This Bill HB109 by: Representative Baudoin, was called before the House of Representatives today 6/14/2004 at about 6:00PM. After a lot of at time and some heated discussions among the Representatives it was voted on and finally passed the House 57 Yes to 37 No: How They Voted.
This is not very good for OUR RIGHT TO CHOOSE TO WEAR A HELMET. This bill will now go to the Senate if it passes the Senate it WILL become law. Senator Chaisson, author of SB29, appeared before the House Transportation Committee this evening 6/14. At that time he stated that he would support HB109 as it is written in the Senate. See Update on SB29.
I was browsing the House of Representatives Web Site this evening to try to find out what may have happened today and coincidently started their Live Video feed just has HB109 was called. I was able to watch the entire process the house went through to vote on this bill.
Archived Video From 6/14/2004 House Meeting this is a link to a streaming video/audio file recorded during the House Meeting. It covers the entire day so it takes a while to play/download. It is also in RealPlayer (tm) format so if don't already have Real Player you will have to download it.
It is long so you may not be able to view it if you do not have a fairly fast connection. I have tried to describe what occurred in the text below. If you can try to watch it for yourself.
If you watch it go to the very end of the video and go back about an hour this Bill was brought up as almost the last item the House considered today 6/14. Not only was it called very late in the day but it was called out of order for some reason.
My Summary of What Went On:
It is bizarre to see all the political posturing that had to be pulled off to get this bill called again (remember it failed to pass already 5/5). The House is not supposed be considering any more House Bills (HB ##) this late in the session. A representative had asked the Speaker, Rep. Joe Salter, earlier why they were still considering House Bills (this was after another HB called well before HB 109 was called). The Speaker informed the Representatives that they had earlier voted to "suspend the rules" to allow house bills to be called at this time.
There is just barley enough time for a bill that is voted from the house to the senate this late to be properly considered in the senate. That is why the House would not normally still be voting on House Bills.
There are some Representatives we would like to thank (you will understand why if you see and hear what they said and did in the House meeting today).
As soon as the Bill, HB109, was called Rep. M.J. "Mert" Smiley rose and was recorded as objecting to the "suspension of rules" and the calling of HB109. The house then had to vote on calling HB109 from calendar, it was called with a vote of 52 to 39.
Ms. Baudoin then was allowed to present her bill to the house her speech mostly was trying to explain to the other representatives why she had waited so late to call the bill for a vote. Basically she said she waited because she new it had already failed once and she wanted to wait till she secured enough votes for it to pass this time. Remember Russ and Dewayne told us last week that Governor Blanco was pressuring the Representatives and Senators to vote with this bill. She also made mention of the senate bill SB29 that passed the senate is now in the House passing out of the Senate unamended, making it identical to her bill (I believe she and the governor knew that SB29 was going to be amended in the House Transportation committee (see SB29 below).
After Ms. Baudoin "called" the bill, the Speaker then asked if there where any proposed amendments. Rep. M.J. "Mert" Smiley then proposed amendments allowing operators of motorcycles with proper driver license endorsement and completion of motorcycle safety training courses to be allowed to CHOOSE NOT to wear a helmet. Mr. Smiley made a very animated presentation on not passing this bill HB109 as it is written. His amendments failed to be added to the bill. During his speech he also made it clear that he felt that Governor Blanco has exerted some kind of pressure on members of the House to call and pass this bill.
Rep. Gary Smith and Rep. Tommy Wright both made speeches containing personal testimonies and statistics showing why the House should not pass this bill.
The bill was then voted on and passed the house with a vote of 57 to 37. How They Voted
After the House passed the bill Rep. Tommy Wright rose and was acknowledged. He stated to the Speaker and the full House that this is one time that we have a Senate. Meaning a least there is a chance this bill HB109 still may be fixed in the senate. Either by not passing or being passed with ammendments.
MY RANT:
I watched this live using the House of Representatives live video feed available on the internet (using links on this website).
I was embarrassed.
I am not trying to offend anybody.
While it is great to have a show of support. You must show consideration to your opponents and to our legislative institutions.
This is just my opinion (this opinion is not from any of our members or officers ). The House of Representatives and the Senate are very sacred institutions. They are what allows us as citizens of the USA and Louisiana to speak our minds on issues that concern us.
During the House consideration of the bill HB109 the speaker asked that applause be held back. Several times during Mr. Smiley's, Mr. Wright's and Mr. Smith's presentations I heard loud applause/hollering. In my opinion the House Chamber is not a place for such actions. Especially after you have been requested not to act that way by the Speaker of the House.
After watching these proceedings live and seeing the video feed from the transportation committee meeting (see SB 29 Info) that showed the group of people I assume was creating these distractions I can see why the House may have been more inclined to vote for this bill.
This Bill passed by a vote of 57 to 37. If we would have had 11 more votes against the bill it would have been 46 to 48 and it would have failed. I believe the inconsideration shown in the House Chamber 6/14 may have cost at least 11 votes.
This just my opinion please don't take personal offense. I am certain everyone concerned means well.