Changes

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>​

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>​

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Ultimately, only one of the thirty-nine senators, then incoming Republican [[Barrow Peacock]] of [[Shreveport]], voted in 2008 against the Alario selection,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.businessreport.com/article/20120123/BUSINESSREPORT0203/301239986|author=John Maginnis|title=Standing Up to Jindal|date=January 23, 2012|publisher=Businessreport.com|accessdate=January 31, 2012; no longer on-line.}}</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; no longer on-line.}}</ref>​

Ultimately, only one of the thirty-nine senators, then incoming Republican [[Barrow Peacock]] of [[Shreveport]], voted in 2008 against the Alario selection,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.businessreport.com/article/20120123/BUSINESSREPORT0203/301239986|author=John Maginnis|title=Standing Up to Jindal|date=January 23, 2012|publisher=Businessreport.com|accessdate=January 31, 2012; no longer on-line.}}</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; no longer on-line.}}</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.  

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>

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. 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.