Survival of the fittest: If the Louisiana Family Forum-backed House Bill 580 by West Monroe Republican Rep. Frank Hoffman isn't called for a vote by the end of business today it's dead.
A controversial bill mainstream science proponents see as yet another sneaky means for creationists to infect public school science education is languishing in the Senate and, at this juncture, not likely to be called again for a final vote. If the Louisiana Family Forum-backed House Bill 580 by West Monroe Republican Rep. Frank Hoffman isn't called for a vote by the end of business today it's dead.
Hoffman's bill is being suffocated by the same Senate procedural rule that killed Lafayette Rep. Page Cortez's House Bill 400, which would have opened up the liability insurance market for rent-to-own car businesses detailed in this week's RE. That rule allows the Senate to idle a bill (read, kill it) unless two thirds of the Senate votes to bring it back up for consideration.
Hoffman tried twice this week to garner that super majority in the Senate to revive 580 but fell short. As it stands, his bill is on life support with several other House bills including Metairie Republican John LaBruzzo's controversial measure to drug test 20 percent of recipients of state welfare.
To read an analysis of HB 580 by the Louisiana Coalition for Science, click here. The Advocate also criticized HB 580 in a recent editorial, as did this newspaper in the most recent Pooyie (see Pas Bon).