Frank A. Hoffmann

Frank Albert Hoffmann (born January 28, 1944) is an American state legislator who has represented District 15 in Ouachita Parish as a Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives since January 2008. He is known as a leading legislative opponent of abortion. Prior to his entry into politics, Hoffman was a retired school administrator for the Ouachita Parish School Board. He resides in West Monroe.

Background

Hoffmann holds a Bachelor of Arts, Master of Education, and Ed.D. (since changed to Ph.D.) from the University of Louisiana at Monroe, formerly Northeast Louisiana State College and then University.^[1] He spent forty-one years in the Ouachita school system as a teacher, principal, personnel director, and, finally, assistant superintendent. His wife, the former Susan Gilliam (born February 9, 1951), also a ULM graduate, is a president of Chase Bank in Ouachita Parish and the only female bank president in North Louisiana.^[2][3]

The Hoffmanns have two sons, Matthew Thomas Hoffmann (born 1984) and Drew Hoffmann (born 1989).^[4] Hoffmann is active in the First Baptist Church of West Monroe and is chairman of the board of directors of his church's television ministry, KWMS-TV, Channel 17.^[5]

Political career

Hoffmann is vice chairman of the House Education Committee and also serves on the Retirement and Ways and Means committees. He is also a member of the Joint Legislative Committee on Capital Outlay and the Legislative Rural Caucus.^[1]

He was initially elected to the state House when the retiring Republican Representative Mike Walsworth, also of West Monroe, was elected to the Louisiana State Senate. In the October 20, 2007, nonpartisan blanket primary, Hoffmann led a field of five candidates with 5,962 votes (44 percent). The runner-up was fellow Republican Paul B. Hargrove (born November 17, 1960) of West Monroe, who polled 4,230 votes (24 percent). Three other candidates, a Republican and two Democrats, shared the remaining 32 percent of the ballots.^[6] Hargrove elected not to contest the general election held on November 17, and Hoffmann hence secured the seat in the first round of voting.

Anti-abortion legislator

In April 2010, Hoffmann introduced legislation to forbid insurance companies operating within Louisiana from offering coverage of elective abortions.^[7] The only procedures permitted under the new law, all of whose opponents came from the Black Caucus, would involve miscarriages or abortions to save the mother's life.^[7] Hoffmann said that his law was a response to the national health care measure signed by U.S. President Barack Obama in March 2010. Hoffmann added: "Louisiana is a very pro-life state," and his legislative district in the northeastern quadrant of the state is particularly conservative. The legislature also denies medical malpractice protection to doctors who perform certain elective abortions and gives the state the authority to shut down abortion clinics deemed not in compliance with the law.^[8]

Hoffman is a strong supporter of the law which requires that all women who have abortions in Louisiana must first view an ultrasound picture of the child before they undergo the procedure. The new policy also applies in cases of impregnation through rape and incest.^[9]

On July 6, 2011, Governor Bobby Jindal came to Hoffman's home church to sign Hoffman's latest legislation, HB 636, which requires the six abortion clinics in Louisiana to post information to clients on alternatives to abortion. The law requires that signs be posted about abortion clinics to inform clients that it is illegal to coerce a woman into procuring an abortion, that the father must provide child support, that certain agencies can assist during and after the pregnancy, and that adoptive parents are available and can pay some of the medical costs involved.^[10]

Value-added education assessments

Hoffmann is the author of newly adopted Louisiana House Bill 1033, which authorizes value-added assessments in schools so that strong educators can be rewarded and successful methods identified. The legislation seeks to identify teachers' weaknesses and offer professional development training to encourage educators to improve their techniques.^[2] The interest group, the Louisiana Federation of Teachers opposed Hoffmann's bill but claimed a role in shaping its provisions to make the law more acceptable to professional educators. It passed the state Senate on May 26, 2010, and was immediately signed into law by Governor Jindal.^[11]

As a legislator, Hoffman has supported the Louisiana Right to Life Federation and the Louisiana Family Forum 100 percent of the time. He has backed the positions of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry 82 percent of the time.^[12]

Teacher tenure law

In 2010, Hoffmann authored Act 54, which changes the method of evaluating the 55,000 public schoolteachers in Louisiana. Previously, educators faced reviews ever three years, and ratings below "satisfactory" were rare. Under the 2010 law, reviews became annual in the year 2013. Half of the evaluation is linked to the growth in student achievement. The other half stems from general classroom analysis. Educators rated as "ineffective" in two consecutive years face loss of tenure and dismissal.^[13]

Hoffmann, who handled the revised law at the request of Governor Jindal, said the measure is "a work in progress. ... We have some "good teachers across the state have low morale right now. We need to improve that."^[13] Joyce Haynes, the president of the Louisiana Association of Educators, said that the review process could determine a teacher's future based on results of a single standardized test in one year. Haynes said the state should remove "incompetent" teachers "but not at the expense of moving some of your best in the process or even stigmatizing some of the best."^[13]

2011 reelection

Hoffmann was handily reelected to the state House in the primary election held on October 22, 2011. He defeated the Democrat Wayne Trichel, 8,953 votes (81 percent) to 2,102 (19 percent).^[14]

Legislative record

Hoffmann's legislative ratings have ranged from 67 to 96 percent from the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry. In 2012, he was rated 96 percent by the National Federation of Independent Business. In 2013 and 2014, the conservative Louisiana Family Forum scored from 100 and 90 percent, respectively. He is rated 100 percent by Louisiana Right to Life. In 2013 and 2014, the Louisiana Association of Educators rated him 67 and 75 percent, respectively.^[15]

In 2014, Hoffman co-sponsored the requirement that abortion providers have hospital admitting privileges near their clinics; the bill was approved by the full House, 88-5. In 2014, he voted to extend the time for implementation of the Common Core State Standards Initiative. He voted to prohibit the transportation of dogs in the beds of pick-up trucks while traveling on interstate highways. He opposed the requirement that companies give notice when they engage in hydraulic fracking. He voted against the repeal of the anti-sodomy laws. He was one of only twelve House members to vote against the establishment of surrogacy contracts. He voted against reducing the penalties for the possession of marijuana. He supported lifetime concealed carry gun permits and voted for concealed carry in restaurants that sell alcoholic beverages. He did not vote on the issue of making information about permit holders a matter of public record. He voted in 2013 for an increase in judicial pay but opposed the removal of the mandatory retirement age for judges.^[16]

In 2012, he voted for parole eligibility for nonviolent inmates. He voted against the prohibition of the use of telephones while driving. He supported tax incentives for attracting a National Basketball Association team to Louisiana but opposed state income tax deductions for individuals who contribute to scholarship funds. He voted to reduce 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, which passed the House, 65 to 26. In 2011, he co-sponsored a permanent tax on cigarettes and supported the redistricting plans for the Louisiana State Senate and the United States House of Representatives. He opposed the bill which supporters claimed would curb bullying in public schools.^[16]

Hoffmann ran unopposed for reelection to his third and final term in the House in the October 24, 2015, primary election.^[17]

In March 2016, Hoffmann joined a House bipartisan majority for a one-cent increase in the state sales tax. State representatives voted 78 to 26 for the tax hike, a part of the revenue-raising measures pushed by new Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards.^[18] A House and Senate conference committee subsequently trimmed the five years for the duration of the tax to expire instead after twenty-seven months, effective from April 1, 2016 to June 30, 2018. Even the sale of Bibles and religious publications and Girl Scout cookies are now subject to the tax.^[19]

Hoffmann's sister murdered

Shirley H. Cagle was killed at the age of eighty-five during a robbery on April 24, 2015. For thirty-five years, she was a figure in the Ouachita Council on Aging. She began by coordinating delivery schedules to save time and fuel. She was the volunteer coordinator and then the nutrition director for both the congregate meals and home-delivered meals programs. In 2005, the United Way presented Cagle with the "Community Spirit Award for Professional Leadership".^[20]

Cagle's pastor, the Reverend Michael Wood of the First Baptist Church of West Monroe, said that her influence was substantial: "We know today that Mrs. Cagle is worshiping Jesus Christ in Heaven. We know [she] had committed her life to the work and ministry of Jesus Christ. It was so evident in the selfless service she brought to countless people in Northeast Louisiana. While today is a sad day, we can have hope in the security of an eternal life that Jesus Christ provides."^[20]

References