2015 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 150
BY SENATORS ALARIO, ADLEY, ALLAIN, AMEDEE, APPEL, BROOME, BROWN,
BUFFINGTON, CHABERT, CLAITOR, CORTEZ, CROWE,
DONAHUE, DORSEY-COLOMB, ERDEY, GALLOT, GUILLORY,
HEITMEIER, JOHNS, KOSTELKA, LAFLEUR, LONG, MARTINY,
MILLS, MORRELL, MORRISH, MURRAY, PEACOCK, PERRY,
PETERSON, RISER, GARY SMITH, JOHN SMITH, TARVER,
THOMPSON, WALSWORTH, WARD AND WHITE
A RESOLUTION
To commend the Honorable Ben Wayne Nevers Sr. for two decades of legislative and local
public service and to express enduring gratitude for his outstanding contributions
made on the behalf of the constituents of the parishes of St. Tammany, Tangipahoa,
and Washington and the state of Louisiana, particularly his tenure as a distinguished
member of the Louisiana State Senate representing District No. 12 and the Louisiana
House of Representatives representing District No. 75 for a total of seventeen years
as a legislator, and to offer the best wishes of his fellow senators as he returns to the
private sector and determines his next avenue of interest.
WHEREAS, Senator Nevers is well known as a kind, caring servant of the people
who has demonstrated a personal commitment to representing his constituents with honor
and respect and to the best of his abilities as a Christian with a profound faith in God; and
WHEREAS, Senator Nevers has always acted on the tenet of "do the right thing" as
he addresses the complex issues affecting the district, including education, economic
development, workforce training, health care, infrastructure, and farming interests; and
WHEREAS, in each situation, his approach is to dispatch the matter in the most
direct, yet courteous manner possible; he never sidestepped an issue; he focuses on the
problem at hand and considers every possible solution with respect to the consequences
affecting all parties in the process; and
WHEREAS, during his tenure, Senator Nevers served with great diligence on Senate
standing committees on Judiciary A and Labor and Industrial Relations as chairman and
Education as chair and vice chairman, and as a member on Health and Welfare, Agriculture,
Retirement, Revenue and Fiscal Affairs, and Transportation, Highways, and Public Works,
and the Senate Select Committee on Vocational and Technical Education; and
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WHEREAS, the fiscal matters of the state held his attention with his monitoring of
the Joint Legislative Committee on Capital Outlay and Legislative Audit Advisory Council;
and
WHEREAS, Ben Nevers lauds a lofty principle from Thomas Jefferson that states,
"An educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people," and he
recognizes that an educated populace ensures both economic success and individual
prosperity; and
WHEREAS, his dedication to improve educational opportunities on all levels began
as an elected member of the Bogalusa City School Board and continued as he served on the
Senate Education Committee; he lent his expertise to numerous state committees and
commissions on civic education, tuition, high school redesign, early childhood education,
textbooks, libraries, assessment testing, and the Blue Ribbon Commission for Education
Excellence; and he cast a broad net to garner research from national coalitions such as the
Education Commission of the States, the Southern Legislative Conference, the American
Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) Education Task Force, and the Southern Regional
Education Board Advisory Council; and
WHEREAS, early in life, Senator Nevers trained as a journeyman electrician and
became president and CEO of NECO Inc., his own successful contracting firm; his life
experience has reenforced his concept of job training for local commercial ventures and state
industrial employment demands; and
WHEREAS, Senator Nevers promoted job training through articulation of workforce
development curricula at community and technical colleges, enabling course credits to be
easily transferred between institutions to aid successful completion of craft certification; and
WHEREAS, Senate District No. 12 is primarily a rural setting of farming interests
that produce a cornucopia of agricultural products; Senator Nevers addresses the needs of
the dairy and forestry industries in the Washington Parish Forestry Landowners Association
and both the Washington Parish and Louisiana Cattlemen's Associations, and supports
agribusiness education through involvement with 4-H Clubs, the Future Farmers of America,
and the Louisiana Northshore (Parishes) Delegation; and
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WHEREAS, Senator Nevers has been the deserving recipient of copious honors
throughout the course of his exemplary career that are too numerous to count; he has been
celebrated for his professional, civic, legislative, and business achievements year after year;
some of his latest awards include the Mondale-Brooke Award for Fair Housing Leadership
and Civic Participation, the Louisiana Association for Justice Public Service Award, the
Optometry Association of Louisiana Statesman of the Year Award, an Honorary State FFA
Degree from the Louisiana Future Farmers of America, and the establishment and dedication
of the Senator Ben Nevers Medical Library for Our Lady of the Angels Hospital in Bogalusa
in appreciation of his continued support of rural health care funding; and
WHEREAS, Senator Nevers has a very special place in his heart for the medically
needy, the elderly, and the very young of this state who depend on the viable funding of rural
health care facilities; he has been a champion for small hospitals around the state; and
WHEREAS, with his commitment to Louisianians through efforts to improve
employment opportunity, education, economic growth, transportation infrastructure, and
health care, the good works of Senator Ben Nevers will be realized for future generations to
come; and
WHEREAS, he has long preached that education is a public good from which
everyone reaps benefits, and providing adequate funding starting with early childhood
education and continuing to postsecondary training is the real key to guaranteed success in
life; and
WHEREAS, as he prepares for the next productive chapter of his life, Ben Nevers
and his wife, Ann, celebrate forty-nine years together, three children, six grandchildren, and
two great-grandchildren; they share their happiness in the company of close friends,
colleagues, and their church family at Memorial Baptist Church; and the Nevers family shall
continue to have a positive effect on their community for many years to come; and
WHEREAS, Senator Ben Nevers deserves commendation for the exemplary strides
he has taken as an exceptional member of the Legislature of Louisiana, and he has proven
himself to those he represents to be "a true man of the people".
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby commend the Honorable Ben Wayne Nevers Sr., extending honor and
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recognition to him for his outstanding accomplishments, particularly during his tenure as a
member of the Louisiana State Senate and the Louisiana House of Representatives, which
has been marked by his uncompromising endeavors to improve the welfare of his
constituents and the citizens of the state of Louisiana, and does hereby pay tribute to him for
the generous and effective way in which he has dedicated his intelligence and his energy to
the service of his faith, family, friends, community, state, and country.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
hereby expresses enduring gratitude to Senator Nevers for his service to the citizens of
Louisiana, as evidenced by his superlative achievements as a member of this distinguished
body, and hereby extends to him the best wishes of all of his colleagues for continued
prosperity and success in his future endeavors.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
Honorable Ben W. Nevers Sr. of Louisiana Senatorial District 12.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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