Seabaugh: Edwards on 'Power Trip' Trying to Close Down Businesses

State Rep. Alan Seabaugh talks about his legislative petition, which would end Governor John Bel Edwards Coronavirus emergency order.

The Seabaugh proposal, which would require a majority vote of either legislative house to end the Governor's emergency declaration, has been consistently adamant in his feelings that the people of Louisiana can't take too much more of an even-limited economic quarantine. "Poverty kills more people every year than sickness or disease. Poverty kills people...and right now what we're doing is we're forcing people into poverty."

"The same provision of law that gives the Governor the authority to declare a public health emergency gives the legislature the authority to end it," Seabaugh says. "We started (the petition) back in April when the shutdown first started. Businesses were suffering. Churches couldn't meet. People were ready to move on."

And the Shreveport rep explains the reemergence of his petition after it had been on the back burner since the Governor's Phase II began. "By extending Phase II an additional twenty eight days, plus his press conference saying they were literally going to have squads of brownshirts from the Fire Marshall, storming businesses, spot checking businesses, shutting people down or revoking their business permits if they were in violation of the restrictions. That smacks of things that aren't good - that aren't supposed to happen in America."

And Seabaugh insists that the Governor's claims that his petition would cost the state federal money is untrue. "It's fear mongering. They're putting things out that aren't true trying to scare people and trying to prevent us from being able to do this."