EMPLOYMENT On Rep. Hardy’s official legislative web site, he lists his employment as: “Self employed - house washing and lawn care business”, but at Monday’s UL debate, stated that he was a full-time state representative. We’ll get to that both parts of that lie in a moment… A quick search of the Secretary of State’s database shows that there is no house washing and/or lawn care business registered in Mr. Hardy’s name. Why is that important? Because that means he’s not paying the fees to do business in the State of Louisiana--as a state legislator. Why don’t the rules apply to you, Mr. Hardy? CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS In yet another ploy to get media attention, Mr. Hardy pledged that he would refuse any and all campaign contributions. The Ind described this move as “…a sign of either supreme confidence or an epic political miscalculation.” The answer would come less than one month later when Hardy filed a six-page Candidate’s Report (report #24481, filed 9/20/2011) listing campaign donors. Was that an “epic political miscalculation” or an outright lie? GROUP AFFILIATIONS Louisiana Association of Business & Industry The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI) can not and does not endorse candidates. At the debates hosted by UL’s Society of Professional Journalists, Rep. Hardy LIED and stated that he was endorsed by LABI. (see video mark 10:20) LABI has never given Mr. Hardy higher than a 72% in their annual Voting Record publication. In 2009, he received a 66% and in 2011 dipped two points to 70%. The actual career-to-date average is 68.25%. 
I’m not sure where y’all went to school, but that looks to me like a great big F. Louisiana Family Forum The rabidly anti-gay organization that blames Louisiana’s LGBT citizens for everything from natural disasters to societal decline is becoming more and more a fan of Rickey. After holding steady at 33% approval rating in 2008 and 2009, Hardy spiked to 40%. 
How is it possible for an African American legislator who passed a law banning the display of nooses to get in bed with a group inextricably linked to former Louisiana state rep and current hate group President Tony Perkins, who himself has ties to both white supremacist organizations AND David Duke? These, my friends, are FACTS, not feelings. And there’s more… VOTING RECORD* During the 2011 legislative session, Rep. Hardy was ABSENT from 20% of the votes for which he was eligible. That’s the equivalent of calling in sick once a week, every week. But, as we learned before, Mr. Hardy claims that he is employed as a full-time legislator… When he does vote (his own machine), Hardy voted YES 76% of the time. Do you think that 76% of the ideas coming out of Baton Rouge merit a yes vote? There’s missing a vote to be in committee or elsewhere and then there’s missing 20% of votes. But what votes did Hardy actually miss during the 2011 Regular Session? Here are some of the low-lights, in order of introduction: - Support for the “Make It Right” Foundation to help rebuild the Lower 9th Ward after Hurricane Katrina (HB 35)
- Protection of children from human trafficking for sexual purposes (HB 49)
- Protection of the Patient’s Compensation Fund, which provides relief in medical malpractice cases (HB 69)
- Training for and authority of Chiefs of Police (HB 72 & 374, respectively)
- Protection of people with a physical or mental disability from sexual abuse (HB 86)
- Provision of legal representation to children in child protection proceedings (HB 178)
- Improvement to our roadways (HB 238)
- Production, manufacturing, distribution or possession of fake law enforcement badges (HB 264)
- Imitation controlled dangerous substances (HB 339)
- Prescription drug coverage (HB 345)
- Definition of charter schools (HB 360)
- Coverage by insurance of dependents (HB 462)
- Support of CODOFIL and the Cajun French language (HB 517)
- Streamlining of government (HB 534 & HB 639)
- Streamlining fines & costs for criminal cases (HB 553)
- Banning dangerous after-market High-Intensity Discharge headlights (HB 583)
- Supporting the Road Home and Louisiana Recovery Authority programs (HB 618)
RECORD OF LEGISLATING* The clown show doesn’t end with Rep. Hardy’s failure to cast a vote. In fact, it actually begins well before that when it’s time to craft legislation, a skill Rickey’s failed to learn in the four years he’s been in office. The bulk of his legislation consisted of generally meaningless resolutions and ill-advised studies; these resolutions are not included in the figures shown below. Let’s go by the numbers: In the 2008 1st Extraordinary Session, Mr. Hardy introduced a total of two bills, both of which failed, which is a 100% failure rate. 
In 2008’s Regular Session, Rickey authored 25 non-resolution bills, of which only four (4) passed. 
Fail Rate: 86% The following year was a career-to-date high for Rickey, as during the 2009 Regular Session, Hardy was the author of seven (7) non-resolution bills and passed three (3). At his best, Rep. Hardy was still a D minus. 
Fail Rate: 81% 2010 saw Rep. Hardy come down with what was called a case of “legislative diarrhea” and introduced a total of 35 non-resolution bills, of which only five (5) passed. Fail Rate: 88% Most recently, in 2011’s Regular Session, Rickey authored five (5) bills and passed two (2). 
Fail Rate: 71% So let’s boil that down. Rickey Hardy’s career-to-date FAILURE rate with non-resolution legislation is a whopping 86%. 
RICKEY’S RECORD SKIPS So what have we learned about Rep. Rickey Hardy? • We've seen Rickey tell a bald-faced lie in two parts, that his full-time occupation is as a state legislator, which is less than a part time job for even those who do show up to vote. • We’ve shown that he says he’s for business and industry, but gets a 68.25% ranking from LABI. • We’ve heard Rickey Hardy lie and say that LABI endorsed him when they explicitly state that they can not and do not endorse candidates. • We’ve seen that Rickey Hardy missed 20% of the votes for which he was eligible in the most recent session. • We’ve tracked Rickey’s legislative success only to find that his bills fail nearly 90% of the time. This Saturday, the voters of House District 44 need to do with Rickey and his record what any music industry leader would: drop him from the label. *Data Source: http://legis.state.la.us Special Note: I served as volunteer Producer for Acadiana Debates. This data compilation and analysis was completed by me as a private individual using Rickey Hardy's voting record as a principal source and individual organizations' web sites to cross-reference. I am not employed by, paid by, or otherwise affiliated with the Vincent Pierre Campaign. |
