Lawmaker loses chairman job after dispute with House speaker
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Thursday, May 27 2021
May 27, 2021
May 27, 2021 5:31 AM
May 27, 2021
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Source: Associated Press
House Speaker Clay Schexnayder (left) and Rep. Ray Garofalo (right)
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) House Speaker Clay Schexnayder ousted his education committee chairman Wednesday, after Rep. Ray Garofalo repeatedly bucked the speaker’s wishes in a simmering Republican intraparty feud that began with a bill about how to teach racism in schools.
Schexnayder announced his decision in a statement, hours after Garofalo sought to chair the House Education Committee he’d been asked to temporarily abandon. But this time, Schexnayder yanked Garofalo from the leadership job permanently.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) House Speaker Clay Schexnayder has ousted his education committee chairman. Rep. Ray Garofalo repeatedly bucked the speaker’s wishes in a simmering Republican intraparty feud that began with a bill about how to teach racism in schools. Schexnayder announced his decision in a statement that came hours after Garofalo sought to chair the House Education Committee he’d been asked to temporarily abandon. This time, Schexnayder yanked Garofalo from the leadership job permanently. The disagreement stems from Garofalo’s decision to move ahead with a bill that seeks to put limits on classroom discussions about racism. The proposal sparked weeks of racial tensions in the House and has worsened fractures among Republicans.
Rep. Ray Garofalo
Chalmette Representative Ray Garofalo has been formally removed as Chairman of the House Education Committee following a controversy stretching back to last month involving his comments about slavery.
LaPolitics.com Publisher Jeremy Alford said this wasn’t an easy decision for House Speaker Clay Schexnayder who was stuck between a rock and a hard place.
“You have the entire membership of the black caucus plus other lawmakers calling for Ray Garofalo’s removal and you had a handful of hard-right Republicans in the chamber saying that he shouldn’t be removed,” Alford said.
Garofalo’s comments late last month in committee calling for the teaching of “the good, the bad, the ugly” of slavery during a tense debate about education policy resulted in calls from the Legislative Black Caucus for Garofalo to be removed as chairman. Garofalo says his words have been taken “out of context” and he has nothing to apologize for.
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Over half a billion dollars would go to road and bridge projects
The Louisiana Capitol Building, April 8, 2021. (Wes Muller/Louisiana Illuminator).
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