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'''John A. Alario Jr.''' (born September 15, 1943), is the currently-serving President of the [[Louisiana]] State Senate; his term of office ends in January 2020, and he is term-limited in his District 8 seat in the Senate representing Jefferson Parish in [[suburb]]an [[New Orleans]]. A legislator since 1972, when his mentor [[Edwin Edwards]] became the [[governor]], Alario was a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1972 to 2008. He was twice the Speaker of the House in the third and fourth non-consecutive terms of the Edwards administration. In 2007, term-limited in the House, was instead elected to the state Senate. Alario is only the second person in Louisiana and the fourth in [[United States]] history to have been elected as both Speaker of his state House and President of his state Senate.<ref>Mallory Horne of [[Florida]], John Hainkel, Jr., of Louisiana, and Libby Mitchell of [[Maine]] were the three persons who previously held both of thesestate legislative offices.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://ncsl.typepad.com/the_thicket/2011/10/legislators-who-have-served-as-speaker-and-top-senate-leader.html|title=Legislators who have served as Speaker and top Senate leader|publisher=Ncsi.typepad.com|accessdate=June 23, 2018}}</ref>

'''John A. Alario Jr.''' (born September 15, 1943), is the currently-serving President of the [[Louisiana]] State Senate; his term of office ends in January 2020, and he is term-limited in his District 8 seat in the Senate representing Jefferson Parish in [[suburb]]an [[New Orleans]]. A legislator since 1972, when his mentor [[Edwin Edwards]] became the [[governor]], Alario was a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1972 to 2008. He was twice the Speaker of the House in the third and fourth non-consecutive terms of the Edwards administration. In 2007, term-limited in the House, was instead elected to the state Senate. Alario is only the second person in Louisiana and the fourth in [[United States]] history to have been elected as both Speaker of his state House and President of his state Senate.<ref>Mallory Horne of [[Florida]], John Hainkel, Jr., of Louisiana, and Libby Mitchell of [[Maine]] were the three persons who previously held both of the top state legislative offices.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://ncsl.typepad.com/the_thicket/2011/10/legislators-who-have-served-as-speaker-and-top-senate-leader.html|title=Legislators who have served as Speaker and top Senate leader|publisher=Ncsi.typepad.com|accessdate=June 23, 2018}}</ref>

A long-term [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], Alario switched parties solely to gain the endorsement of then Governor [[Bobby Jindal]], a [[Republican Party|Republican]]. He won the support of all but one of the senators, then freshman [[Barrow Peacock]] of [[Shreveport]]. In Louisiana, the governor until 2016 had traditionally tapped his own choice for both House Speaker and Senate President. Alario has been supportive of the current Democratic governor, [[John Bel Edwards]], who in 2018 obtained a [[sales tax]] renewal to close a potential budget deficit despite nominally Republican majorities in both legislative chambers. The Republican House Speaker, [[Taylor Barras]] of New Iberia, opposed much of the John Bel Edwards tax package until the end of the seventh special session, when he agreed to keeping .45 percent of the temporary one-cent state sales tax. The total Louisiana state sales tax is effectively 4.45 percent; this does not include local and parish sales taxes.  

A long-term [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], Alario switched parties solely to gain the endorsement of then Governor [[Bobby Jindal]], a [[Republican Party|Republican]]. He won the support of all but one of the senators, then freshman [[Barrow Peacock]] of [[Shreveport]]. In Louisiana, the governor until 2016 had traditionally tapped his own choice for both House Speaker and Senate President. Alario has been supportive of the current Democratic governor, [[John Bel Edwards]], who in 2018 obtained a [[sales tax]] renewal to close a potential budget deficit despite nominally Republican majorities in both legislative chambers. The Republican House Speaker, [[Taylor Barras]] of New Iberia, opposed much of the John Bel Edwards tax package until the end of the seventh special session, when he agreed to keeping .45 percent of the temporary one-cent state sales tax. The total Louisiana state sales tax is effectively 4.45 percent; this does not include local and parish sales taxes.