Major Thibaut

Major Thibaut, Jr. (born January 3, 1977), is an insurance investment planner from Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, who has been a Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for District 18 from 2008 to 2020. The district encompasses Iberville, West Baton Rouge, West Feliciana, and Pointe Coupee parishes. Thibaut is known for his efforts to obtain infrastructure improvements in his largely rural district.^[1]

Background[]

Thibaut graduated in 1995 from Catholic High School of Pointe Coupee Parish and in 1999 from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. In his business, he is a member of the Million Dollar Roundtable, a landmark for successful insurance sales. He is also affiliated with the American Quarter Horse Association, Lions International, the Chamber of Commerce, and the National Rifle Association.^[2]

Political life[]

On September 30, 2006, Thibaut was elected to the District F seat on the Pointe Coupee Parish School Board over two other Democrats.^[3]

On November 4, 2008, Thibaut narrowly won a special election for House District 18, when he defeated another Democrat, Troy Grezaffi, 9,177 (51.8 percent) to 8,548 (48.2 percent), to fill the seat vacated earlier in the year by Democrat Don Cazayoux of New Roads, the seat of government of Pointe Coupee Parish.^[4] That same day Cazayoux, the interim U.S. Representative for Louisiana's 6th congressional district, lost his race for a full term to the Republican physician, Bill Cassidy of Baton Rouge,^[5] subsequently one of Louisiana's two United States senators.

Thibaut won his second full term in the state House in 2011 without opposition.^[6] Representative serves on these House committees: (1) Agriculture, Forestry, Aquaculture, and Rural Development, (2) Insurance, (3) Ways and Means, and (4) Joint Capital Outlay, as well as the House Democratic Caucus and the Rural Caucus.^[1]

Thibaut's legislative ratings have ranged from 75 to 100 percent from the . In 2012, he was rated 100 percent by the National Federation of Independent Business. From 2009 to 2014, the conservative Louisiana Family Forum scored from 78 to 86 percent, respectively. Since 2009, he has been rated all but one year as 100 percent by Louisiana Right to Life.^[7]

In 2014, Thibaut voted for the requirement that abortion providers have hospital admitting privileges near their clinics; the bill was approved, 88–5. In 2014, he voted to extend the extension of the time for implementation of the Common Core State Standards Initiative. He voted against the banning of the transportation of dogs in the beds of pick-up trucks while traveling on interstate highways. He voted against the requirement that companies give notice when they engage in hydraulic fracking. He co-sponsored the establishment in 2013 of surrogacy contracts. He voted to reduce penalties for the possession of marijuana. He supported lifetime concealed carry gun permits and for concealed carry in restaurants that sell alcoholic beverages. He opposed making information about permit holders a matter of public record. In 2012, he voted to prohibit the use of telephones while driving. He supported tax incentives for attracting a National Basketball Association team to Louisiana and for individuals who contribute to scholarship funds. He voted against the reduction in 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 welfare recipients. In 2011, he supported the establishment of a commission to consider abolition of the state income tax; he also favored a permanent tax on cigarettes. He supported a failed bill which supporters said would halt bullying in public schools. He voted in 2011 for parole eligibility for elderly inmates. He supported redistricting for both the Louisiana State Senate and the U.S. House seats in the state.^[8]

In May 2017, Thibaut called for the combination of four previously separate pieces of legislation which collectively would have raised taxes on businesses and lowered them for what he said would constitute 90 percent of individual taxpayers. The measure was introduced by the Republican Representative Rob Shadoin of Ruston. It killed in the House Ways and Means Committee, which prompted Shadoin to remark, "You can kiss tax reform goodbye."^[9] Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards, who backed the Shadoin bill, blamed its defeat on the power of business lobbyists.^[9]

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