Sen. John Milkovich, D-Shreveport
As Sound Off Louisiana reported on a previous feature entailing SB-260, corruption on Louisiana occupational licensing boards and commissions will likely get drastically reduced by merely providing a licensee who is subject to a hearing by any of those boards or commissions with the option to have his hearing adjudicated by an administrative law judge rather than the occupational licensing board or commission members.
The veribage presented at the preceding link entalied Sound Off Louisiana fonder Robert Burns’ own first-hand experience of pure, rank corruption on the Louisiana Auctioneer Licensing Board. As we indicated when we rolled out our first edition of the Republican Wall of Shame (RWS), our blog now has a strong following among fiscally-conservative Republican legislators.
Accordingly, several legislators read the post linked above, and Burns agreed to provide actual testimony of the episode at the Louisiana House Governmental Affairs Committee meeting of Tuesday, May 8, 2018. That testimony is presented in its entirety in the following video clip:
Burns testifies on the need for SB-260 to apply to the Louisiana Auctioneer’s Licensing Board (LALB) from his own personal experience entailing Executive Director Sandy Edmonds’ “blatant payroll fraud.” The attorney Burns references as prosecuting him at the “hearing” is convicted felon Larry S. Bankston, whom the LALB hired specifically for that purpose!
Rep. Ivey spoke extensively with Burns after the meeting, and he stated that he was stunned by his testimony. Further, he said he intends to offer floor amendments which he discussed with Burns which would result in even more of a microscope being applied to these boards and commissions.
What has become obvious during this session is that, by the sheer volume of licensees across many of the licensed professions who have complained loudly to Louisiana legislators (and to Gov. Edwards), the message is now as clear as it can be that their constituents are fed freaking up with the corruption that is so rampant among so many of these occupational licensing boards and commissions.
Many legislators have pledged full support for further crackdown measures being implemented next legislative session, and we at Sound Off Louisiana want to commend Rep. Ivey and the many other Republican legislators who are going above and beyond the call of duty to respond to the loud cries of occupational licensees regarding matters such as that illustrated by Burns’ testimony above.
Rep. Ivey’s Committee-level amendments are highlighted below and, as indicated, he plans to introduce more (which he shared with Burns and for which Burns indicated full support) on the House floor when full debate transpires on Sen. Milkovich’s bill:
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