Louisiana's historic veto override session: Winners and losers

Republican leaders in the Louisiana Legislature ended the first veto override session in the history of the state Wednesday, three days earlier than the session had to end, when it became obvious the Republican leadership didn’t have enough votes to override any of the governor’s vetoes. They had the option of staying until Saturday at midnight.

Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, vetoed 28 bills and several other local construction projects approved by the Republican-dominated Louisiana Legislature. Conservatives had pushed for lawmakers to return for a veto override session to overturn some of those decisions. But in the end, they weren’t able to meet the two-thirds vote threshold to do so.

Veto overrides are rare in Louisiana. Lawmakers have only been known to override a Louisiana governor twice — in 1991 and 1993 — and this is the first time legislators had ever called themselves back into a veto override session in the modern history of the state. The two previous veto overrides took place during the regular lawmaking session.

Here’s a look at who benefitted from the historic veto override session:

WINNER: Gov. John Bel Edwards

Edwards said he wasn’t “gloating” about crushing the Republican effort to overturn his vetoes, but his Wednesday evening press conference on the fourth floor in the Louisiana Capitol felt like a victory lap. Nearly every Democrat in the Louisiana Legislature showed up to see him address the media.

Read more: https://lailluminator.com/2021/07/22/louisianas-historic-veto-override-session-winners-and-losers/