Defying Landry, Louisiana lawmakers reject giving him more control over licensing boards
In defiance of Gov. Jeff Landry, a Louisiana Senate committee rejected a proposal to give him more authority over appointees to 32 government boards and commissions, nearly half of which help regulate health care providers. The Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee voted 4-3 against House Bill 603 Wednesday that would have allowed the governor to appoint members to state licensing boards without input from others. Currently, the governor has to pick these board members from lists of nominees provided by trade associations and industry leaders in the applicable field.
Landry was seeking more authority over boards ranging from those that regulate certified public accountants, plumbers and engineers to ones overseeing nurses, dentists and physical therapists. The number of appointees Landry would have selected varied from group to group.
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The legislation's author, Rep. Dixon McMakin, R-Baton Rouge, said the current appointment system is problematic because it lets professional trade groups pick their own regulators.
'The thought was to protect the consumer,' McMakin said at a public hearing this week.
Sen. Greg Miller, R-Norco, backed McMakin's bill and shared his concerns about the current structure of the boards.
'The people who are supposed to be regulated are actually the ones doing the regulating,' Miller said.
The bill closely resembles law changes Landry got approved last year that have already consolidated the governor's power over state appointees.
State lawmakers gave Landry the ability to appoint the chairs of 150 state boards and commissions directly instead of relying on the boards to pick their own leaders. These boards include the 32 Landry hoped to gain more control over through McMakin's bill.
Legislators also made changes in 2024 to the board of the Louisiana Coastal Restoration and Protection Authority to give the governor more say-so on members of that panel.
The legislature also permitted the governor more power over appointees to the Louisiana Board of Ethics. Landry now gets to pick his appointees directly instead of having to choose from lists of nominees from Louisiana's private college and university leaders. On Wednesday, Senate committee members indicated the governor's previous power grabs made them wary of handing Landry more authority.
'Don't you think that the way the bill is .. strips away the voice of the particular industry to offer up potential nominees?' asked Sen. Blake Miguez, R-New Iberia, who voted against McMakin's legislation. 'It makes it, in a sense, purely political.'
'This kind of gives even more power to an already powerful executive branch,' Sen. Gary Carter, D-New Orleans, said. 'I have grave concerns about it.'
McMakin said safeguards already in place make sure the governor selects qualified board members. The governor's appointees have to meet certain standards to serve, such as holding an occupational license in the field they would have to regulate.
The governor's appointees also do not make up the majority of any of the licensing boards in his bill, McMakin said.
Sen. Larry Selders, D-Baton Rouge, remained unconvinced that the governor should be given more authority.
'Where is the protection? Last year, we gave the governor the authority to appoint the chairmen. Now, we are giving the governor the authority to put two or three people – or various numbers – on different committees. And so when is it going to change again next year?' Selders said, before voting against the legislation.
Despite the legislation failing, McMakin said the governor's office could find a way to revive it before the legislature ends its session June 12.
'The bill is not dead,' he said in an interview.
Legislators have shown less tolerance for growing the governor's authority, however.
A constitutional amendment aimed at giving the governor two at-large appointees to the five-member Public Service Commission failed to get off the ground earlier this spring. Landry's push to give him more sway over appointees to a New Orleans-area flood protection agency board has also died this session.
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