Larry Bagley

Lawrence Alton "Larry" Bagley, Jr.​
Louisiana State Representative for District 7 (Caddo, DeSoto, and Sabine parishes) ​
In office January 2016​ – ​
Preceded by	Richard Burford​
Born	January 4, 1949​ Longstreet, DeSoto Parish
Political party	Democrat-turned-Republican​
Spouse(s)	​Name of spouse not mentioned
Children	Five children: ​ Haley Bagley Hall ​ Reagan Bagley Brandt ​ Lauren Bagley Patton ​ Ryan Bagley ​ Hunter Bagley​ Two foster sons: Taylor and Tyler Caldwell​ Parents: Lawrence, Sr., and Sally Pattison Bagley
Residence	Logansport, DeSoto Parish​
Alma mater	Baptist Christian College (Shreveport)​ Stephen F. Austin State University (Nacogdoches, Texas) ​ Northwestern State University​ (Natchitoches, Louisiana)
Occupation	Businessman; Insurance agent ​ Retired educator​ and basketball coach
Religion	United Methodist ​
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Lawrence Alton Bagley, Jr., known as Larry Bagley (born January 4, 1949), is a Republican state representative for District 7, which encompasses Caddo, DeSoto, and Sabine parishes in northwestern Louisiana.

In January 2016, Bagley succeeded the outgoing Republican Representative Richard Burford, who rather than seeking House reelection ran unsuccessfully against the Democrat John Milkovich for the District 38 state Senate seat in the general election held on November 21, 2015.​ After one term, Milkovich was unseated by another Republican, Barry Milligan, a conservative.

==Personal life==​ Bagley is the oldest of four children of Lawrence, Sr., and the former Sally Pattison. He received a Bachelor of Arts in elementary education from Baptist Christian College in Shreveport, since known as Louisiana Baptist University and not to be confused with Southern Baptist-affiliated Louisiana College in Pineville. Bagley then earned a Master of Education degree from Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches, Texas, and thirty additional hours of graduate study from Northwestern State University in Natchitoches.

Bagley resides in Logansport, a community in DeSoto Parish located across the Sabine River from Texas.. A retired educator, he is a former president of both the DeSoto Parish Teachers Association and the Louisiana Association of Basketball Coaches. He taught and coached basketball at Northwood High School in Shreveport.

Bagley is the father of five children and has two foster sons. He is a United Methodist. His family business, Bagley Farms, is located in his native Longstreet in DeSoto Parish to the north of Logansport. Involved in the timber, petroleum, and natural gas industries, he owns and operates Bagley Allstate Insurance Company in the parish seat of Mansfield. ​ ==Political life==​ Bagley formerly served as a Democrat on the Logansport City Council. ​ In the primary election held on October 24, 2015, Bagley with 5,531 votes (52.8 percent) defeated two other Republican candidates, Robert S. "Steve" Casey, who received 2,775 votes (26.5 percent), and Perry D. McDaniel, who polled 2,170 votes (20.7 percent).​ ​ As a legislator, Bagley is identified with public education and the teacher retirement program, fighting narcotics, and expanded highway improvements. In 2016, Bagley joined a House bipartisan majority to enact a one-cent increase in the state sales tax.​

===Automobile inspection sticker controversy===​ In April 2017, Representative Bagley proposed legislation which would have ended most automobile inspection stickers required annually since 1961 on all vehicles in Louisiana. Bagley's bill proposed to limit inspections to student transportation and commercial vehicles but would not impact the parishes of Ascension, East Baton Rouge, Iberville, Livingston, and West Baton Rouge parishes, as required under the Clean Air Act of 1970 to conduct specialized inspections for vehicle emissions. Displayed on windshields, the stickers are considered proof that the inspections was conducted.​ ​ On May 15, 2017, the House Transportation Committee, citing skepticism for Bagley's legislation by the state police, tabled the bill. Bagley said that the legislation would have halted what he called a $6 million per year industry in fraudulent stickers. Then Representative Terry Clyde Landry, Sr., a former state police superintendent from Lafayette, said that he thought ending inspections would "sacrifice safety. I just fundamentally disagree with your bill."​ ​ Opposition developed when lobbyists representing the people who perform the inspections lined up against Bagley's proposal. Many of these businesses make nearly half of their overall income from the inspections. Bagley favored adding the inspection fee to one's motor vehicle registration. However, the Louisiana Constituiton of 1974 places a cap on the amount of that fee. Hence the proposed change would require a constitutional amendment to adjust the vehicle registration fee structure. Bagley vowed that on his reelection in 2019, he would bring back the matter in the 2021 economic session of the legislature. Bagley said that he wants to hire 150 new state troopers by using the funds that the state spends on the inspections.​ Louisiana hence remains one of thirteen states with motor vehicle inspection laws.​ ​

Reelected in 2019

On January 13, 2020, his first day as a state representative in his second term, Bagley was among twenty-three Republican lawmakers, known as the Fraud Squad, who voted for the Moderate Republican Clay Schexnayder of Ascension Parish, whose election as Speaker depended heavily on the votes of thirty-five Democratic lawmakers as well as the Republican dissenters.

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