BC worse off than exiting councilors found it

While they may have gone out with varying degrees of class, the four departing Bossier City Council members leave with a legacy of managing not to break the city, but having blown an incredible opportunity to make the city much more than what it is – America’s biggest small town – leaving it worse off than when each had entered office.

At the final Council meeting prior to a new panel taking shape at the start of next month (and meeting initially almost immediately after taking their oaths of office), the four outgoing councilors – Republicans David Montgomery (24 years) and Jeff Free (12 years) and Democrat Bubba Williams (28 years), who had eschewed reelection attempts, and independent Jeff Darby (32 years of the last 36), defeated in his reelection attempt – were feted through proclamation by their colleagues, all rookies, for their willingness to show them the ropes of governance and for service. Republican Mayor Tommy Chandler also joined in the presentations from the city for service.

In their speeches, continuing councilors (Republicans Chris Smith and Brian Hammons; the GOP’s Vince Maggio was absent) and Chandler were gracious in listing several significant policy decisions stretching back to the era of Darby’s first election, 1989. The problem was, few of these listed were positive accomplishments.

Miguez Senate race entry further damages Cassidy

All in all, the entry of Republican state Sen. Blake Miguez into the GOP Senate nomination for the 2026 contest actually doesn’t change much the dynamics so far working against incumbent Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy.

Miguez joins heavyweight candidate GOP Treas. John Fleming and lightweight hospital administrator Sammy Wyatt. He has conservative credentials that match Fleming’s, if not his experience in Congress and in the White House, and becomes easily the youngest candidate in the race.

Cassidy’s problem is that, for reasons when analyzed rather unconvincing other than personal dislike for Trump, he voted to convict Republican Pres. Donald Trump of spurious impeachment charges, as well as cozied up to fiscal elements of Democrats’ agenda in the first half of the Democrat former Pres. Joe Biden’s term. It’s not been forgotten and while Cassidy’s campaign has a formidable bankroll to try to induce that memory lapse among GOP voters Fleming’s has more than enough to remind them of that.

Monroe fire chief selection addled by race

Maybe the Monroe City Council should build their own Monroe Fire Department chief, if that even would be possible given the contradictory signals they continue to give in rejecting independent Mayor Friday Ellis’ choices for the job.

Ellis now has had two choices to helm the department shot down by the same three black Democrats who comprise the majority of the Council: Rodney McFarland, Verbon Muhammad, and Juanita Woods. His first, longtime MFD firefighter Daniel Overturf, occurred last year. While Overturf was considered a highly popular choice as a poll of the department revealed, the so-called “Brown Bombers” then said his middle-of-the-pack scoring on the state exam all municipal chief candidates must take and alleged communications from constituents against the pick led to their rejection.

The next choice, Bastrop Fire Chief Timothy Williams, seemed to negate these complaints. He scored highest of all on the exam, was the only one among the five finalists with chief experience, and no alleged opposition in the community against his nomination was noted. Further, prior to his becoming Bastrop chief three years ago he had guided the department to the highest fire rating possible, as part of a history of achievement within the department. And, multiple times Ellis had solicited input from councilors about this choice, without receiving any.

NO Port veto doesn't work against accountability

Disposition of a bill from the just-adjourned regular session of the Louisiana Legislature reminds why informed consumers of Louisiana political news need to be discerning to understand what truly goes on in state government.

This week, Republican Gov. Jeff Landry vetoed SB 89 by Democrat state Sen. Joseph Bouie. The bill would have added Senate confirmation to nominees to the governing board of the Port of New Orleans, which actually encompasses three parishes. Various special interests through a convoluted process come up with three names for each of the seven commissioners when a slot is open from which the governor may select.

Landry’s veto message noted the process that provides maximal input and ties his hands to a certain extent, claiming introduction of more “bureaucracy” through Senate involvement wouldn’t bring benefits. Few of Louisiana’s nearly 30 ports require such confirmation, but among the five deep draft ports, three do and the other besides New Orleans effectively has members elected. The trio also have special interests submit names to the governor for selection.

Bills regulating pharmacy behavior beneficial

Like a solar flare suddenly erupting, in the last week of its session after little attention to the issue the Louisiana Legislature appears poised to enact significant and almost unprecedented legislation aimed at levelling the playing field for pharmacies and potentially aiding consumers of their products even as one pharmacy holding company threatens to leave the state over this.

Two bills would impact pharmacy benefit managers, an entity that has become popular over the last decade. Conceptually, these are supposed to induce efficiency into the system that saves money, by negotiating deals among drug manufacturers, insurers, and pharmacies which include creating formularies, negotiating rebates from drug manufacturer, processing claims, administering pharmacy networks, reviewing drug utilization, and managing mail-order specialty pharmacies.

But a good portion of that doesn’t appear to be directed into consumer’s pockets. The field is somewhat concentrated with the so-called Big Three – CVS Caremark, Express Scripts and OptumRx – disproportionately charging more for specialty generic drugs through affiliated pharmacies, while costs were lower for the unaffiliated. Having available networks of pharmacies also facilitates a practice known as “spread pricing,” or billing their plan sponsor clients more than they reimburse pharmacies for drugs. Along with Prime Therapeutics, the four control 70 percent of the specialty prescribing market and the Big Three have 80 percent of the total prescribing market.

Bill to give GOP leg up in constitutional changes

One of the most consequential bills of the Louisiana Legislature’s 2025 regular session – especially for reformers and Republicans – that has received no media attention now awaits the pen of Republican Gov. Jeff Landry to sign it into law.

HB 625 by GOP state Rep. Rhonda Butler would expand the municipal/party primary election date on Apr. 18, 2026 to include constitutional amendments. Otherwise, those amendments would be next eligible for ratification in 2026 on Nov. 3.

As of this writing, over half a dozen potential constitutional amendments remain realistically alive for supermajority approval in each chamber. While some would go to the voters on Nov. 3, three significant ones favored by Republicans and generally opposed by Democrats were amended to appear on the earlier Apr. 18 date – and in each case by doing so, raise their chances of passage.

Amendment could increase LA govt responsiveness

If you want to find out who has cornered the market on red herrings, look no further than the opponents of SB 8 by Republican state Sen. Jay Morris.

The bill would amend the Constitution to create another exception to the kinds of employees that have civil service protections under the State Civil Service Commission. It would allow the Legislature to create these by statute, meaning the job positions involved could have their occupants more easily removed from these, among other things.

A merit-based civil service is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it promotes responsible government by attempting to place qualified individuals free of extraneous influences into government jobs as the best way to ensure quality, fair, and impartial discharge of their duties. On the other hand, it detracts from responsive government because it allows incubation of individuals who use their job protections to carry out their own agendas when these differ from those of their bosses accountable to the voting public’s preferences, if not use their insulation to perform their jobs poorly or to behave badly with almost zero chance of punishment or termination.

Chickens come home to roost for failed BC venture

This was how it always was going to end: the reckoning of Bossier City throwing away tens of millions of taxpayer dollars on something that now is little more than a rejected waystation for electric vehicle chargers.

For many years the writing has been on the wall concerning what’s now known as the Louisiana Boardwalk Outlets. Opening just over two decades ago to great fanfare, the outdoor mall most recently sold for less than a fifth of its cost to build and since continues to hemorrhage lessees. In the past month, four tenants, including three of the hospitality venues leaving now only two, have abandoned the area, making almost 40 retail spaces empty.

That adds to a completely discouraging picture. At the middle of last month, of the 185,000 square feet of leasable space, about 77 percent was available. Since then, the subsequent closures will add a few thousand more feet of empty space – keeping in mind that most of the remainder is dominated by the two remaining restaurants, a movie theater, and a church.

Start wringing liberal populism out of LA budget

Liberal populists largely may have been evicted from power in Louisiana, but their ethos lives on, according to budgetary politics in the Senate to date for next year’s state spending plan.

More often than not, after the general appropriations bill HB 1 makes it way from the House of Representatives where constitutionally it must start the Senate will make a few significant changes. The most far-reaching change came concerning Republican Gov. Jeff Landry’s initiative to open up voucher-like programming to families beyond the current eligible pool of students coming from lower-income households who otherwise would attend lower-ranking schools to include those from any lower-income household, wrapping all into an education savings account format called LA GATOR.

Landry asked for $43.4 million to cover the existing pool and then $50 million to expand it to a least a small portion of newly-eligible families. But instead, the Senate Finance Committee stripped the additional funds. GOP Sen. Pres. Cameron Henry led the charge, questioning whether the cost of the program would grow too big, too quickly.

Any publicity good for long shot Senate hopeful?

If as a political candidate have little in the way of campaign resources commensurate to the office you seek, a shot of free publicity surely can’t hurt – unless it threatens to make you appear to be a crank.

That’s the situation in which Republican Senate challenger Sammy Wyatt finds himself. Next to no one in the state probably paid attention to his entry into the contest to knock off GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy, which he formally announced in mid-March. Wyatt, from Shreveport originally who worked in local law enforcement mainly in Bossier City and then in security in the private sector before decamping for graduate study at Louisiana State University (after a failed run for Bossier City Marshal), returned to serve currently as Chief Compliance Officer and Investigation Officer for Louisiana State University Health-Shreveport, a senior administrative position, although in 2022 he did apply unsuccessfully for the police chief’s position in Shreveport.

Wyatt positions himself as a consistently ideological conservative in line with the agenda of Republican Pres. Donald Trump. It’s unknown how much financial support his campaign has picked up, since he first filed with the Federal Election Commission on Apr. 1, the day after a quarterly report would have been required with the next due at the end of the month, but likely it is very little.