New leaders are at the helm of the State Legislature in Baton Rouge. They will be announcing their committee assignments in the coming days.

I implore both Clay Schexnayder and Page Cortez to think about this when making those assignments. Shreveport Bossier, the 3rd largest city in the state is grossly underrepresented on the committees that make key decisions about our state's future.

Please consider this when making those assignments.

In doing a little research last year, I started looking at the committee assignments in the State House and what I found shocked me.

Then I started looking at the Senate side and it gets even worse. I don't understand why folks are not screaming from the rafters about this, but when it comes to committee assignments, our area is ignored in many cases. Don't get me wrong, we do have a few choice spots on some committees. But on the big ones that really wield power, we are treated like we don't matter.

We are the 3rd largest city in this state. We SHOULD matter and SHOULD have a fair voice in the decision making process.

Here is the list of assignments from 2019:

Criminal Justice

Crews, Raymond J. District 8 R

Norton, Barbara M. District 3 D

Civil Law And Procedure Committee

Crews, Raymond J. District 8 R

Jenkins, Sam District 2 D

Seabaugh, Alan District 5 R

Health And Welfare Committee

Bagley, Larry District 7 R

House Committee On Judiciary

No one

House Natural Resources And Environment

Morris, James "Jim" District 1 R

Commerce Committee

Thomas Carmody chairs this Committee and he is the only Committee Chairman from the Shreveport Bossier area. Cedric Glover also serves on this panel.

House And Governmental Affairs Committee

Horton, Dodie District 9 R

Jenkins, Sam District 2 D

House Committee On Labor And Industrial Relations

Bagley, Larry District 7 R

Crews, Raymond J. District 8 R

Horton, Dodie District 9 R

House Retirement

No one

House Committee On Appropriations

This is perhaps the most powerful committee in Baton Rouge. All spending bills begin here. While we do have Larry Bagley from Logansport on this panel, not one member from the Shreveport Bossier metro sits on this prestigious committee.

House Ways And Means

Morris, James "Jim" Vice Chair District 1 R

Horton, Dodie District 9 R

Bagley, Larry District 7 R

House Committee On Education

The most powerful committee to discuss our schools and our universities and we have no one serving from the Shreveport Bossier area.

House Committee On Insurance

Seabaugh, Alan Vice Chair District 5 R

Glover, Cedric District 4 D

House Committee On Municipal, Parochial And Cultural Affairs

Glover, Cedric District 4 D

Jenkins, Sam District 2 D

Norton, Barbara M. District 3 D

House Transportation, Highways And Public Works

Norton, Barbara M. District 3 D

Now let's move to the Senate side of the chamber, where Shreveport Bossier is even more underrepresented than I ever expected to see.

Agriculture

Barrow Peacock

Commerce

Barrow Peacock

Education

All are from south of Alexandria with the exception of John Milkovich from Shreveport and one Senator from West Monroe.

Environmental Quality

No one from Shreveport Bossier sits on this committee and only one member is from north of Alexandria.

Finance

This is a very large and influential committee and our area's only representation is Greg Tarver. Only 2 other members of this very powerful committee hail from North of Alexandria.

Health & Welfare

You would think the community which has a public medical school and public hospital would have strong representation on this committee. We have no one from Shreveport Bossier on this panel.

Insurance

Ryan Gatti (Vice-Chairman)

Judiciary A

Ryan Gatti and John Milkovich

Judiciary B

Gregory Tarver

Judiciary C

No one

Labor & Industrial Relations

Barrow Peacock

Local & Municipal Affairs

No one

Natural Resources

Ryan Gatti and Gregory Tarver

Retirement

Barrow Peacock is the Chairman (the only committee chair from our area) and John Milkovich

Revenue & Fiscal Affairs

Another powerful and influential committee that has no one from Shreveport Bossier. Why? It's time we ask that question. This committee has 3 people from New Orleans, 3 from the Baton Rouge area, another 2 from the Lafayette area and 2 from Central Louisiana.

Senate & Governmental Affairs

This panel is stacked with 4 members from New Orleans, another from Mandeville and only Gregory Tarver to represent our interests.

Transportation, Highways & Public Works

The committee that begins the discussion on all highway projects and bills to fund roads and bridges has not one representative from Shreveport Bossier. This panel is comprised of folks from south of I-10 except for one Senator from Jonesboro and one from Winnfield. How is this adequate representation?

Do you want your voice to be heard?

Contact Senate President Page Cortez and ask him why we are so underrepresented. Email him at cortezp@legis.la.gov.

On the House side, Clay Schexnayder is the Speaker and he makes the assignments on that side of the chamber. You can email him at schexnayderc@legis.la.gov.