“His time in service at the Louisiana legislature was always about the wants and needs of the people he served,” says Representative Katrina Jackson, Chairman of Louisiana's Legislative Black Caucus, of Representative Alfred C. Williams.
Williams, of Baton Rouge, passed away Tuesday evening at the age of sixty-four.
House Speaker, Chuck Kleckley, says Williams was a great legislator, a great friend, and a fine man. This past year, Kleckley appointed Williams as Chairman of the Labor and Industrial Relations Committee. "For somebody being in their first term and being assigned as a chairman of a committee, he did an incredible job," he says.
Williams was elected to the House in 2011. Before that, he was a member of the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board, and then part of Mayor Kip Holden’s administration.
Lafayette Representative Stuart Bishop is a member of the Labor and Industrial Relations Committee. “He was a phenomenal Chairman," says Bishop, "he was a gentleman, an extremely fair man that, when he couldn’t be with you on an issue, he told you where he was, and he explained why he couldn’t support the issue. But when he was with you, you knew he was there no matter what.”
Bishop remembers one of the longest debates of the recent session, on a bill to halt payroll deductions of union dues. He respected how Williams managed the debate, saying, “anybody who showed up that day who wanted to say something about the bill, he made sure that everybody had the opportunity to speak. Even though it lasted four and a half hours.” In the end, says Bishop, Williams made sure that both the unions and the business industry received a fair hearing.
Funeral arrangements are pending. Governor Jindal has ordered flags at state office buildings to be flown at half staff on Friday, August 7, in Williams’ honor.