Despite leading the charge going into this year's legislative session to kill the New Orleans levee board lawsuit against 97 oil and gas companies, Gov. Bobby Jindal, with the only bill to make it through both the House and Senate now sitting on his desk awaiting his signature, has postponed a final decision.
Despite leading the charge going into this year's legislative session to kill the New Orleans levee board lawsuit against 97 oil and gas companies, Gov. Bobby Jindal, with the only bill to make it through both the House and Senate now sitting on his desk awaiting his signature, has postponed a final decision.
According to a report by The Daily Advertiser, Jindal, during a press conference, credited the delay in signing Senate Bill 469 to a request from Attorney General Buddy Caldwell who wanted to review the legislation.
Jindal's announcement comes on the heels of a claim issued by a group of professors from law schools statewide that SB 469 would have a negative impact on damage claims filed against BP for its 2010 oil spill. (Read that analysis here.)
What's interesting is that oil industry attorneys were responsible for drafting the legislation, and among its advocates was none other than BP. For Rep. Joel Robideaux, R-Lafayette, that's just how the business of the legislature works.
"[W]e always reach out and ask those involved," Robideaux tells the Advertiser. "It's appropriate to bring in folks that are affected."
Yet, according to Rep. John Bel Edwards, discussions surrounding the drafting of the legislation never included the levee board.
Jindal says he's not too concerned there's much merit to the claim that the bill will impact BP damage claims, but adds "we're certainly not going to do anything to impede our people's ability to file claims in regard to the explosion."
Read the full story here.