Fred Mills (politician)

Fred Henry Mills, Jr. (born January 13, 1955), is a pharmacist and banker from Parks, Louisiana who is a Republican member of the Louisiana State Senate, having won a special election on January 22, 2011, for the District 22 seat for Iberia and St. Martin parishes, vacated in 2010 by the Independent Troy Hebert of Jeanerette.

Mills had since 2008 represented District 46 in the Louisiana House of Representatives.^[1]

He is closely allied with his lifelong friend Scott Angelle, a member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission, who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2015.

Background

Mills holds a degree in pharmacy from the University of Louisiana at Monroe. He is the owner in St. Martin Parish of Mills Cashway Pharmacy in Parks and the president and chief executive officer of Farmers-Merchants Bank and Trust Co. of Breaux Bridge.^[2] Farmers-Merchants, originally established in 1932, also has a branch at 1525 Ambassador Caffery Parkway in Lafayette.^[3]

Mills previously served on the St. Martin Parish Council. He and his wife, Deborah K. Mills, reside in St. Martinville but have business interests throughout the parish. He is Roman Catholic.^[1]

As legislator

In the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 20, 2007, the incumbent Democratic representative, Sydnie Mae Maraist Durand, did not seek reelection. In a two-candidate field, Mills, then a Democrat himself, won outright by a wide margin over a fellow Democrat, Marie Etienne of St. Martin Parish, 12,034 (84 percent) to 2,237 (16 percent).^[4]

In 2008 and 2009, Mills received a 100 percent rating from the Louisiana Right-to-Life Federation. He has been rated 69 percent by the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry. The Louisiana Family Forum in 2009 rated him at 89 percent.^[5]

Mills guided to passage in 2010 legislation to permit pharmacists to administer medication therapy management services to patients in Louisiana. The interest group, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, supported the legislation. The bill was signed on June 25, 2010, by then Governor Bobby Jindal. The measure authorizes the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals to create an MTM pharmacy program.^[6]

NACDS president Steven C. Anderson said that the Louisiana measure "illustrates that pharmacist-administered medication therapy management is an important component in helping patients stay healthy and in reducing health-care costs. Pharmacists are uniquely qualified to offer health screenings and counsel patients about how to take their medications in the right ways to achieve better results. The law will also enable pharmacists to assist patients in managing chronic diseases, such as diabetes."^[6]

Party bolt

In 2010, Mills joined several legislative colleagues in switching allegiance from the Democrats to the Republicans.^[7] Others who made the switch in December 2010 are Representative Noble Ellington of Winnsboro in Franklin Parish and State Senators John Alario of Westwego in Jefferson Parish and John R. Smith of Leesville in Vernon Parish.^[8]

Mills polled 12,812 votes in the special Senate election, or 60 percent of the total. The runner-up was Simone B. Champagne of Jeanerette, another recent Republican convert and a state representative from Iberia Parish, who received 4,040 votes (19 percent). Champagne campaigned as a "Reagan Republican" and had the open support of U.S. Senator David Vitter; she returned the favor by endorsing Vitter for governor in 2015. Independent David Groner finished third with 2,534 votes (12 percent). The remaining ballots favored two other Republican candidates and a second Independent hopeful. No Democrats ran for the position.^[9]

Two Republicans ran in an April 2, 2011, special election to fill the nine months remaining in Mills' House term. St. Martin Parish councilman Mike "Pete" Huval defeated St. Martinville city councilman Craig Prosper, 58 to 42 percent.^[10]

Mills held the title of "newest Louisiana state senator" for only a month. Jonathan W. Perry of Kaplan in Vermilion Parish, winner of a special election in District 26 on February 19, 2011, soon filled that billing, and oddly, he too is known for his humor, often appearing as a stand-up Cajun comic.^[11]

Senate Health and Welfare Committee

In January 2016, Senate President John Alario appointed Mills chairman of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee.^[12]

As the chairman of the health committee, Mills oversees the state's $12 billion Medicaid program. In 2018, Legislative Auditor Daryl Purpera said that the potential exists for fraud involving hundreds of millions of dollars in Medicaid funds. "Let's understand our risks and exposure and what we can do to mitigate it," Mills told his committee. Purpera earlier said that Medicaid had been "run kind of willy-nilly, loosey-goosey” by the Louisiana Department of Health. Purpera's warning was echoed by U.S. Senator John N. Kennedy and state Attorney General Jeff Landry as well as some state legislators. In a press release, Senator Kennedy said that the public will "happily pay for your doctor if you are too poor to be sick. I’m proud of that. But I’m neither happy about nor proud of the Medicaid fraud tolerated" by the Department of Health. The audits do not specify any specific fraud but mention a "risk group."^[13]

Mills the humorist

Mills began writing advertising for his pharmacy in Parks, at first traditional commercials as a pharmacist in his smock counting pills. Then he began the role of a Cajun-accented character in drag called "Taunte Pills." As Mills explains, the Jaycees had a charity fund-raising "womanless pageant. It was a spoof. We called it 'Le Femme de Mystique.'"^[14] Later, responding to the Budweiser frogs commercial, Mills got the idea of having an old woman interacting with Fred the pharmacist. "Those things took off . . . and we doubled our business with those ads."^[14]

References