Taylor Francis Barras (born January 1957) is an American accountant and banker who served as a Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for the 48th district, based in Iberia Parish.
On January 11, 2016, as he began his third term in the chamber, Barras was elected House speaker by his colleagues, who in what was considered a political upset on the second ballot rejected Representative Walt Leger, III, of New Orleans, the choice of incoming Democratic governor John Bel Edwards.
"If you remain unwilling to undertake comprehensive budget and tax reform, please identify your plan to solve the looming fiscal cliff," Edwards wrote.
[8] Lanny Keller, a journalist for The Advocate, wrote in reference to Barras's retirement as speaker that the lawmaker, a compromise choice for the top position, is "a nice guy.
Some of that is direct and personal, because as a member of the numbers-crunching Revenue Estimating Conference, he blocked ordinary and reasonable budget forecasts in recent months.