A History of Innovation and Success
May 16, 2018
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
May 17, 2018
A state legislator and a local senator engaged in more than mere debate Tuesday night during a heated discussion about a failed coastal conservation bill at a Baton Rouge bar.
State Sen. Norby Chabert R-Houma and Rep. Stuart Bishop R-Lafayette were at the River Room on Laurel Street. During a discussion about one of Chabert’s bills tempers flared, according to published accounts.
Chabert acknowledged that the fisticuffs occurred.
“We are both passionate,” he said, noting that he and Bishop are “like brothers,” expressing regret over the incident. Harsh words had begun on the House floor earlier Wednesday and picked up afterward.
Bishop is chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee. and did not move one of Chabert’s coastal conservation bill forward.
The News Star of Monroe reported that Chabert made contact and that Bishop did not counter. Police were called but both men were gone by the time they arrived. No injuries were reported.
Wednesday afternoon Bishop apologized from the House floor to fellow lawmakers.
In the old days, he noted, people would settle disputes with dueling guns. In this incident, there were fists. The next time, he said, attempting a joke, dueling guns would be used.
