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Line 41: + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + − '''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. + − − An [[accountant]] who operates a tax service, Alario resides in Westwego in Jefferson Parish. He is a member of the [[Roman Catholic]] [[Knights of Columbus]] men's organization, the Louisiana Epilepsy Association, and the Louisiana International Deep Water Gulf Transfer Terminal Authority. He was a delegate at the 1972 [[Democratic National Convention]], which met in Miami Beach, [[Florida]], to nominate [[U.S. Senator]] [[George McGovern]] of [[South Dakota]], who was then roundly defeated by the Republican [[U.S. President]] [[Richard M. Nixon]]. In 1996 and 2000, Alario attended the Democratic conventions which nominated the [[Bill Clinton]]-[[Al Gore]] and Gore-[[Joseph Lieberman]] tickets. He is a recipient of the Hale Boggs Memorial Award, named for the late Democrat [[U.S. Representative]] for Louisiana's 2nd congressional district.<ref>"Louisiana: Alario, John", ''Who's Who in American Politics, 2007-2008'' (Marquis Who's Who: New Providence, [[New Jersey]], 2007), p. 648.</ref> − − In 2018, Alario used parliamentary maneuvers in the Senate to block passage of legislation by Representative [[Tanner Magee]] of Houma in Terrebonne Parish to permit [[Uber]] to operate in the state. ''The Baton Rouge Advocate'' reported that Alario's intransigence on the matter is related to his friendship with Democratic former state Senator Francis Heitmeier of New Orleans, who makes a living selling [[insurance]] to cab companies, which oppose the legislation. Magee said that his bill could easily have cleared the legislature except for "one really important person who's just not on board," a reference to Alario, whose name Magee specifically declined to use.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/article_dbaa0c36-a4a8-11e8-abc8-b70c5e234a0b.html|title=This Louisiana politician sank ride-sharing bill; his close pal sells insurance to cabs|author=Rebekah Allen|publisher=''The Baton Rouge Advocate''|date=August 23, 2018|accessdate=August 23, 2018}}</ref> − −
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'''John A. Alario, Jr.''' (born September 15, 1943), is the current but departing president of the [[Louisiana]] State Senate. A three-term state senator from Westwego in Jefferson Parish in [[suburb]]an [[New Orleans]], Alario from 1972 to 2008 was a member of the state House of Representatives. Twice he was House Speaker. Along with Mallory Horne of [[Florida]], John Hainkel, Jr., of Louisiana, and Libby Mitchell of [[Maine]], Alario is one of only four persons who previously held both of the top state legislative offices, House Speaker, and Senate President in their states.
==Background==
Alario was born to John A. Alario, Sr., and the former Elsie Lombas.<ref name=alariocenter>{{cite news |author=|date=|title=John A. Alario, Sr. The Man Behind The Name 1924--1985 |url= http://www.alariocenter.com/index.cfm?DocID=1974 |accessdate=September 15, 2013}}</ref><ref name=votesmart>{{cite web|title=Project Vote Smart|url=https://votesmart.org/candidate/biography/4547/john-alario-jr#.UjaCgj_hdAE|title=Senator John Alario, Jr.'s Biography|publisher=|date=|accessdate=September 15, 2013}}</ref> In 1961, he graduated from West Jefferson High School.<ref name=senate>{{cite web|work=Louisiana State Senate Biography|url=http://senate.legis.state.la.us/Alario/biography.asp|title=Senator John A. Alario - District 8|publisher=Louisiana State Senate|accessdate=September 15, 2013}}</ref> In, 1965 he received a [[Bachelor of Arts]] degree from Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond. From 1965 to 1966, he taught in the Jefferson Parish public schools. In 1966, he began work as an [[accountant]]. By 1972, when he began his legislative career, he had launched his own tax consulting firm, John A. Alario, Jr. Income Tax Service. He is a member of the National Society of Public Accountants. In 1973, he became a delegate for the Louisiana Constitutional Convention. From 1979 to 1985, he was chairman of the Louisiana Exposition Authority.<ref name=votesmart/><ref name=senate/>
Alario is a member of the [[Roman Catholic]] men's organization, the [[Knights of Columbus]]. He is also affiliated with the Louisiana Epilepsy Association, Louisiana International Deep Water Gulf Transfer Terminal Authority and the Westwego Volunteer Fire Department. He was a delegate to the 1972, 1996, and 2000 [[Democratic National Convention]]s.<ref name=votesmart /><ref name=senate /> He is a recipient of the Hale Boggs Memorial Award, named for the late Democrat [[U.S. Representative]] for Louisiana's 2nd congressional district.<ref name=whoswho>"Louisiana: Alario, John, ''Who's Who in American Politics, 2007-2008'' (Marquis Who's Who: New Providence, [[New Jersey]], 2007), p. 648.</ref>
Alario and his wife, the former Alba Williamson, have four children, John W., Jan M., Christopher Brian, and Kevin George Alario.<ref name=whoswho/>
==State representative==
In the state House, Alario was the chairman of the Appropriations, House Executive, and Ways and Means committees. He also served as chairman to the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget and the Joint Legislative Committee on Capital Outlay. He was a member of the House Commerce, House and Governmental Affairs, Legislative Budgetary Control, Municipal, Parochial, and Cultural Affairs, Natural Resources, Judiciary B, and Judicial committees.<ref name=votesmart/><ref name=senate/>
He was selected by [[Governor]] [[Edwin Edwards]] as House Speaker twice, from 1984 to 1988 and from 1992 to 1996.<ref name=votesmart /> As the House Speaker, Alario was described by a colleague, [[Ron Gomez]] of [[Lafayette]], as "a master of adding just the right degree of levity to defuse almost any potentially explosive situation."<ref>[[Ron Gomez]], ''My Name Is Ron And I'm a Recovering Legislator: Memoirs of a Louisiana State Representative'', [[Lafayette, Louisiana|Lafayette]], [[Louisiana]]: Zemog Publishing, 2000, ISBN 0-9700156-0-7, pp. 59-70.</ref> In 1986, Alario removed Representative Kevin P. Reilly, Sr., of [[Baton Rouge]] from the chairmanship of the House Appropriations Committee after thirteen years of service when Reilly, an unsuccessful candidate for state treasurer the following year, criticized Governor Edwards.<ref>Gomez, p. 162.</ref>
With the election of [[Buddy Roemer]] as governor, Alario was replaced as Speaker by Jimmy N. Dimos of [[Monroe, Louisiana|Monroe]]. Ron Gomez explained that Alario and Senate President Sammy Nunez of Chalmette in St. Bernard Parish nevertheless attempted to maintain their leadership posts. He explained: "Alario immediately had the backing of [[organized labor]], the black caucus, many member from the New Orleans and Jefferson Parish delegations and a healthy number of other House members whom he had helped and to whom he had ingratiated himself over the years."<ref>Ron Gomez, p. 188.</ref>
Overall, Alario served nine terms in the House of Representatives before being term limited from the body in the 2007 elections.<ref name=votesmart/>
==State senator==
Alario began his first term as Senator in 2008, with service on the Finance and Commerce committees.<ref name=votesmart /> On October 25, 2011, [[Republican Party|Republican]] Governor [[Bobby Jindal]] endorsed Alario for the position of President of the Senate. This came one year after he switched parties from [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] to Republican and despite previous GOP hostility toward Alario.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2011/10/gov_b0obby_jindal_endorses_wes.html|author=Ed Anderson|title=Gov. Bobby Jindal endorses Sen. John Alario as his choice for Senate president|date=October 25, 2011|publisher=''The New Orleans Times-Picayune''|accessdate=October 26, 2011}}</ref>
Ultimately, only one of the thirty-nine senators, freshman Republican [[Barrow Peacock]] of [[Shreveport]], voted in 2008 against the Alario selection.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.businessreport.com/article/20120123/BUSINESSREPORT0203/301239986|title=John Maginnis, "Standing Up to Jindal", January 23, 2012|publisher=businessreport.com|accessdate=January 31, 2012}}</ref>, but Peacock subsequently became a supporter of Alario as Senate president. Jindal had backed Peacock's Republican rival, term-limited state Representative Jane Holland Smith of [[Bossier City]], in the general election for the Senate District 37 seat held on November 19, 2011.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.politicsla.com/home/item/999-4th-time-is-the-charm-peacock-defeats-jindal-backed-candidate-for-senate-seat|title=4th time is the charm -- Peacock defeats Jindal-backed candidate for Senate seat|publisher=Politicsla.com|accessdate=January 31, 2012}}</ref>
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.
In 2018, Alario used parliamentary maneuvers in the Senate to block passage of legislation by Republican Representative Tanner Magee of Houma in Terrebonne Parish to permit [[Uber]] to operate in the state. ''The Baton Rouge Advocate'' reported that Alario's intransigence on the matter is related to his friendship with Democratic former state Senator Francis Heitmeier of New Orleans, who sells [[insurance]] to cab companies, which oppose the legislation. Magee said that his bill could easily have cleared the legislature except for "one really important person who's just not on board," a reference to Alario, whose name Magee specifically declined to use.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/article_dbaa0c36-a4a8-11e8-abc8-b70c5e234a0b.html|title=This Louisiana politician sank ride-sharing bill; his close pal sells insurance to cabs|author=Rebekah Allen|publisher=''The Baton Rouge Advocate''|date=August 23, 2018|accessdate=August 23, 2018}}</ref>
[[Moon Griffon]], the statewide [[radio]] talk show host based in Lafayette, has long criticiized Alario and what Griffon sees as the Senate President's [[liberal]] policies. Alario could not seek a fourth Senate term in the nonpartisan blanket primary to be held on October 12, 2019. He is not seeking to return to the state House of Representatives, as is his ally, Democratic state Senator [[Francis C. Thompson]] of Delhi in Richland Parish, who faces no opposition in his switching from the Senate to the House, in which Thompson had previously served.
[[Moon Griffon]], the statewide [[radio]] talk show host based in [[Lafayette]], has long criticiized Alario and what Griffon sees as the Senate President's liberal policies. Senator Alario is term-limited in the nonpartisan blanket primary to be held on October 12, 2019. He is not seeking to return to the state House of Representatives, as did one of his allies, Democratic state Senator [[Francis C. Thompson]] of Delhi in Richland Parish.
==References==
==References==