LaPoltiics: Dems, GOP target shared agenda

By JEREMY ALFORD
LaPolitics New Service
While the Democratic and Republican parties in Louisiana have decided to team up to pursue unlimited fundraising possibilities on the federal level, there may also be a shared legislative agenda in the works on the state level for the 2015 session.
The executive directors from both parties say there are at least three issues they already agree on and are willing to sit together at the committee table to discuss.
The first involves the state’s qualifying period, which is usually held in the early fall, around August, and less than three months before the primary.
“Practically everywhere else around the country it’s held in the spring,” said Stephen Handwerk, executive director of the Louisiana Democratic Party. “Pushing it up will give us more time to prepare and will settle the fields sooner. I also think it could help the secretary of state’s office, since they would have more time to get the ballots ready and prepare for the elections.”
Fundraising could be on the menu as well. With a recent court decision clearing the way for the Fund for Louisiana’s Future, a super PAC, or political action committee, to collect unlimited donations on the state level, the parties would like to see a law passed that gives the same privilege to their own state-regulated independent expenditure accounts.
Lawmakers may also be asked to put the court’s super PAC decision into law.
“That’s something we both agree on,” said Jason Doré, executive director of the Louisiana Republican Party.
Additionally, the pair is interested in exploring the limits on when and where campaign signs can be placed in advance of elections.
The issue sprouted in Lafayette earlier this year when a long-forgotten local ordinance was discovered allowing signs on private property only within three months of balloting.
“It’s private property and should be a freedom of speech issue,” said Handwerk.
Will Edwards get Democratic nod?
With former Gov. Edwin Edwards more than likely serving as the Democrats’ best hope of seizing the 6th Congressional District, attention is turning to whether the state party will get behind the candidate, who was in federal prison just a few years ago.
“If he asks for a vote of the (Democratic State Central Committee) then we’ll see,” said a DSCC source of a possible endorsement.
Since he announced for the race, the party seems to have kept Edwards at arm’s length. But party officials say that isn’t so, pointing to the fact that Edwards has not yet qualified and the field isn’t settled.
If he makes the runoff, as recent polling predicts, that would present a different situation, they say.
“I would like the endorsement, but we need to be fair to the other Democrat in the race,” Edwards told LaPolitics, referring to Richard Lieberman of LaPlace, who has also announced. “If the party gave me some kind of sign, I might ask for it. I do not want to be presumptuous.”
Kirstin Alvanitakis, the party’s communications director, said, “Our executive committee approved a procedure to allow our state central committee to endorse federal candidates via mail-in ballot on our last conference call, so we will likely be endorsing in competitive federal races this fall.”
For now, Edwards will have to settle for an enviable wave of national media attention. Over the past few weeks, Edwards’ bid has been covered in rather lengthy profiles by New York Magazine, National Journal and The Weekly Standard.
In the coming days, he will also be featured in a segment produced by CNN’s chief political analyst Gloria Borger.
From the pen to the polling precincts
Most Louisiana voters know Burl Cain as the religious and outspoken warden of Angola, a position he has held for the past 19 years. But what about Burl Cain the gubernatorial candidate?
A Facebook page has been established to “draft” him for the 2015 race. The page notes that Cain oversees a large budget, helped Angola progress through “God-driven” initiatives and “held the only elected position on the State Civil Service Commission for 22 consecutive years.”
Cain wouldn’t take a stance when contacted by LaPolitics, saying, “I’m shocked and flattered, but I don’t even know who is behind posting that.”
A direct message was sent via Facebook to find out, but no response was provided.
Parents join lawsuit against BESE
More than 190 names, primarily those of parents of students in public schools, have been added to the anti-Common Core lawsuit filed against the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and Superintendent John White, sources tell LaPolitics.
The additional plaintiffs were added to the suit, originally filed in Baton Rouge’s district court by 17 state legislators, on Friday and Monday morning.
“Parents started calling (last week) and I think it’s going to keep growing. They want to join the suit,” said a source involved with the anti-Common Core legal action, adding the parents are from all over the state.
Whether more names will be added is unknown, but interested parents are continuing to reach out to lawmakers.
“We are still getting bombed with names this morning to join,” said a source early Monday.
The lawmakers, mostly Republicans from the fiscal hawks group, along with two Democrats and two independents, are paying for the lawsuit out of their own pockets, sources tell LaPolitics.
The lawmakers argue the Administrative Procedures Act was not followed by the board in implementing Common Core, noting the standards were not properly advertised and publicly discussed.
White and BESE president Chas Roemer contend the board was never required to follow such guidelines and that the lawsuit has not merit.
They Said It
“You will see that snake again.” — State Sen. Robert Adley, R-Benton, warning future snake-bite victims after he stepped on a vengeful water moccasin this week and was treated at W-K Bossier, on KTBS-TV
For more Louisiana political news, visit www.LaPolitics.com or follow Jeremy Alford on Twitter @LaPoliticsNow.