I made a trip to Baton Rouge last Thursday to personally meet with our state legislative delegation prior to the start of their day during the special session. My intention was to conduct interviews with our Senator, Glen Womack, and our Representatives, Gabe Firment and Neil Riser. These interviews could have been conducted over the phone, but I wanted each of them to know that their service and dedication to our parish is greatly appreciated and worthy of my time away from home.

This is another one of those instances that made me miss my dad. As the publisher and editor of this newspaper for 54 years, he loved politics, from the local level to the national level, and he longed for the day when LaSalle Parish would be in a position of influence at the State Capitol. Although we have had legislators in the past rise to some level of prominence in Baton Rouge before, I don’t believe we have ever been in the position we currently find ourselves.

As noted on the front page story this week, Senator Womack was appointed as Chair of the Senate Finance Committee, undoubtably the most powerful committee in Baton Rouge. To my knowledge, LaSalle Parish has never had a senator appointed to this position and the fact that Womack is just a sophomore senator, this speaks volumes about his credibility at the capitol after just one term.

Womack proved he has the demeanor and leadership to head the Finance Committee last year when he helped navigate the Water Sector Program when so many in Baton Rouge were fighting for money for their districts. His coolhead allowed the legislators to eventually decide to distribute the money in the program on a need basis, just as it was intended to be distributed, rather than the typical Louisiana-style politics.

It’s obvious that new Senate President Cameron Henry saw the potential in Womack as he not only picked him to chair the powerful finance committee, but also to lead the Congressional re-districting during the special session last week. Womack has garnered a great reputation in Baton Rouge and while his fairness will not lend him to play favorites when it comes to distribution of funds, it does put his district in a prime position when allocations are made.

In the same respect, Gabe Firment was appointed in the House to a chairmanship. His position as Chairman of the Insurance Committee will likely see him centerstage on many key and controversial issues that committee will be facing during the next year.

Firment proved himself last term in the face of national attention, as his bill, the “Stop Harming Our Kids Act,” saw his name and face the object of negativity as he fought to keep Louisiana children from being mutilated through gender changing operations.

Through the constant onslaught of state and national attacks, Firment remained calm and collected and quietly went about his business of seeing the bill passed into law, vetoed by Gov. Edwards, and then led his fellow lawmakers to make history in overriding the Governor’s veto.

His notoriety during that single bill propelled him to leadership positions in the House of Representatives, as new Speaker of the House, Phillip DeVillier, also recognized his outstanding abilities as one of the state’s up and coming statesmen.

Although Representative Neil Riser did not receive a committee chair, do not let that deceive you into believing that he is not in a position of influence in Baton Rouge.

With three terms as a senator and now in his second term as a representative, Riser is one of the most experienced lawmakers in Baton Rouge. In just my short time at the Capitol last Thursday, it was very obvious that he is one of the men that other representatives go to, from learning how to deal with constituents to how to vote on bills.

His years of dealing with both Republicans and Democrats, along with the sometimes- forgotten battle in Baton Rouge between the lawmakers from north Louisiana and south Louisiana, his experience is well known by every legislator in both chambers and he is a difference maker.

Make no mistake about it: LaSalle Parish is in the best position politically it’s ever been in many years, if not ever. Even when we had the Long’s of Winnfield and McKeithen of Columbia as Governor, other factors prevented all that could have taken place from occurring.

While this doesn’t mean that we’ll see every highway paved, it does mean that we will have the lawmakers in key positions so when opportunities arise, we not only have a voice in Baton Rouge, but we have those in leadership positions to actually get something done.

I, for one, am excited about the next four years with our esteemed delegation having the places of authority they have. Again, that doesn’t mean that we’ll get everything, but at least we won’t be at the bottom of the line begging for scraps as in years past.

I encourage all of our citizens to reach out to our delegation and congratulate them on their recent appointments. While we all have our issues with our politicians from time to time, this new conservative Louisiana government, with our LaSalle delegation helping to lead the way, is cause for celebration and support.