"Tattle-Tailing" At The State Capitol
by Jan Moller - Times-Picayune (excerpt)

Legislators' attendance gets attention from House speaker

"I have had complaints from other members about their absences," (House Speaker Jim) Tucker said. "We're going to look into what the problem is and I'm going to sit down and talk to both of them." (Rep. John) LaBruzzo and Stiaes both acknowledged missing a handful of meetings, but said their attendance records compare favorably with other members of the committee. LaBruzzo said he missed two recent meetings to attend the wake and funeral of a close friend, and that he left early on a few occasions for doctor's appointments. "I appreciate the honor to serve on Appropriations and the importance of that committee," LaBruzzo said. "I also understand that some of these committee meetings are scheduled on relatively short notice and if you have something else scheduled like a doctors' appointment, sometimes there's conflict." (Rep. Charmaine Marchand) Stiaes said she missed some meetings last year when her brother died, and that medical issues forced her to miss other meetings. When she does attend, she said she usually stays until the end. "I don't know what the problem is," Stiaes said. "At the end of the day we're all adults, and there's no need for people tattle-tailing about who's leaving early."