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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 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>

'''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 for Senate President 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 subsequently supported 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, term-limited in 2019, 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 for Senate President 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 subsequently supported 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, term-limited in 2019, 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.