This week on Legal Lines, State Representative Erich Ponti announced that he will be running for Public Service Commission (PSC) for District 2 in the upcoming November 2012 election.  Ponti commended Jimmy Fields on his excellent work as Public Service Commissioner for District 2, and explained that he, like Fields, will make a great Commissioner given his background as a small businessman in the construction industry.  Ponti explained that as a businessman, he understands the need for less governmental regulation.  Ponti explained that as a PSC representative, he would focus on two main things: lowering and maintaining low consumer utility rates (phone cable, electricity, and gas) and monitoring and mitigating government overregulation in the business sector.  Ponti explained the need to save money on the home front and also to minimize regulation to encourage business growth in order to advance our economy.

Ponti elaborated on his role as a State Representative, as a Commerce Committee chairman, and the overall State legislative process. He explained that a bill usually originates in a committee appointed to address that specific area of need, that the public is given multiple opportunities to appose or propagate the bill, and that the bill then has to pass a number of legislative checkpoints in both the House and the Senate in order to become a Law, and even then, the Governor can still veto the bill.

Finally Ponti explained the recently passed education reform bills and the process of redistricting Louisiana at both the State and Federal level to accommodate the change in and movement of the population.