Senator Eddie J. Lambert – District 18
Senator Eddie J. Lambert represents District 18, which comprises parts of Ascension, St. James, and Livingston Parishes. He’s been serving the people of Louisiana since he was elected to the House of Representatives in 2003. Since 2016, he’s represented the 18th district in the State Senate.
In this year’s legislative session, he focused on securing additional funding for the Port through the Capital Outlay process, which is a system where proposed state construction projects are submitted to the legislature. With additional state funding, Senator Lambert helped to advance the Port’s new and ongoing construction projects.
“I enjoy helping the Port expand,” Senator Lambert said. “The expansion brings more economic activity to the area thereby providing more jobs and opportunities for our citizens.”
Senator Lambert also authored SB46 which was signed by the governor as Act 161 and “Increases the amount of compensation excluded from tax table income for certain active duty members of the armed forces.”
Senator Gary L. Smith – District 19
Senator Gary Smith loves serving the people of the 19th district, which includes Jefferson, Lafourche, St. Charles and St. John the Baptist Parishes.
A practicing attorney and a native of Norco in St. Charles Parish, Senator Smith has been representing his district as a senator for almost 10 years. He’s worked tirelessly to support the Port of South Louisiana.
“The Port represents a solid backbone of industry and employment, and it supports businesses and taxes for our region and the state,” says Senator Smith. “It is the most important natural infrastructure for commerce and agriculture in the nation.”
In this year’s sessions, Senator Smith had a clear focus.
“I can sum it up in two words: Capital Outlay,” he says, referring to the comprehensive budget that would provide additional funding for the Port. Through his support, the bill was passed and is on its way to the governor’s desk for approval. Smith’s other successful initiatives included SB186, signed by the governor as Act 104, which provides post-conviction relief with regard to successful “actual innocence” claims.
Senator Edward J. “Ed” Price – District 2
Senator Ed Price represents District 2,which encompasses parts of Ascension, Assumption, Iberville, Lafourche, St. Charles, St. James, St. John the Baptist and West Baton Rouge Parishes.
During this year’s legislative session, Senator Price targeted his efforts on securing capital for the Port’s multimodal hub.
“My focus was getting Capital Outlay dollars for the Globalplex Dock Access Bridge and Equipment, and dollars to complete the terminal building,” he says. That amounts to $10.2 million in additional funding to advance the Port’s construction projects.
With his support, the budget passed, and the money will benefit the Port in both direct and indirect ways, such as funding the deepening of the Mississippi River.
“This project will allow larger ships to come up the river as well as more tonnage to be loaded onto barges and ships,” he says. Senator Price was also the author of SB24, signed by the governor as Act 37, which provides a minimum benefit increase for certain retirees, beneficiaries and survivors of the Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana, Louisiana State Employees’ Retirement System, Louisiana School Employees’ Retirement System and State Police Retirement System.
Representative Troy Carter – District 2, Former Senator – District 7
In this year’s legislative session, then-Senator Troy Carter represented the people of District 7, which includes Jefferson, Orleans and Plaquemines parishes. Though he was recently elected as the U.S. Representative for Louisiana’s 2nd congressional district, Carter served as a Senator at this year’s state legislature.
He authored SB49, an act currently pending in the Senate Finance Committee, which would establish a state minimum wage of $15 per hour and, starting in 2023, would see minimum wage increases proportional to the percentage increase of the Consumer Price Index. Carter also introduced SB35, a motion to prohibit student growth being used as a factor in determining a teacher’s performance or effectiveness within the 2020-2021 school year. The bill is currently in review by the Committee
on Education.
Representative Clay Schexnayder – District 81
Representative Clay Schexnayder represents Louisiana’s 81st district, which includes parts of Ascension, Livingston, St. James and St. John the Baptist Parishes.
He owns Car Craft Collision Centers and has been serving the people of District 81 since he was first elected in 2011. Rep. Schexnayder also serves as the Speaker of the House and presided over every session, put to a vote any questions or measures that required ruling, and explained or clarified any procedural rules. That included HB2, the proposed Capital Outlay budget that would provide additional funding to the Port of South Louisiana.
Rep. Schexnayder authored more than a dozen instruments during the 2021 legislative session, concerning various issues such as taxes, agricultural commodities, property and expropriation, funding grants and more. HB642, a legislative instrument seeking to establish the Louisiana Rescue Plan Fund in order to administer money from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, is awaiting the governor’s signature.
Representative Randal L Gaines – District 57
Representative Gaines serves the people of St. Charles and St. John the Baptist parishes. A veteran who served in the United States Army for 25 years, including during Operation Desert Storm and Hurricane Katrina, Rep. Gaines knows how to fight for and support his constituents and has been doing so since he was first elected in 2011.
With the Mississippi River running through his district, the Port of South Louisiana is one of his main concerns. He loves supporting efforts to expand and revitalize the Port’s infrastructure. He was part of the Tiger Grant Application, which sought federal funding for the Port’s Globalplex complex.
In this year’s session, Rep. Gaines voted in favor of HB2 and authored HB415, signed by the governor as Act 319, which allows tourist commissions to establish improvement districts as part of their recovery efforts. Commissions will be able to collect supplementary funds to further market their districts as attractive areas for tourism, recreation and business.
Representative Gregory A Miller – District 56
Representative Miller serves the 56th district, which comprises a large part of St. Charles Parish as well as a section of St. John the Baptist Parish.
Raised in Norco, Miller graduated from De La Salle High School in New Orleans, earned a bachelor’s degree in political science, and completed his legal education at LSU. In this year’s legislative sessions, Rep. Miller authored several legislative items including HB260, an act signed by the governor that allows for “technical corrections and revision of provisions of Title 36 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes.” Among other instruments that relate to public contracts and boards/commissions, Rep. Miller also authored and passed HB152, a civil procedure act that provides for the continuous revisions of the Code of Civil Procedure.
Representative Kendricks “Ken” Brass – District 58
Representative Ken Brass represents a district that includes parts of the parishes of Ascension, Iberville and St. James. He’s been hard at work helping citizens in his community for a long time, serving on various boards and commissions including the Relay for Life, 4-H Advisory, and the Dryades YMCA. He even finds time to coach Biddy Basketball and T-Ball.
“My goal as a public servant is to always try my best in making a difference in the community and in the lives of the people in which I have been elected to serve,” Brass said.
For the folks of the 58th district, that means supporting efforts to help expand the Port of South Louisiana and bring more jobs and economic benefits to the region. Several of his proposals this year were signed by the governor, including a bill to create retirement funds for retired sheriffs and deputy sheriffs; a bill that establishes higher penalties for unlawful use of unmanned aircraft systems; and a bill that will pre-qualify a pool of design-builders to work with the Department of Transportation and Development.
Representative Joseph A. Stagni – District 92
Representative Joe Stagni serves the 92nd district of Louisiana, which includes the parishes of Jefferson and St. Charles. A relative newcomer to the state legislature, Stagni was elected in 2017.
Rep. Stagni has been involved in public service for decades and previously served on the Kenner City Council, where he developed a reputation for being one of the hardest working members. Before that, he served on two zoning boards and on former Mayor Phil Capitano’s transition team. He was even awarded the Monte M. Lemann Award from the Louisiana Civil Service League for his work in the community.
Stagni brought his tireless work ethic and experience to help support funding efforts for the Port. In this year’s session, he worked to have HB2 approved and authored several bills that have now been approved by the governor. Among them are HB141, which requires exit pollers to register with the Secretary of State; HB477, allowing the La. State Board of Examiners of Psychologists to implement fees for certain services; and HB33, which changes the applicability of the running of time limitations for certain offenses against juveniles.
