Mary Talbot
April 2, 2016
Skains leaving Tarpons for Cecilia
April 5, 2016
A Lafourche Parish state Legislator has offered bills for consideration in this year’s regular legislative session that will affect commercial fishermen and also World War II veterans.
Rep. Jerry “Truck” Gisclair of District 54, which runs from Thibodaux south to the Gulf of Mexico, wants tolls on the Tomey Doucet Bridge in Leeville, which must be crossed to reach Fourchon, Elmer’s Island and Grand Isle, to be eliminated for World War II vets, the result of a plea made by a surviving member of America’s “Greatest Generation.”
Gisclair is also sponsoring bills that would permit online sales of commercial fishing licenses statewide, a more specific definition of gear permitted for oyster harvesting, and a requirement that parties buying defunct oil and gas wells post a bond for property cleanup.
The latter instrument, Gisclar said, will likely not see the light of legislative day. But he maintains that it is a measure that should receive serious consideration.
“My wife’s grandfather-in-law is a World War II veteran and I ran into him and he said, ‘Truck, I served in World War II in Europe and when I got back they shipped me to the Philippines,” Gisclair said, recalling a conversation with 97-year-old Luke Cheramie. “‘I got to pay $3 to get to my camp. I served my country and I should be able to pass without having to pay,’ and I said I would give it a try.”
Gisclair said he wishes his bill, HB-641, could extend such largesse to all veterans of the armed forces, but that fiscal realities in a cashstrapped state would make that untenable.
“I know if I did that, it would not get approved.
Luke Cheramie is 97-years-old and still driving,” Gisclair said. “Our World War II veterans are not going to be much longer, and I want to try to put a smile on their faces and give another thank you for their services.”
Gisclair has high hopes for the bill’s success, as well as HB-290, which requires that the gear oystermen use to harvest the mollusks be “scraper” rather than “dredge,” in the law and everywhere else in writing. The problem, Gisclair said, is that the current term, “dredge,” can be used in reference to a dragline, which would be inappropriate for oyster harvesting.
But he is not so certain about the future of HB-837, which creates an oilfield site restoration program. Oil industry lobbyists have been working hard, Gisclair said, to derail the measure.
“The problem is abandoned wells, where a company comes in and sucks up the natural resources out of the well and it is then sold through a third party and we are stuck eventually with an abandoned well that our state has to pay to clean up that property,” he said. “This would say that you have to restore the property before moving on, and establishing that you are going to have to put a damage deposit. The lobbyists say a small operator cannot cough up $150,000 to buy a well and put this money into a special account for cleanup.”
Another measure offered by Gisclair, HB-638, would allow the sale of commercial fishing licenses through the Internet.
“Right now, you can go to Baton Rouge, New Orleans, New Iberia or Bourg,” Gisclair said. “But the Bourg office has limited hours and if you have to go to Baton Rouge it is one hell of a ride. I am trying to get greater convenience for commercial fishermen so that they won’t have to physically go and buy their license.”
State Rep. Jerry “Truck” Gisclair’s bills include free tolls for WWII veterans and online applications for commercial fishing licenses.
