Members of the Libertarian Party in New Orleans plan to return to Baton Rouge this week to fight a bill that would create a new program that automatically scans license plates to catch uninsured motorists, and they are urging supporters to contact state lawmakers in opposition to what they call ““policing for profit.”

SB 54 would allow a private company called the Louisiana Public Safety Consortium to install cameras on law-enforcement vehicles that would automatically scan license plates to find uninsured motorists, giving the company a 30-percent cut of the ensuing $200 ticket, according to recent reporting by the New Orleans Advocate. It would also give the company access to the state’s uninsured motorists database, which opponents decry as an unprecedented invasion of privacy.

Those same privacy concerns led Gov. Bobby Jindal to veto a version of the bill last year, said Wendy Adams of the Libertarian Party of New Orleans. This year’s version has already passed the state Senate, but choked in the House Criminal Justice committee last week, failing by a 5-4 vote.

The committee chair, Rep. Sherman Mack, a Republican from Livingston Parish, said he could bring the bill back for reconsideration, however, and it is currently on the committee’s agenda for Wednesday (May 18), Adams said. She and other Libertarians have already testified against the bill on numerous grounds, and said they plan to return for Wednesday’s meeting to do so again.

“It’s a bill that no one liked, and yet here it is again,” Adams said at the Orleans Parish Libertarians’ monthly meeting on Monday. “I don’t believe it is going to effectively reduce the number of uninsured motorists. What it is is a tax on poor people. Nobody wants to be driving around uninsured — if you’re doing that, it’s because you don’t have the money.”

The most pressing issue for many Libertarians, Adams said, is the privacy problems. With a private company behind the bill and promising to pay for it, no one knows where the data they collect will be stored or how it will be used.

“I’m sure somebody’s getting some campaign contributions,” said Mike Dodd, chair of the Libertarian Party of New Orleans.

Ultimately, the bill is a “disgusting” example of political insiders and their corporate allies benefiting from their control over the law, said Libertarian Party member Daniel Hayes.

“It’s basically politics in Louisiana at its worst,” Hayes said. “This is corruption right here. We don’t need it, don’t want it, and the members should kill the bill.”

The only voting member of the committee from New Orleans, state Democratic Rep. John Bagneris of New Orleans East, voted against the bill. Rep. Joe Lopinto of Jefferson Parish, a Republican, was absent in last week’s vote.

Gary Johnson for President?

Monday’s meeting was the last gathering of the New Orleans Libertarians prior to the party’s national convention at the end of the month, so the members took an informal straw poll for their choice of a Presidential candidate. Former Gov. Gary Johnson of New Mexico won easily, taking 11 votes to the 1 for Darryl Perry.

Johnson was hailed as the candidate most likely to appeal to mainstream Republicans and Democrats disaffected by their parties presumptive candidates, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

“This is our opportunity to let people learn about the Libertarian Party, and, for the first time since we’ve been around, to have the most viable candidate on the ticket,” said Kirk Coco. “We don’t want to squander that opportunity.”

Party member Richard Fast cast the lone vote for Perry, whom he described as the most principled Libertarian of the candidates. Other party members, however, said Perry’s zeal for dismantling government goes too far to be either realistic or electable.

The party members briefly considered controversial tech mogul John McAfee, but questioned whether he is using the party for personal gain. Some also said Austin Petersen has appeal among young voters, but others suggested he is too inexperienced to carry the party’s banner as a Presidiential candidate.

Three members from the Orleans Parish party will attend the convention as delegates. Adams is the official delegate from Orleans Parish, but while she cast her straw-poll vote for Johnson, has said she will make her final decision at the convention. Coco will represent Avoyelles Parish (and speak at the convention), and they have bound him to Johnson, which he said he agrees with. Fast has been selected as a delegate from Alabama.

LeRoy Gillam for U.S. Senate?

The New Orleans Libertarians were also visited by the Rev. LeRoy Gillam, who is running for U.S. Senate as a Libertarian. He said his organization, the Southeastern Christian Association, has crusaded against police misconduct, and said he opposes high taxes, standardized testing in schools, mistreatment of military veterans, high medical costs and the requirement to buy health insurance.

“I’m going to bring it to the Democrats and the Republicans,” Gillam said. “They aren’t going to have to come looking for me. I’m ready to debate. I’m ready to get in the trenches, roll up my sleeves and fight back.”