Free Republic

Same-sex proposal falls short in Senate By MARSHA SHULER mshuler@theadvocate.com Capitol news bureau A proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages in Louisiana fell one vote shy of passage Wednesday in the state Senate.Six senators were missing in action for the vote. Proponents said the loss was a setback but they expect to win Senate passage when the legislation comes up for another vote later. Some pro-amendment senators were absent Wednesday. The Senate voted 25 to 8. But 26 yeas -- a two-thirds majority of the 39-member body --- is required to pass any proposed constitutional amendment. If the measure passes...

<p>BATON ROUGE - Louisiana Gov. Mike Foster will end two scandal-free terms Jan. 12, leaving an eight-year legacy of clean government and improved funding and attention to public schools. But he likely will be remembered for failing to address major problems in health care and missing key economic development opportunities for a state still struggling with intense poverty and joblessness.</p>

<p>BATON ROUGE - For a time in 2003, it looked as though Louisiana voters might jettison old habits and elect a man who looked and sounded different from any previous governor.</p> <p>In the end, old themes reasserted themselves and some traditional trends in Louisiana politics won out. Instead of sending the nation's first Indian-American to the Governor's Mansion - and electing the first nonwhite governor in Louisiana history - voters chose a white career politician whose candidacy echoed that of predecessors.</p>

<p>BATON ROUGE - With Louisiana Gov.-elect Kathleen Blanco on vacation, senators are battling behind the scenes to see who will emerge as president of the state Senate.</p> <p>The short list of candidates includes senators from throughout the state - some of whom actively are campaigning, such as Francis Heitmeier, D-New Orleans, Don Hines, D-Bunkie, and Joe McPherson, D-Alexandria. Hines, who supported Blanco and gave her information about health care, is emerging as the most likely winner.</p>