Sen.: 8 to date), LaFleur (Rep.: to )(Sen.: 8 to date), G. Smith (Rep.: to 2)(Sen.: 2 to date) : Fannin (Rep.: to 6)(Sen.: 6 to date) to 8 : Lambert (Rep.: to 6)(Sen.: 6 to date), B. White (Rep.: to 2)(Sen.: 2 to date) : Barrow (Rep.: to 6)(Sen.: 6 to date) 6: Anders, Morrell (Rep.: 6 to 8)(Sen.: 8 to date) 7: James Morris (Feb.) 8 to 2 8: Abramson, Armes, Barras, Billiot, S. Carter, Chaney, Connick, Cortez (Rep.: 8 to 2)(Sen.: 2 to date), Cromer, Danahay, Donahue, Foil, Franklin, Gisclair, Guinn, Hazel, Henry, Hill, Hoffmann, Howard, R. Johnson, Jones, LeBas, Leger, Long, Lopinto, Mills (Rep.: 8 to )(Sen.: to date), Montoucet, Norton, Pearson, Perry (Rep.: 8 to )(Sen.: to date), Pope, Pugh, Richard, Schroder, Simon, P. Smith, Talbot, Willmott, Riser, Carmody (Feb.), N. Landry (Nov.), Thibaut (Nov.), Appel (Nov.) : Chabert (Aug.); Claitor (Apr.) : Moreno (May), Seabaugh (Oct.) : W. Bishop (Rep: to 6)(Sen.: 6 to date), Hensgens (Apr.), Huval (Apr.) 2 to 6 2: Adams, Allain, Berthelot, S. Bishop, Broadwater, Terry Brown, Troy Brown, Cox, Gaines, Garafalo, L. Harris, Havard, Hodges, Hollis, Hunter, K. Jackson, James, Jefferson, T. Landry, Leopold, Mack, G. Miller, Jay Morris, Peacock, Pierre, Price, Pylant, Reynolds, Schexnayder, Shadoin, Ward : Ivey (March), Stokes (March) : Bouie (Nov.) : Hall (Feb.), M. Johnson (Feb.), Miguez (Feb.), Davis (Dec.) 6 to 6: Abraham, Amedée, Bacala, Bagley, Bagneris, Boudreaux, C. Brown, Carpenter, G. Carter, Coussan, DeVillier, Dwight, Edmonds, Edwards, Emerson, Falconer, Gatti, J. Harris, Hewitt, Hilferty, Horton, Jenkins, Luneau, Lyons, Magee, Marcelle, McFarland, Milkovich, D. Miller, Mizell, M. White, Zeringue 7 Copyright 6 LGS, Inc.

2 GENDER MAKEUP, 6 Female (%) House of Representatives Female 7 (6%) Male (87%) Demographic shifts in the legislature post-term limits Legislative staff, lobbyists, advocates and others returning to the Capitol in 6 will see many new faces in the House and chambers: to be exact. This legislature will tackle some tough issues with a major focus on solving the recurring budget crisis of recent years. The new class is younger and comes with a wide range of previous government experience at the state and local level. They will need to focus this knowledge as they tackle the budget shortfalls of the state and balance the growing need for job creation and economic development. GENDER COMPOSITION While the most recent election has increased female legislative membership by, both the House and the continue to have the lowest population of female members since the s. There are only female legislators, making up percent of the Legislature. This trend is further reflected by the fact that Louisiana does not currently have a female elected official on either the statewide or federal level. Male 88 (8%) Total Female (%) Male (8%) 8 male female male female Copyright 6 LGS, Inc. 7

3 PARTY AFFILIATION, 6 REPUBLICANS (6%) DEMOCRATS (6%) PARTY AFFILIATION The Republican Party continues to hold a majority of the legislature and increased its membership by legislators; in the and in the House. Independents have maintained two seats, in the House. They have yet to have an Independent elected to the. Louisiana continues to elect a more conservative legislature. Whereas in all were Democrats except one, 6 out of 7 state-level statewide elected positions are currently held by Republicans and the Governor is a moderate-to-conservative Democrat. House of Representatives SENATE REPUBLICANS 6 (8%) Democrats Republicans INDEPENDENT 2 (2%) DEMOCRATS 2 (%) Total REPUBLICANS 86 (6%) HOUSE Democrats Republicans Independants INDEPENDENT 2 (%) DEMOCRATS 6 (%) Copyright 6 LGS, Inc.

4 BLACK (2%) WHITE (77%) RACIAL MAKEUP, 6 RACIAL COMPOSITION The election cycle produced a more diverse legislature. Redistricting certainly played a part: there were six additional (from 2 to 2) black majority House districts that were drawn, while in the, the number of black majority districts drawn increased from to. In 6, the racial composition of the legislature remained very similar to the previous four year term. These numbers are likely to remain mostly stagnant until the next redistricting effort which may result in another racial makeup change. With a voting bloc of 2%, the Legislative Black Caucus is likely to play a key role in the next term with regards to deciding votes on budgetary issues which may require a 2/rd vote. House of Representatives BLACK 2 (2%) WHITE 82 (77%) Total BLACK (2%) WHITE (77%) White Black White Black Copyright 6 LGS, Inc. 7

5 AGE COMPOSITION Term limits continue to have a downward pressure on the average age of the legislature. However, there is still only one member under the age of thirty which matches the age composition of the previous term. The majority of legislators are in their s or 6 s. Age of Senators, 6 Age of Representatives, 6 () Under (2) - (2) - (6) 7+ () - (6) - (2) 6-6 () 7+ (2) 6-6 (2) - () - RELIGIOUS BACKGROUND The religious affiliation of legislators has stayed relatively constant for another four years. South Louisiana s heavy Roman Catholic population translates clearly over to the legislature where nearly half, members of the House and members of the entire legislature, are Catholic. The legislature also has maintained a large percentage of Baptist lawmakers members of the 6 Legislature are Baptist, mostly from north and central Louisiana. One category has grown significantly: legislators who identify as non-denominational Christian has grown by % from to. Religious Preference of Senators, 6 Religious Preference of Representatives, 6 () Christian () Protestant () Jewish () Presbyterian () Episcopalian () Catholic () Presbyterian () Catholic () None Listed (8) Methodist (6) Methodist () Baptist () Christian (28) Baptist Catholic () Baptist () Methodist () Christian () Episcopalian () None Listed () Presbyterian () Jewish () Protestant () Religious Preference of ALL Legislatures, Copyright 6 LGS, Inc.

6 EMPLOYMENT TRENDS While business oriented legislators still hold the greatest numbers in the Legislature, 6 in the and in the House, lawyers are a close second. There are a total of lawyers in the Legislature, the only other occupation which comes close. There continues to be a significant rise in the number of full-time legislators in the House, spurred by the amount of time needed to be dedicated to what is still defined as a part-time profession. There remains a handful of legislators in the education, medical and agriculture industries. Occupation of Senators, 6 Agriculture/Livestock Attorney Business 6 Healthcare Full Time Legislator 2 Miscellaneous Notes: () Business category includes insurance, real estate as well as general business (2) Some categories may included members who could also be categorized as retired. Agriculture Attorney Miscellaneous Business Healthcare Legislator Occupation of Representatives, 6 Agriculture/Livestock Attorney Business Educator Healthcare Miscellaneous Full-time Legislator Law Enforcement Notes: () The business category includes insurance, real estate as well as general business. (2) The retired/full-time legislator category may include members who have previously worked in education or law enforcement. House Agriculture Attorney Business Educator Misc. Full-time Legislator Law Enforcement Copyright 6 LGS, Inc. 7

7 EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND The number of legislators who have attended Louisiana State University has almost doubled. There has also been a slight uptick of graduates from out-of-state institutions. Louisiana continues to elect more and more well-educated legislators with the vast majority of the legislature holding at least a bachelor s degree or higher. The number of representatives and senators with only a high school diploma has been on a consistent downward cycle over the last several terms. College Alma Mater of Senators Louisiana State University University of Louisiana at Monroe 2 Southern University 6 Loyola University 6 Tulane University Southeastern Louisiana University 2 Louisiana Tech University of Louisiana at Lafayette 2 Nicholls State University McNeese State University Northwestern State University Grambling Out of State Postgraduate Degree Undergraduate Degree High School Diploma House Postgraduate Degree Undergraduate Degree High School Diploma College Alma Mater of Representatives Louisiana State University Southern University 7 Loyola University 6 Tulane University McNeese State University Northwestern State University Nicholls State University 2 Southeastern Louisiana University 8 Louisiana Tech University of Louisiana at Monroe 2 University of Louisiana at Lafayette Grambling Xavier Dillard Out of State Copyright 6 LGS, Inc.

8 TERMS SERVED BY LEGISLATORS, 6 More Than Two Terms 6 (%) First Term (28%) Second Term 2 (%) House INCUMBENCY COMPOSITION It is obvious to even the casual observer of the Louisiana legislature: term limits have decimated seniority in the legislature. There are much fewer members with seniority longer than twelve years in their respective chamber. If you total all previous years served in prior chambers, there are an additional 8 members in the with over 2 years of experience. While the trend to move from the Lower to the Upper chamber will continue, the voters have shown a desire to have new faces around the Capitol. There are 2 new legislators with no prior legislative experience. In, there will be term-limited legislators representing a change of up to (if not more than) 8% of the legislature. There are 6 senators and representatives term-limited in. More Than Two Terms (8%) First Term (%) Second Term (%) Total More Than Two Terms (8%) Second Term (%) Years of Service House of Representatives, 6 Freshmen over Only House Service Total Legislative Career First Term (%) Years of Service, 6 Only Service Total Legislative Career Notes: - For the purposes of the graphs on this page, seniority was intended to be shown, thus legislators were calculated whom were elected mid-term over the past eight years as member of the class which they joined. - Many of these members are eligible for an additional term. - By this calculation, only members elected during the regular election cycle are counted as freshman. Freshmen over 2 over Copyright 6 LGS, Inc. 77