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Regular Session, 2013
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON NO. 149
BY REPRESENTATIVE CONNICK AND SENATOR ALARIO
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON
To commend the Stop the Tolls organization for their efforts in educating the public about
the need to eliminate the tolls on the Crescent City Connection Bridge.
WHEREAS, the Crescent City Connection Bridge has provided a vital transportation
link over the Mississippi River between the east and west banks of the parishes of Jefferson
and Orleans; and
WHEREAS, in 1989, tolls were authorized by statute to be collected for passage over
the second span of the Crescent City Connection Bridge; and
WHEREAS, the statutory authority to collect these tolls was set to expire several
times only to ultimately be extended until December 31, 2012; and
WHEREAS, prior to the December 31, 2012, expiration of tolls on the Crescent City
Connection Bridge, a ground swell of opposition to another extension resulted in a
concerned group of citizens creating the organization Stop the Tolls; and
WHEREAS, with little to no commercial backing, Jefferson Parish residents Michael
Teachworth and Patrick Hand III, instrumental players in the Stop the Tolls, set out to
educate the New Orleans metropolitan area on the history of the Crescent City Connection
Bridge and the tolls; and
WHEREAS, while the efforts of Stop the Tolls and many others prevented an
outright extension of the tolls, Act No. 865 of the 2012 Regular Session of the Legislature
called for an election to be held to determine whether or not tolls would be extended on the
Crescent City Connection Bridge; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to Act No. 865 of the 2012 Regular Session of the Legislature,
the governor called an election in the parishes of Jefferson, Orleans, and Plaquemines to
determine whether tolls would be collected, beginning January 1, 2013, and ending on
December 31, 2033, on the Crescent City Connection Bridge at the rate provided by law; and ENROLLEDHCR NO. 149
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WHEREAS, despite the Herculean efforts of Stop the Tolls, the final election results
showed that the proposition passed by a narrow margin and that tolls would continue to be
collected on the Crescent City Connection Bridge until the year 2033; and
WHEREAS, in December of 2012, "Michael J. Teachworth v. Bobby Jindal, in his
official capacity as Governor of Louisiana, and Tom Schedler, in his official capacity as the
Louisiana Secretary of State" was filed by attorney Patrick Hand III; and
WHEREAS, the petition sought, among other things, to contest the results of the
election held on November 6, 2012, to obtain declaratory relief nullifying the vote certified
by the secretary of state which extended the tolls on the bridge, and to obtain any other relief
allowed under the law; and
WHEREAS, a trial on the merits was held on March 4, 2013, and the trial concluded
on March 5, 2013, with the Honorable William A. Morvant declaring the election on
November 6, 2012, void, only insofar as the results of the Greater New Orleans Crescent
City Connection Toll Proposition; and
WHEREAS, the Honorable William A. Morvant ordered that a new election be held
on May 4, 2013, in the parishes of Jefferson, Orleans, and Plaquemines to determine whether
or not tolls would be renewed and/or extended as proposed in Act No. 865 of the 2012
Regular Session of the Legislature; and
WHEREAS, never wavering, Stop the Tolls engaged in a grassroots campaign to put
an end to what the organization touted as an unfair tax on the citizens of the west bank; and
WHEREAS, Stop the Tolls used social media, traditional media routes, town hall
style meetings, and old-fashioned word of mouth to convince the voters of the parishes of
Jefferson, Orleans, and Plaquemines that they were offered another chance to end the tolls;
and
WHEREAS, on March 4, 2013, the voters of the parishes of Jefferson, Orleans, and
Plaquemines came out in force to finally put an end to the tolls; and
WHEREAS, on May 8, 2013, election officials in Jefferson, Orleans, and
Plaquemines parishes certified that seventy-seven percent of the voters in those parishes cast
"no" votes on the Crescent City Connection Bridge election proposition; and ENROLLEDHCR NO. 149
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WHEREAS, as a result of the vote ending tolls on the Crescent City Connection
Bridge, the Department of Transportation and Development began the process to
decommission the toll plaza the evening of Wednesday, May 8, 2013; and
WHEREAS, the May 4, 2013, election results and the decommissioning of the toll
plaza would not have been possible without the passion and hard work of the members of
the Stop the Tolls organization; and
WHEREAS, Stop the Tolls is the perfect example of how the will of the people can
still ultimately prevail in the face of incredibly unfavorable odds and that favorable results
can still be obtained when citizens band together.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
commend the Stop the Tolls organization for their efforts in educating the people of
Jefferson, Orleans, and Plaquemines parishes on the need to end the tolls on the Crescent
City Connection Bridge and their May 4, 2013, election victory.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a suitable copy of this Resolution be transmitted
to Michael Teachworth and Patrick Hand III, of the Stop the Tolls organization.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATI VES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE