Will they get what they paid for?

There was an update this week on the law firm contracted by Louisiana Republican leaders in the legislature to help them draw up their redistricting maps. This week, the legislature interrupted its regular business to hold a one day special session during which it overturned the Governor's veto of their congressional district map. Civil Rights groups have immediately sued in response.  So now we will find out whether or not that legal advice was worth what the legislators paid for it. 

Which raises the question, how much did they pay and what did they even pay for in the first place? Recall back in February, Republican leadership was being coy with reporters about this contract and, as the Illuminator also pointed out in that story, they had been trained to be as secretive as possible about such matters through "email hygiene."  Well, there's an invoice now but it doesn't really say much. 

 An out-of-state law firm has charged the Louisiana Legislature $78,081 for providing “redistricting advice,” according to an invoice obtained Thursday through a public records request. It’s unclear when the law firm performed the work and what type of services it provided.

BakerHostetler sent the Legislature a bill that only provides the lump sum of money it’s charging the state for assistance on new political maps. There is no itemized list of  expenses on the invoice, such as individual attorneys’ billable hours or a breakdown of what portion of the bill might have been spent on the lawyers’ travel.

The invoice also doesn’t detail the any range of months or specific dates during which the law firm performed its work. The Legislature received the bill March 14 and it must be paid by April 14, according to the invoice. Money Louisiana makes from taxpayers and state fees will be used to cover the cost.

Well whatever advice that money bought, we'll see if the courts think it was worth it. If they decide to re-up the contract, maybe it will come with a refresher on how federal laws apply to the states. It's not clear the legislators have a terrific grasp on that right now. 

Another gaffe from Stefanski came Wednesday when he was arguing for a veto override in the House for the congressional redistricting bill Gov. John Bel Edwards rejected. Stefanski’s comments came after Rep. Royce Duplessis, D-New Orleans, had just finished telling colleagues how the failure to add a second majority-minority seat in Congress was a clear violation of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965.

“The Voting Rights Act is federal law. It is not (in the) Louisiana Constitution,” said Stefanski, who had started his floor speech with what he called a “constitutional lesson” about the veto override process and separation of governmental powers. 

After the House voted 72-31 to override the governor’s veto, the bill moved to the upper chamber where Sen. Karen Carter Peterson, D-New Orleans, called out Stefanski for those remarks.

“This federal constitution, not the state – yeah, I get the difference – quoting the chairman on the other side (Stefanski) who made a point that we are Louisiana and this (override) is not federal law,” Peterson said. “I happen to disagree, that we do have to follow federal law, and what this bill represents is a violation of, yes, the U.S. Constitution.”