Louis Reine has been at the Capitol for 69 regular and special legislative sessions over the past 29 years.
He won’t be at the Capitol on Monday, when this year’s regular session convenes.
Reine, 70, retired in September as the president of the h AFL-CIO. He had been the group’s president since 2006 and had served in senior roles before that.
“It’s time for new young folks with enthusiasm and energy to take over,” Reine said.
Matt Wood has replaced Reine as the state president.
During his long career, Reine pushed for what he described as “economic security for workers through a fair wage, the opportunity for their children to get an education, available and affordable health care and the opportunity to retire with secure pensions.”
Reine fought yearly battles with the h Association of Business and Industry, the most powerful business lobby in Baton Rouge.
“The majority of my personal dealings with LABI have been with [lobbyist] Jim Patterson,” Reine said. “He has a constituency that pushes for certain things. I have a constituency that pushes for other things. He was always truthful and a man of honor.”
While Reine appreciated his old-school relationship with Patterson, he didn’t appreciate what he saw as the biggest change over 29 years, the increased partisanship.
“It’s become more about the party than the issues,” Reine said. “It’s not a good change. It focuses on what’s best for the party and not what’s best for the people.”
Reine also believes that term limits — 12 years in each chamber — rob the Legislature of institutional knowledge.
“As members begin to learn the issues — that takes time — they become more effective,” Reine said. “Then they are termed out, and someone has to start from the beginning.”
Reine worked with five governors.
He used to laugh when Bobby Jindal was governor because Jindal always mispronounced his last name. (It sounds like the pronunciation for the bird “wren.”)
John Bel Edwards never had trouble with Reine’s name because Reine helped secure the union’s endorsement for Edwards early in the 2015 governor’s race.