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Who is my Representative?
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?
§2. Sessions
Section 2.(A) Annual
Session. (1) The legislature shall meet annually
in regular session for a limited number of
legislative days in the state capital. A
legislative day is a calendar day on which
either house is in session.
(2)(a) No
member of the legislature may introduce more
than five bills that were not prefiled, except
as provided in the joint rules of the
legislature.
(b) Except as provided in
Subsubparagraph (c) of this Subparagraph, any
bill that is to be prefiled for introduction in
either house shall be prefiled no later than
five o'clock in the evening of the tenth
calendar day prior to the first day of a regular
session.
(c) Any bill to effect any
change in laws relating to any retirement system
for public employees that is to be prefiled for
introduction in either house shall be prefiled
no later than five o'clock in the evening of the
forty-fifth calendar day prior to the first day
of a regular session.
(d) The legislature
is authorized to provide by joint rule for the
procedures for passage of duplicate or companion
instruments.
(3)(a) All regular sessions
convening in even-numbered years shall be
general in nature and shall convene at noon on
the second Monday in March. The legislature
shall meet in such a session for not more than
sixty legislative days during a period of
eighty-five calendar days. No such session shall
continue beyond six o'clock in the evening of
the eighty-fifth calendar day after convening.
No new matter intended to have the effect of law
shall be introduced or received by either house
after six o'clock in the evening of the
twenty-third calendar day. No matter intended to
have the effect of law, except a measure
proposing a suspension of law, shall be
considered on third reading and final passage in
either house after six o'clock in the evening of
the fifty-seventh legislative day or the
eighty-second calendar day, whichever occurs
first, except by a favorable record vote of
two-thirds of the elected members of each house.
(b) No measure levying or authorizing a new
tax by the state or by any statewide political
subdivision whose boundaries are coterminous
with the state; increasing an existing tax by
the state or by any statewide political
subdivision whose boundaries are coterminous
with the state; or legislating with regard to
tax exemptions, exclusions, deductions or
credits shall be introduced or enacted during a
regular session held in an even-numbered year.
(4)(a) All regular sessions convening in
odd-numbered years shall convene at noon on the
second Monday in April. The legislature shall
meet in such a session for not more than
forty-five legislative days in a period of sixty
calendar days. No such session shall continue
beyond six o'clock in the evening of the
sixtieth calendar day after convening. No new
matter intended to have the effect of law shall
be introduced or received by either house after
six o'clock in the evening of the tenth calendar
day. No matter intended to have the effect of
law, except a measure proposing a suspension of
law, shall be considered on third reading and
final passage in either house after six o'clock
in the evening of the forty-second legislative
day or fifty-seventh calendar day, whichever
occurs first, except by a favorable record vote
of two-thirds of the elected members of each
house.
(b) During any session convening
in an odd-numbered year, no matter intended to
have the effect of law, including any suspension
of law, shall be introduced or considered unless
its object is to enact the General Appropriation
Bill; enact the comprehensive capital budget;
make an appropriation; levy or authorize a new
tax; increase an existing tax; levy, authorize,
increase, decrease, or repeal a fee; dedicate
revenue; legislate with regard to tax
exemptions, exclusions, deductions, reductions,
repeals, or credits; or legislate with regard to
the issuance of bonds. In addition, a matter
intended to have the effect of law, including a
measure proposing a suspension of law, which is
not within the subject matter restrictions
provided in this Subparagraph may be considered
at any such session if:
(i) It is
prefiled no later than the deadline provided in
Subparagraph (2) of this Paragraph, provided
that the member shall not prefile more than five
such matters pursuant to this Subsubparagraph;
or
(ii) Its object is to enact a local or
special law which is required to be and has been
advertised in accordance with Section 13 of this
Article and which is not prohibited by the
provisions of Section 12 of this Article.
(B) Extraordinary Session. The legislature
may be convened at other times by the governor
and shall be convened by the presiding officers
of both houses upon written petition of a
majority of the elected members of each house.
The form of the petition shall be provided by
law. At least seven calendar days prior to
convening the legislature in extraordinary
session, the governor or the presiding officers,
as the case may be, shall issue a proclamation
stating the objects of the extraordinary
session, the date on which it shall convene, and
the number of days for which it is convened. The
power to legislate shall be limited, under
penalty of nullity, to the objects specifically
enumerated in the proclamation. The session
shall be limited to the number of days stated
therein, which shall not exceed thirty calendar
days.
(C) Emergency Session. The governor
may convene the legislature in extraordinary
session without prior notice or proclamation in
the event of public emergency caused by
epidemic, enemy attack, or public catastrophe.
(D) Organizational Session. The legislature
shall meet in an organizational session in the
state capitol to be convened at ten o'clock in
the morning on the day the members are required
to take office. No such session shall exceed
three legislative days. The session shall be for
the primary purpose of judging the
qualifications and elections of the members,
taking the oath of office, organizing the two
houses, and selecting officers. No matter
intended to have the effect of law shall be
introduced at an organizational session.
Amended by Acts 1989, No. 841, §1, approved Oct.
7, 1989, eff. Nov. 7, 1989; Acts 1990, No. 1095,
§1, approved Oct. 6, 1990, eff. Jan. 1, 1992;
Acts 1993, No. 1041, §1, approved Oct. 16, 1993,
eff. Nov. 18, 1993; Acts 2001, No. 1231, §1,
approved Nov. 5, 2002, eff. Jan. 1, 2004; Acts
2008, No. 937, §1, approved Nov. 4, 2008, eff.
Dec. 8, 2008; Acts 2009, No. 537, §1, approved
Oct. 2, 2010, eff. Jan. 1, 2012; Acts 2012, No.
872, §1, approved Nov. 6, 2012, eff. Dec. 10,
2012.
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