Thibodaux lawmaker trying to call special session

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - A Thibodaux lawmaker was trying Wednesday to rally support for a special legislative session to revisit budget decisions made in recent months by Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration.

Rep. Jerome "Dee" Richard, an independent, said he was sending out a letter to House members asking them to call themselves into a special session, a long-shot effort to get the Republican-led chambers to challenge the authority of the GOP governor.

Richard said lawmakers have been improperly left out of Jindal administration budget cut decisions that are shuttering health care facilities and a state prison. Legislators in the areas where facilities have been targeted for closure say they haven't been included in the decision-making.

"I as a legislator feel like I owe it to my constituents that I need to be more involved in terms of some of the cuts that are being made," Richard said. "People are asking questions, 'Why is this happening?' And we can't answer."

In recent months, Jindal's health secretary has announced deep cuts to the LSU-run public hospital system that are shrinking services in some regions and the planned shuttering of a state-run psychiatric hospital in St. Tammany Parish. Local lawmakers have complained they weren't consulted before the budget slashing.

Late last week, Jindal's corrections secretary announced plans to close a state prison in Calcasieu Parish as a cost-cutting move. Southwest Louisiana lawmakers said they were given, at most, a few hours' notice before the public announcement and no ability to discuss other possible options.

Richard's task to get lawmakers to call their own special session is a difficult one at best.

No Legislature has called itself into session since the modern state constitution was enacted nearly four decades ago, and both chambers are led by allies of the governor.

Richard's starting by polling House members, saying if he can get support from 35 out of 105 lawmakers there, he'll determine whether he can get traction for the idea in the Senate.

"This is just a memo to the members on the House side, to test what their interest is," he said. "I'll take the criticism if it's crazy, then we'll see what happens."

The Louisiana Constitution requires a written petition of a majority of the elected members of each chamber - 53 in the House and 20 in the Senate - for lawmakers to call themselves into session.