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How do I register to
vote?
Complete a
postage-free postcard application available at
any post office or library, then mail it or take
it in person to the voter registrar in your city
or parish. Your application must be received 30
days before an election for you to be eligible
to vote in that election. Your spouse, parent,
or child (acting as an agent) may complete and
sign a voter registration application for you,
provided that the person is a registered voter
or has applied for voter registration.
See Department of Elections -
Sec of State
Who is eligible to
vote?
Any United States
citizen may vote, provided that he or she is
registered to vote and is a resident of the
Louisiana Parish in which the person is
registered to vote, is at least 17 years old but
must be 18 years old prior to next election to
vote, is not a convicted felon, and has not been
declared mentally incompetent by a court of law.
Who
is my representative?
Determine your representative by clicking here:
What does the
Louisiana House of Representatives do?
The Louisiana
House of Representatives is composed of 105
members, each elected for a four-year term. A
member of the house must be a citizen of the
United States, must be a qualified elector of
the state, and must be at least 18 years old. He
or she must have been a resident of the state
for two years immediately preceding election,
and for one year immediately preceding election
must have been a resident of the district from
which he or she was chosen.
The House of
Representatives elects one of its own members as
presiding officer--the speaker of the House. The
House creates and enforces its own rules and
judges the qualifications of its members.
The House of
Representatives, together with the state Senate,
constitute the Louisiana Legislature. The duties
of the legislature include consideration of
proposed laws and resolutions, consideration of
proposed constitutional amendments for
submission to the voters, and appropriation of
all funds for the operation of state government.
All bills for raising revenue considered by the
legislature must originate in the house of
representatives. The House alone can bring
impeachment charges against a statewide officer,
which charges must be tried by the senate.
What is the
legislative process?
In Louisiana, as
in the Congress and most other states, the
lawmaking process involves four major stages:
introduction, committee action, floor action,
and enrollment. In a bicameral legislature like
Louisiana's, with both a house and a senate, the
first three stages must occur in each of the
houses consecutively. After the House in which
the bill is introduced completes action on the
measure, the bill is sent to the second House,
where the process is repeated through the three
stages. The fourth stage, enrollment, occurs in
the originating house after both Houses have
agreed on the final form of the proposal.
What
is the legislator's role during session?
The legislator’s
role during the session is to carry out the
lawmaking function of the legislative branch.
The responsibility of the legislature to
formulate policy is the legislative role first
declared by the founding fathers. The
Legislature of Louisiana exercises the power of
the citizenry. The legislature may enact any law
not specifically prohibited by the state or
federal constitution or preempted by federal
law.
Floor debate and
voting on legislation during a session are the
traditional roles perceived for legislators.
Today, the role of a legislator during session
involves far more and is far more visible, as
technology and the media have opened the
legislative process to wider access by the
public.
What does the Speaker
of The House do?
The speaker is the
presiding officer of the House of
Representatives. The Louisiana Constitution
requires the House of Representatives, each time
a new legislature convenes, to choose one of its
own members to serve as speaker.
As presiding
officer, the speaker maintains order during
floor debate, recognizing legislators who wish
to speak and ruling on procedural matters. The
constitution also requires the speaker to sign
all bills and joint resolutions passed by the
legislature. As a member of the House of
Representatives, the speaker may vote on all
questions before the House.
The other duties
and responsibilities of the speaker are
determined by the members of the House in the
House Rules of Procedure, which are adopted by a
majority vote of the members at the beginning of
each regular session of the legislature. The
members give the speaker the authority to
appoint the membership of each standing
committee, subject to rules on seniority, and to
designate the chair and vice chair for each
committee. Under the rules, the speaker is
responsible for referring all proposed
legislation to committee, subject to the
committee jurisdictions set forth in the rules.
The rules also allow the speaker to appoint
conference committees, to create select
committees, and to direct committees to conduct
interim studies when the legislature is not in
session.
How often does the
Legislature meet?
Regular
sessions in odd-numbered years convene at
noon on the last Monday in March. The
legislature may meet for not more than 60
legislative days (a calendar day on which either
house is in session) during a period of 85
calendar days. These sessions are general
in nature, but no measure levying or authorizing
a new tax or increasing an existing tax by the
state or a statewide political subdivision, or
dealing with tax exemptions, exclusions,
deductions or credits, may be introduced or
enacted.
Regular sessions
in even-numbered years
convene at noon on
the last Monday in April. The legislature may
meet for not more than 30 legislative days
during a period of 45 calendar days. These
sessions are restricted to consideration
of the general appropriation bill and other
appropriations, implementation of a capital
budget, and bills levying or authorizing a new
tax, increasing an existing tax, and dealing
with tax exemptions, exclusions, deductions,
reductions, repeal, or credits, or issuing
bonds.
Extraordinary
sessions
may be convened by
the governor at other times and must be convened
by the presiding officers of both houses upon
petition of a majority of the members of each
house. An extraordinary session may not exceed
30 calendar days, and the power to legislate is
limited to the objects specified in the
proclamation or call for the session issued by
the governor or the presiding officers, as the
case may be.
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