State Sen. Beth Mizell, the Republican from Franklinton who won her first term as state senator last year, is opening her district office in her hometown on Thursday.

The opening comes with a grand opening meet and greet from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.

She said she hopes area residents will stop by after work.

The office will be at 1051 Main St. in Franklinton.

“If we can, we would like to catch everyone leaving work for the day, and just have them drive by and get everyone to stop in,” she said.

Mizell represents District 12, which includes all of Washington Parish and parts of St. Tammany and Tangipahoa parishes. She hopes her Franklinton office will be able to serve all her constituents.

“We just wanted to be accessible,” Mizell said. “If they have an issue, or if they want to touch bases about what’s happening in the legislature, we want to be available for that.

“My assistant is Lynette Sharp, and she’ll be here and I’ll be here the days I won’t be in session.”

Regular session will not begin until March. However, Gov. John Bel Edwards has called a special early session to begin Feb. 14. Edwards is calling the early session to tackle the state’s looming budget shortfall, and he is expected to ask lawmakers to raise taxes to avoid cuts in services.

Mizell, a political freshman, said she understands the days ahead will be rough in Baton Rouge.

“We have no money. It’s going to be a hard road to get it reconciled,” she said, of the state budget. “Hopefully we can come to a not-too-terribly painful conclusion where we meet the services we’re obligated to meet. It’s going to be a tough session.”

But, those tough decisions are still weeks away. In the meantime, she said she hopes residents can make it out Thursday.

“There’s going to be lemonade,” she said. “Who can be down when there’s lemonade?”