Louisiana Chemical Association sues board, claims regulators biased in setting pilots' pay

The industries that pay pilots to guide their goods up and down the Mississippi River on seagoing ships have unsuccessfully tried to get the governor to remove regulators they say are biased. Then, they tried and failed to recuse the commissioners for being too beholden to the river pilots.

Now they’re asking the 19th Judicial District Court to essentially fire three commissioners.

The Louisiana Chemical Association claims the river pilots succeeded in packing the Louisiana Pilotage Fee Commission with compliant regulators who set the pay for the pilots, which in 2019 will average $473,692.

Only one of the three commissioners whose neutrality is being questioned is still on the board.

One quit almost as soon as she was appointed by Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards in 2016. And retired Metairie businessman Daniel Kingston, said Thursday he abruptly resigned over the holidays for “personal and family reasons.”

Read more: https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/article_efb43566-0ba6-11e9-a6c8-0744ff5a82e9.html