Potentially troubling items in session call

The formal call for the First Extraordinary Session of the 2005 Louisiana Legislature is out, and with it some potentially dangerous items:

#19 – this would allow the total unlocking of the Budget Stabilization Fund for its immediate use; currently, only a third of it could be used this year. While these are emergency conditions and that is the purpose of the fund, with so much uncertainty about real revenue losses, there should not be any temptation created to exhaust it until next year.

#27 – this would allow funds that ordinarily would be put into the Fund to be loosed for this again; again, a bad idea for the same reason above as the state should now concentrate on budget-cutting, not revenue enhancement.

#55 – this would force property insurers to insure everywhere in the state or not at all, which either would drive some of them out of the state or force them to raise premiums in non-hurricane/non-flood-prone areas to subsidize the much higher rates they may be unable to get in hurricane or flood-prone areas.

#56 – by forgoing the annual canvass of voters, depending upon state and federal laws get passed that could override current absentee/early voting provisions and rollback of certain election dates (and including call item #4, a special election day for any constitutional amendments that may come out of the session), the fraud potential multiplies.

The public will have to watch their elected officials carefully to make sure these items do not become vehicles for the creation of unwise policy.