Lawrence A. Bagley Jr. (born January 4, 1949), known as Larry Bagley, is a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

member of the

Louisiana House of Representatives The Louisiana House of Representatives (french: link=no, Chambre des Représentants de Louisiane) is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. This chamber is composed of 105 repr ...

for District 7, which encompasses

Caddo The Caddo people comprise the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, a federally recognized tribe headquartered in Binger, Oklahoma. They speak the Caddo language. The Caddo Confederacy was a network of Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands, wh ...

, DeSoto, and

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parishes A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

in northwestern

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

. In January 2016, he succeeded outgoing Republican Representative

Richard Burford Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...

, an unsuccessful candidate against the

Conservative Democrat In American politics, a conservative Democrat is a member of the Democratic Party with conservative political views, or with views that are conservative compared to the positions taken by other members of the Democratic Party. Traditionally, co ...

John Milkovich John Milkovich is an American politician and attorney from the state of Louisiana. A Democrat, Milkovich represented the 38th district of the Louisiana State Senate, based in southern Shreveport, from 2016 until 2020. Career Milkovich was born ...

for the District 38 seat in the

Louisiana State Senate The Louisiana State Senate (french: Sénat de Louisiane) is the upper house of the state legislature of Louisiana. All senators serve four-year terms and are assigned to multiple committees. Composition The Louisiana State Senate is compose ...

in the general election held on November 21, 2015.

Political life

In the primary election held on October 24, 2015, Bagley with 5,531 votes (52.8 percent) defeated two other Republicans, Robert S. "Steve" Casey, who received 2,775 votes (26.5 percent), and Perry D. McDaniel, who polled 2,170 votes (20.7 percent). In 2016, Bagley joined a House bipartisan majority to enact a one-cent increase in the state

sales tax A sales tax is a tax paid to a governing body for the sales of certain goods and services. Usually laws allow the seller to collect funds for the tax from the consumer at the point of purchase. When a tax on goods or services is paid to a govern ...

Attempt to end automobile inspection stickers

In April 2017, Representative Bagley proposed legislation which would halt most automobile inspection stickers required annually since 1961 on all vehicles in Louisiana. Bagley's bill would limit inspections to student transportation and commercial vehicles and would not impact the parishes of Ascension,

East Baton Rouge East Baton Rouge Parish (french: Paroisse de Bâton Rouge Est) is the most populous parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2010 U.S. census, its population was 440,171, and 456,781 at the 2020 census. The parish seat is Baton Rouge, Lou ...

, Iberville,

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, and West Baton Rouge, which are required under the Clean Air Act of 1963 to conduct specialized inspections for vehicle emissions, Displayed on

windshield The windshield (North American English) or windscreen (Commonwealth English) of an aircraft, car, bus, motorbike, truck, train, boat or streetcar is the front window, which provides visibility while protecting occupants from the elements. Mo ...

s, 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

Louisiana State Police The Louisiana State Police (French: Police d’Etat de Louisiane) is the state police agency of Louisiana, which has jurisdiction anywhere in the state, headquartered in Baton Rouge. It falls under the authority of the Louisiana Department of Pu ...

, tabled the bill. Bagley claimed that the legislation would end what he called a $6 million per year industry in fraudulent stickers. Representative

Terry Landry Terry is a unisex given name, derived from French Thierry and Theodoric. It can also be used as a diminutive nickname for the names Teresa or Theresa (feminine) or Terence or Terrier (masculine). People Male * Terry Albritton (1955–2005), A ...

, a former state police superintendent from

Lafayette Parish Lafayette Parish (french: Paroisse de Lafayette) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. According to the 2020 U.S. census, the parish had a population of 241,753, up from 221,578 at the 2010 United States census. The parish seat is ...

, said that he thought ending inspections would be "sacrificing safety. I just fundamentally disagree with your bill." As the issue played out, lobbyists representing those who perform the inspections also lined up against Bagley's proposal. 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, assuming that he is reelected in 2019, to bring back the matter in the 2021 economic session of the legislature. Bagley said that he wants to hire 150 new state troopers with money that the state spends on the inspections. Louisiana hence remains one of thirteen states with motor vehicle inspection laws.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bagley, Larry 1949 births Living people People from Logansport, Louisiana Republican Party members of the Louisiana House of Representatives Louisiana city council members Educators from Louisiana High school basketball coaches in Louisiana Insurance agents Businesspeople from Louisiana Louisiana Baptist University alumni Stephen F. Austin State University alumni Northwestern State University alumni 21st-century American politicians American United Methodists