Thomas G. Carmody

Thomas Gaughan Carmody, Jr. (born April 20, 1961), is a real estate broker from Shreveport, Louisiana, who since 2008 has been a Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for District 6 in Caddo and Bossier parishes.^[1]

Background

Carmody is one of thirteen children, eleven still living as of 2018, of Thomas Gaughan Carmody Sr. (1932-2012), and the former Katherine Phelan (born November 19, 1932). Younger brother Anthony Phelan Carmody, Sr. (1967-2018), was employed in pharmaceutical sales management until his death in a tragic accident at the age of fifty-one. His grandparents were Anthony McDade Phelan and the former Katherine Huey and Arthur R. Carmody and the former Caroline Gaughan.^[2]

Carmody graduated in 1979 from the Roman Catholic Jesuit High School in Shreveport, now Loyola College Prep.^[3] In 1983, Carmody received the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.^[4]

Prior to his election to the legislature, Carmody served two terms (1998-2002 and 2002-2006) as the District C member of the Shreveport City Council, which covers much of the same territory as House District 6, the bedroom communities of Broadmoor, South Highlands and Pierremont situated along Youree Drive, Kings Highway, and Line Avenue. In 2003, councilman Carmody pushed for an independent review of the police-related shooting death of Marquise Hudspeth, which at the time attracted national headlines.^[5]

House career

Carmody won a special election to the House after a fellow Republican Mike Powell stepped down in late December 2007 before he could even begin his second term.^[1] Shreveport businessman Barrow Peacock, a Republican, immediately announced for the open seat, having just lost a state senate race to former State Representative B. L. "Buddy" Shaw. Ultimately, however, Carmody defeated Peacock, 52 to 48 percent. In 2011 election cycle Carmody ran unopposed, and Peacock won the Senate seat to succeed the retiring Buddy Shaw.^[5]

Carmody serves as Chairman of House Commerce Committee, having previously served on Commerce, Education, and the Municipal, Parochial, and Cultural Affairs committees.^[4] Carmody's biggest donors in his initial election were the Republican Party, the Louisiana Association of Educators, and the Louisiana Hospital Association.^[6]

Carmody ran for the House as a fiscal conservative and successfully worked to repeal the Stelly Plan, which had increased progressive state income taxes along with a decrease in regressive sales taxes. He has worked to fund public education and to protect youth from abuse. He secured passage in 2009 of a bill which strengthens penalties involving the crime of indecent behavior with juveniles. He has pushed to fund completion of Interstate 49 from Shreveport to the Arkansas border.

In 2014, Carmody introduced a bill to make the Bible the "official state book" as a way to "educate" people. Liberal critics accused him of attempting to place religious faith inappropriately into the government sphere. Some said his bill would trivialize the Bible. Carmody said that his bill had become a distraction, and he withdrew it from consideration. Keith Werhan, a constitutional law authority at Tulane University Law School said that the proposed legislation would not have been different than a U.S. President evoking the name of God in a State of the Union address or the placement of "In God We Trust" on money.^[7]

Carmody's legislative ratings have ranged from 56 to 84 percent from the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry. In 2012, he was rated 83 percent by the National Federation of Independent Business. In 2013 and 2014, the conservative Louisiana Family Forum scored from 89 and 90 percent, respectively. He is rated 100 percent by Louisiana Right to Life. In 2013 and 2014, the Louisiana Association of Educators rated him 58 percent each year.^[8]

In 2014, Carmody co-sponsored the requirement that abortion providers have hospital admitting privileges near their clinics; the bill was approved by the full House, 88-5. In 2014, he voted to extend the time for implementation of the Common Core State Standards Initiative. He voted against the prohibition of the transportation of dogs in the beds of pick-up trucks while traveling on interstate highways; the measure passed the House, 53-34. He opposed the requirement that companies must give notice when they engage in hydraulic fracking. He voted against the repeal of the anti-sodomy laws. He voted for the establishment of surrogacy contracts. He voted to reduce the penalties for the possession of marijuana. He did not vote on the issue of lifetime concealed carry gun permits but co-sponsored concealed carry privileges in restaurants that sell alcoholic beverages. He did not vote on the issue of making information about permit holders a matter of public record. He did not vote in 2013 for an increase in judicial pay and opposed the removal of the mandatory retirement age for judges.^[9]

In 2012, Carmody voted to prohibit the use of telephones while driving. He supported tax incentives for attracting a National Basketball Association team to Louisiana and state income tax deductions for individuals who contribute to scholarship funds. He voted to reduce the number of hours that polling locations remain open; Louisiana has traditionally had 14-hour polling days. He supported the requirement for drug testing of certain welfare recipients, which passed the House, 65 to 26. He supported changes in the teacher tenure law. In 2011, he voted for parole eligibility for elderly inmates. He co-sponsored a permanent tax on cigarettes and supported the establishment of a commission to develop a path to end the state income tax. He supported redistricting plans for the Louisiana State Senate and co-sponsored the plan for the six Louisiana seats in the United States House of Representatives. He opposed the bill which supporters claimed would curb bullying in public schools.^[9]

In March 2016, Carmody joined the House bipartisan majority for a one-cent increase in the state sales tax. State representatives voted 76 to 28 for the tax hike, a part of the revenue-raising measures pushed by new Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards.^[10] A House and Senate conference committee subsequently trimmed the five years for the duration of the tax to expire instead after twenty-seven months, effective from April 1, 2016 to June 30, 2018. Even the sale of Bibles and religious publications and Girl Scout cookies are now subject to the tax.^[11]

On May 15, 2017, Carmody obtained House passage, 65-31, of his bill to authorize an election for a constitutional amendment to permit voters to override decisions of local officials regarding the removal, destruction, or defacing of Confederate military monuments. The bill faces an uncertain future in the state Senate and could if approved there face a gubernatorial veto. Members of the Legislative Black Caucus walked out of the House chamber to protest passage of Carmody's bill. ^[12][13] But the bill died in a Louisiana State Senate committee. In the aftermath of the 2017 Charlottesville attack, Carmody said that he will no longer pursue the issue of protecting the monuments, having cited his belief that few if any monuments will remain in place in the months ahead.^[14]

Near the end of May 2018, Carmody voted for a House-passed sales tax proposal on the premise that the state requires "more revenue, there's no doubt about it. ... The problem we've had ... is trying to find a consensus of the super majority of both chambers." Thereafter, the Louisiana Senate Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Committee increased the sales tax from a third of a cent to a half penny and made it permanent, instead of temporary. Carmody, however, noted that a super majority in both chambers is required for passage of any tax bill, and he indicated that the "appetite of the House is not to make anything permanent."^[15] The Senate tax bill languished in the House for the second time in 2018. Another special legislative session is pending.

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