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2019 Regular Session
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 148
BY SENATOR ALARIO
COMMENDATIONS. Commends Senator John L. "Jack" Donahue Jr. for his service to the
Louisiana Senate.
1 A RESOLUTION
2 To recognize and highly commend John L. "Jack" Donahue Jr. for twelve years of dedicated,
3 distinguished, and tireless service to the Senate of Louisiana, the people of the
4 parishes of St. Tammany and Tangipahoa (District 11), and the state of Louisiana.
5 WHEREAS, Jack Donahue received a degree in civil engineering from Louisiana
6 State University in Baton Rouge in 1967; and
7 WHEREAS, Jack Donahue began his professional career in 1971 when he started
8 Spartan Building Corporation and took a significant step forward in 1979 with the creation
9 of the highly successful, well-respected, award-winning DonahueFavret Contractors, which
10 recently celebrated its fortieth anniversary, and of which he currently serves as chairman of
11 the board; and
12 WHEREAS, Jack Donahue has deep ties with the business community through
13 memberships, past and present, in the Associated Builders and Contractors, the St. Tammany
14 West Chamber of Commerce, the Northshore Area Committee Business Congress for
15 Louisiana, GNO, Inc., and the Louisiana Association of Building and Industry; and
16 WHEREAS, understanding that you have to be involved in order to change the status
17 quo, Jack Donahue was motivated to run for state office by a desire to make government
18 more efficient, make sense for business, and to improve the lives of the people of his district
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1 and the state; and
2 WHEREAS, Jack Donahue was first elected to the Senate in 2007, winning by a vote
3 of almost two-to-one; easily won reelection in 2011, earning more than eighty percent of the
4 vote; and was elected without opposition in 2015, proving he had fully earned the trust of
5 the people he serves; and
6 WHEREAS, a common thread running through his legislative tenure is the firm
7 belief that how well state finances are managed and monitored today determines the kind of
8 state we will have in the future and establishes the legacy we leave for generations to come;
9 and
10 WHEREAS, recognizing the critical need to reduce the cost and size of state
11 government and ensure that tax dollars are spent efficiently and effectively,
12 Senator Donahue introduced and passed numerous pieces of legislation to improve and
13 strengthen the state's budgetary and expenditure practices, including establishment of an
14 incentive expenditure forecast by the Revenue Estimating Conference, a requirement that
15 a nondiscretionary adjusted standstill budget be developed each year in addition to the
16 continuation budget, a requirement that the legislative auditor perform regular performance
17 audits for statutory dedications that include a fee for service, and the creation of the
18 landmark Commission on Streamlining Government; and
19 WHEREAS, Jack Donahue's business acumen, coupled with his frustration with the
20 myriad of arcane and often conflicting state regulations impacting the business sector and
21 the state's byzantine tax structure, led him to champion legislation to provide a fair
22 regulatory and tax structure for the state's business community and to request a study of the
23 feasibility of establishing a statewide business court to lower costs, enhance efficiency, and
24 promote predictable outcomes for business and industry; and
25 WHEREAS, understanding the vital role that education plays in a healthy economy,
26 Senator Donahue sponsored legislation to bolster our K-12 education system, strengthen the
27 state's postsecondary education institutions, and stabilize TOPS, the Taylor Opportunity
28 Program for Students, so it would be viable for years to come; and
29 WHEREAS, Jack Donahue recognizes the responsibility that citizens and
30 government share to care for those among us with great need and continually supported
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1 legislation to provide increased access, services, and protections to the developmentally
2 disabled and, especially, children with special needs; and
3 WHEREAS, his bedrock principles of honesty and integrity, and his ability to
4 balance fairness, practicality, and compassion enabled Senator Jack Donahue to earn the
5 respect and trust of his colleagues and his constituents and thus become a proven and
6 effective legislator; and
7 WHEREAS, during his tenure in the Senate, Jack Donahue served with commitment
8 and distinction on many committees including the Senate Committee on Finance, serving
9 as chairman from 2012-2016, the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget, serving as
10 chairman in 2012 and 2013, the Joint Legislative Committee on Capital Outlay, the
11 Legislative Budgetary Control Council, the Senate Committee on Education, the Senate
12 Committee on Judiciary A, the Senate Committee on Local and Municipal Affairs, the
13 Senate Committee on Senate and Governmental Affairs, and the Senate Select Committee
14 on Vocational-Technical Education, serving as chairman from 2016-2020; and
15 WHEREAS, Senator Donahue balances his professional life with a distinguished
16 record of community involvement and philanthropic endeavors including the American
17 Heart Association, Habitat for Humanity, the American Red Cross, the Lake Pontchartrain
18 Basin Foundation, the Center for Development and Learning, and other worthy
19 organizations; and
20 WHEREAS, Senator Jack Donahue, an active member of Most Holy Trinity Catholic
21 Church, is guided by his strong faith, and he is ever mindful of the admonishment in
22 Luke 12:48, "to whom much is given, much will be required; and from the one to whom
23 much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded"; and
24 WHEREAS, after his faith, nothing is more important to Jack Donahue than the
25 enduring love and unending support of his precious family - his wife, Maura, and their six
26 children and their spouses, nineteen grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren, without
27 whom life has no meaning; and
28 WHEREAS, committed to the principle of a three-term limit for legislators, Jack
29 Donahue looks forward to returning home to spend quality time with his "bride", Maura, and
30 their family, and embrace whatever life may hold in store.
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1 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
2 does hereby recognize and highly commend John L. "Jack" Donahue Jr. for twelve years of
3 dedicated, distinguished, and tireless service to the Senate of Louisiana, the people of the
4 parishes of St. Tammany and Tangipahoa (District 11), and the state of Louisiana.
5 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
6 Honorable John L. "Jack" Donahue Jr., State Senator, District 11.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Jeanne C. Johnston.
DIGEST
SR 148 Original 2019 Regular Session Alario
Commends John L. "Jack" Donahue Jr. for twelve years of dedicated, distinguished, and
tireless service to the Senate of Louisiana, the people of the parishes of St. Tammany and
Tangipahoa (District 11), and the state of Louisiana.
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