2020 Louisiana legislative session

Louisiana State Legislature
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.

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

Partisan control in 2020[edit]

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[edit]

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.

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[edit]

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.

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[edit]

Louisiana State Senate[edit]

• Senate president: Patrick Cortez (R)

Louisiana House of Representatives[edit]

• House speaker: Clay Schexnayder (R)

Regular session[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

Senate committees[edit]

House committees[edit]

Legislatively referred constitutional amendments[edit]

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 in which the Louisiana Constitution can be amended:

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

There are two ways to amend the Louisiana Constitution.

• One way is through a legislatively referred constitutional amendment.

• If two-thirds of the members of both houses of the Louisiana State Legislature vote in the affirmative, a legislatively referred constitutional amendment can be placed on a statewide ballot.
• If approved by a simple majority, it becomes part of the constitution within twenty days of the election, unless the amendment itself has a different effective date provided within its provisions.
• Amendments to the constitution can be proposed that directly affect voters in just part of the state. If an amendment affects five or fewer parishes it has to be approved by a majority statewide vote and by a majority vote in the parishes it affects. The same thing is true for an amendment that affects five or fewer municipalities in the state.
• Resolutions of the state legislature authorizing a proposed amendment to be placed on the ballot for voter ratification must specify an election date. The legislature can decree a special election for this purpose.
• Proposed amendments must cover just one subject with the exception that the legislature is allowed to put an amendment on the ballot that, if approved, would alter or revise one full article of the constitution. In the case of such an amendment, it can cover multiple subjects.

• Another way is through a constitutional convention.

• Two-thirds of the members of both houses can call for a constitutional convention.
• The results of such a convention have to go before the state's voters for ratification.
• Unlike most other states that allow for constitutional conventions, the Louisiana legislature can directly call a convention without having to submit the question of whether or not to hold one to the state's voters.

Louisiana does not feature the power of initiative for either initiated constitutional amendments or initiated state statutes.

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.

2021 measures:

See also: Louisiana 2021 ballot measures

Certified:

The following measures were certified for the ballot.

• Louisiana Amendment 2, Reduction of the Maximum Individual Income Tax Rate Measure (2021)
• Louisiana Amendment 3, Authorize Certain Levee Districts to Collect a Five-Mill Annual Property Tax Measure (2021)
• Louisiana Amendment 4, Increase Limit on Funding Reductions and Redirections During Budget Deficits Measure (2021)
• Louisiana Amendment 1, Creation of the State and Local Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Commission Measure (2021)

2020 measures:

Below is a list of measures that were referred to the 2020 ballot by the legislature.

See also: Louisiana 2020 ballot measures

Certified:

The following measures were certified for the ballot.

• Louisiana Amendment 6, Homestead Exemption Special Assessment Income Limit Amendment (2020)
• Louisiana Amendment 5, Payments in Lieu of Property Taxes Option Amendment (2020)
• Louisiana Amendment 2, Include Oil and Gas Value in Tax Assessment of Wells Amendment (2020)
• Louisiana Amendment 1, No Right to Abortion in Constitution Amendment (2020)
• Louisiana Amendment 7, Unclaimed Property Permanent Trust Fund Amendment (2020)
• Louisiana Amendment 3, Use of Budget Stabilization Fund for Declared Disasters Amendment (2020)
• Louisiana Amendment 4, Expenditures Limit Growth Formula Amendment (2020)
• Louisiana Amendment 1, Allow for Out-of-State Members to the University Board of Supervisors Amendment (December 2020)

Historical partisan control[edit]

The table below depicts the historical trifecta status of Louisiana.

See also[edit]

Elections	Louisiana State Government	State Legislatures	State Politics
Louisiana elections, 2020	Louisiana State Legislature Louisiana House of Representatives Louisiana State Senate Governor of Louisiana Louisiana Supreme Court	State legislative elections, 2020 State legislative special elections, 2020 State legislative elections, 2018 State legislative elections, 2016	State government trifectas State government triplexes Veto overrides in state legislatures State executives State courts Ballot measures

External links[edit]

• Search Google News for this topic
• Louisiana State Legislature homepage

Footnotes[edit]

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