Louisiana House of Representatives

Louisiana House of Representatives Chambre des Représentants de Louisiane
Louisiana State Legislature
Type
Type	Lower house
Term limits	3 Terms (12 years)
History
New session started	March 12, 2012
Leadership
Speaker of the House	Taylor Barras (R) Since January 11, 2016
Speaker Pro Tempore	Walt Leger, III (D) Since January 9, 2012
Majority Leader	Lance Harris (R) Since December 10, 2012
Minority Leader	Gene Reynolds (D) Since January 11, 2016
Structure
Seats	105
Political groups	Governing party   Republican (59) Opposition   Democratic (44)   Independent (2)
Length of term	4 years
Authority	Article III, Section 3, Louisiana Constitution
Salary	$15,362/year
Elections
Last election	November 19, 2011 (105 seats)
Next election	November 2015 (105 seats)
Redistricting	Legislative Control
Meeting place
House of Representatives Chamber Louisiana State Capitol Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Website
Louisiana House of Representatives

The Louisiana House of Representatives (French: Chambre des Représentants de Louisiane) is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the US state of Louisiana. The House is composed of 105 Representatives, each of whom represents approximately 42,500 people (2000 figures). Members serve four-year terms with a term limit of three terms (twelve years). The House is one of the five state legislative lower houses that has a four-year term, as opposed to the near-universal two-year term.

The House convenes at the State Capitol in Baton Rouge.

Leadership of the House

See also: List of Speakers of the Louisiana House of Representatives

The Speaker of the House presides over the House of Representatives. The Speaker is customarily recommended by the Governor (although this is not in House rules), then elected by the full House. In addition to presiding over the body, the Speaker is also the chief leadership position, and controls the flow of legislation and committee assignments. The House of Representatives also elects a Speaker pro tempore to preside in the absence of the Speaker.

The current Speaker is Republican Chuck Kleckley of the 36th District (Calcasieu) who was elected to that position in 2012 succeeding Jim Tucker. His deputy is the Speaker pro tempore, currently Democrat Walt Leger, III of the 91st District (Orleans). The Speaker pro tempore presides when the Speaker is not present. The Chairman of the Republican Delegation (i. e. the Majority Leader) is Lance Harris of the 25th District (Rapides).

Composition

The Louisiana House of Representatives comprises 105 representatives elected from across the state from single-member districts by registered voters in the district. Representatives must be electors, be at least eighteen years old, be domiciled in the district they represent at least one year, and have resided in the state two years. The House is the judge of its members' qualifications and elections. All candidates for state representative in a district compete in a nonpartisan blanket primary; if no candidate earns 50+1 percent of the vote, the top two vote-getters advance into the general election. Elections occur every four years and representatives are limited to three four-year terms (12 years). If a seat is vacant, it will be filled in a special election. House sessions occur along with the Louisiana State Senate, every year, for sixty legislative days in even-numbered years and forty-five legislative days in odd-numbered years in which only monetary bills can be considered. The House is the lower legislative chamber of the Louisiana State Legislature; the upper house is the Louisiana State Senate. The Louisiana House has sole authority to impeach state officials and introduce appropriation bills. The Louisiana House of Representatives was established, along with its functions and authority, in Article III, Section 3 of the Louisiana Constitution.

Leaders

Position	Name	Party	District
Speaker	Chuck Kleckley	Republican	36
Speaker pro tempore	Walt Leger, III	Democratic	91
Majority Leader	Lance Harris	Republican	25
Assistant Majority Leader	Alan Seabaugh	Republican	5
Minority Leader	John Bel Edwards	Democratic	72
Assistant Minority Leader	Patricia Haynes Smith	Democratic	67

Party membership

Affiliation	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)			Total
	Republican	Ind	Democratic		Vacant
End of legislature 2011	57	2	46	105	0
Begin 2012	58	2	45	105	0
End of previous legislature	59		44
Begin 2016	61	2	42	105	0
Latest voting share	58.1%	1.9%	40%

Current membership

District	Representative	Party	Parish(es) represented Members change in January 2020.
1	James H. Morris	Rep	Bossier and Caddo
2	Samuel Jenkins, Jr.	Dem	Bossier and Caddo
3	Barbara Norton	Dem	Caddo
4	Cedric Glover	Dem	Caddo
5	Alan Seabaugh	Rep	Caddo
6	Thomas G. Carmody	Rep	Bossier and Caddo
7	Larry Bagley	Rep	Caddo, DeSoto, and Sabine
8			Bossier
9	Dodie Horton	Rep	Bossier
10	Gene Reynolds	Dem	Webster and Bossier
11	Patrick O. Jefferson	Dem	Bienville, Claiborne and Lincoln
12	Rob Shadoin	Rep	Lincoln and Union
13	Jack McFarland	Rep	Bienville, Jackson, Ouachita and Winn
14	Jay Morris	Rep	Morehouse and Ouachita
15	Frank A. Hoffmann	Rep	Ouachita
16	Katrina Jackson	Dem	Morehouse and Ouachita
17	Marcus Hunter	Dem	Ouachita
18	Major Thibaut, Jr.	Dem	Iberville, Pointe Coupee, West Baton Rouge and West Feliciana
19	Charles "Bubba" Chaney	Rep	East Carroll, West Carroll, Madison, Morehouse, Ouachita and Richland
20	Steve Pylant	Rep	Caldwell, Catahoula, Franklin, LaSalle and Tensas
21	Andy Anders	Dem	Concordia, East Carroll, Catahoula, Madison and Tensas
22	Terry R. Brown	Ind	Grant, LaSalle, Natchitoches, Red River and Winn
23	Kenny Ray Cox	Dem	DeSoto, Natchitoches and Red River
24	Frank A. Howard	Rep	Natchitoches, Sabine and Vernon
25	Lance Harris	Rep	Rapides
26	Jeff Hall	Dem	Rapides
27	Chris Hazel	Rep	Rapides
28	Robert A. Johnson	Dem	Avoyelles
29	Edmond Jordan	Dem	East and West Baton Rouge
30	James Armes, III	Dem	Beauregard and Vernon
31	Nancy Landry	Rep	Lafayette and Vermilion
32	Dorothy Sue Hill	Dem	Allen, Beauregard and Calcasieu
33	Mike Danahay	Dem	Calcasieu
34	A. B. Franklin	Dem	Calcasieu
35	Stephen Dwight	Rep	Beauregard and Calcasieu
36	Mark Abraham	Rep	Calcasieu
37	John E. Guinn	Rep	Calcasieu and Jefferson Davis
38	Bernard LeBas	Dem	Evangeline and St. Landry
39	Julie Emerson	Rep	Lafayette and St. Landry
40	Dustin Miller	Dem	St. Landry
41	Phillip DeVillier	Rep	Acadia, Evangeline and St. Landry
42	John Stefanski	Rep	Acadia and Lafayette
43	Stuart Bishop	Rep	Lafayette
44	Vincent Pierre	Dem	Lafayette
45	Jean-Paul Coussan	Rep	Lafayette
46	Mike "Pete" Huval	Rep	Iberia, Saint Landry, and St. Martin
47	Bob Hensgens	Rep	Calcasieu, Cameron and Vermilion
48	Taylor Barras	Rep	Iberia, Lafayette, and Saint Martin
49	Blake Miguez	Rep	Iberia and Vermillion
50	Sam Jones	Dem	St. Martin and St. Mary
51	Beryl Amedee	Rep	Assumption, Lafourche, St. Mary and Terrebonne
52	Jerome Zeringue	Rep	Lafourche and Terrebonne
53	Tanner Magee	Rep	Lafourche and Terrebonne
54	Jerry "Truck" Gisclair	Dem	Jefferson and Lafourche
55	Jerome "Dee" Richard	Ind	Lafourche
56	Gregory A. Miller	Rep	St. Charles and St. John the Baptist
57	Randal Gaines	Dem	St. Charles and St. John the Baptist
58	Edward J. Price	Dem	Ascension, Iberville, and St. James
59	Tony Bacala	Rep	Ascension
60	Chad M. Brown	Dem	Assumption and Iberville
61	C. Denise Marcelle	Dem	East Baton Rouge
62	Kenny Havard	Rep	East Baton Rouge, East and West Feliciana
63	Barbara West Carpenter	Dem	East Baton Rouge
64	Valarie Hodges	Rep	East Baton Rouge and Livingston
65	Barry Ivey	Rep	East Baton Rouge
66	Rick Edmonds	Rep	East Baton Rouge
67	Patricia Haynes Smith	Dem	East Baton Rouge
68	Stephen Frank Carter	Rep	East Baton Rouge
69	Paula Davis	Rep	East Baton Rouge
70	Franklin Foil	Rep	East Baton Rouge
71	J. Rogers Pope	Rep	Livingston
72	Robby Carter	Dem	East Feliciana, St. Helena and Tangipahoa
73	Steve Pugh	Rep	Tangipahoa
74	Scott Simon	Rep	St. Tammany, Tangipahoa and Washington
75	Malinda Brumfield White	Dem	St. Tammany and Washington
76	Kevin Pearson	Rep	St. Tammany
77	John Schroder	Rep	St. Tammany
78	Kirk Talbot	Rep	Jefferson
79	Julie Stokes	Rep	Jefferson
80	Polly Thomas	Rep	Jefferson
81	Clay Schexnayder	Rep	Ascension, Livingston, St. John the Baptist, and St. James
82	Cameron Henry	Rep	Jefferson
83	Robert Billiot	Dem	Jefferson
84	Patrick Connick	Rep	Jefferson
85	Joseph Marino III	Ind	Jefferson
86	Chris Broadwater	Rep	Tangipahoa
87	Rodney Lyons	Dem	Jefferson
88	Johnny Berthelot	Rep	Ascension
89	Reid Falconer	Rep	St. Tammany
90	George Gregory Cromer	Rep	St. Tammany
91	Walt Leger, III	Dem	Orleans
92	Joe Stagni	Rep	Jefferson and St. Charles
93	Helena Moreno	Dem	Orleans
94	Stephanie Hilferty	Rep	Jefferson and Orleans
95	Sherman Q. Mack	Rep	Livingston
96	Terry Landry	Dem	Iberia, Lafayette, and St. Martin
97	Joseph Bouie, Jr.	Dem	Orleans
98	Neil Abramson	Dem	Orleans
99	Jimmy Harris	Dem	Orleans
100	John Bagneris	Dem	Orleans
101	Edward Clark James	Dem	East Baton Rouge
102	Gary Carter, Jr.	Dem	Orleans
103	Ray Garofalo	Rep	Orleans, St. Bernard, and Plaquemines
104	Paul Hollis	Rep	St. Tammany
105	Chris Leopold	Rep	Jefferson, Orleans and Plaquemines

Standing Committees

The Committees of the Louisiana House review proposed bills and either kill them or recommend their passage to the full House. Each committee has a specialized area it oversees. Committees can call upon state officials to testify at committee meetings. Committee membership including Chairmanships and Vice Chairmanships are assigned by the Speaker.

Name	Chairman	Vice Chair
Administration of Criminal Justice	Joseph Lopinto	Helena Moreno
Agriculture, Forestry, Aquaculture, and Rural Development	Andy Anders	Bob Hensgens
Appropriations	James R. Fannin	Cameron Henry
Civil Law and Procedure	Neil Abramson	Alan Seabaugh
Commerce	Erich Ponti	Kirk Talbot
Education	Steve Carter	Patrick O. Jefferson
Health and Welfare	Scott Simon	Frank Hoffman
House and Governmental Affairs	Timothy Burns	Michael Danahay
Insurance	Greg Cromer	Ledricka Thierry
Judiciary	Jeff Arnold	Franklin Foil
Labor and Industrial Relations	Hebert Dixon	Chris Broadwater
Municipal, Parochial and Cultural Affairs	Girod Jackson III	Robert Billiot
Natural Resources and Environment	Gordon Dove	Jim Morris
Retirement	J. Kevin Pearson	Nick Lorusso
Transportation, Highways and Public Works	Karen Gaudet St. Germain	Austin Badon
Ways and Means	Joel Robideaux	Patrick Williams

See also

• List of Speakers of the Louisiana House of Representatives
• Louisiana State Capitol
• Louisiana State Legislature
• Louisiana Senate
• American Legislative Exchange Council members

External links

• Louisiana House of Representatives
• House district maps
• Membership in the Louisiana House of Representatives, 1812–2016
• 2012–2016 House Orientation Guide
• In The Loop Official Blog of the Louisiana House of Representatives
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