Lawmakers look set to make bad laws stink less

After years of trying, two of the most odious laws regarding motor vehicle operation designed primarily as revenue grabs appear to be on the verge of amelioration, although if legislators have real fortitude to follow through they would neuter these completely.

SB 99 by Republican state Sen. Stewart Cathey provides further deterrent to the use of traffic enforcement cameras, following up on changes last year. Those alterations, in providing increased due process protections, also increased expenses to local governments making use of these less attractive. The bill would increase the deterrent by subjecting officials of the jurisdictions using these to malfeasance charges, which Cathey thought would improve matters as he perceived many of the provisions recently enacted were being ignored – which has validity, if a recent incident of an egregious violation of the law in West Baton Rouge Parish is any indicator.

Speed cameras still would be legal, however, and more loophole closings could be employed that both make revenue generation for its own sake more difficult and allow for greater due process. The bill could be amended to mandate requirements of (1) taking pictures both of license plates and faces (2) that must be clearly recognizable after review by a police officer verified by a city or district judge (3) from a camera proven calibrated accurately taking only vehicle and people photos only during posted times (4) subject to criminal, not civil, proceedings in order to get a conviction.

Unneeded law school in NW LA would waste money

Other than both employment and financial data not backing the idea, putting a state-supported law school in small-town northwest Louisiana might work.

Last week, Northwestern State University in Natchitoches announced it would seek establishment of a law school on its campus stating in fewer than 18 months. That would constitute a Herculean effort to have the necessary resources obtained, several faculty members hired, and accreditation secured. It would be the first located not in New Orleans, where there are private Tulane and Loyola, or Baton Rouge, where there are public Louisiana State University and Southern University.

For decades, complaints have circulated in the northern part of the state that not being near a state law school hampered provision of legal services. The Metroplex and Little Rock were the next closest locations for much of the area, and these out-of-state locations weren’t much closer than the state’s two largest cities for most living in the area. NSU alleges it has letters of support from lawyers in the area.

College crisis will deepen without big change

That the severe financial struggles at the University of New Orleans now have been joined by those at the University of Louisiana Monroe send yet another warning signal about how Louisiana higher education will face rough waters for years to come unless some basic rethinking and restructuring occur.

Problems cropped up years ago at UNO as its student population dipped precipitously in the wake of the hurricane disasters of 2005, with that number falling some five-eighths since the fall, 2004 semester. ULM’s problems have not been so enrollment-related, with its number down just a percentage point over the two decades, but it has seen a six percent decline since the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic began plus it has seen a significant falloff in its doctorate-level pharmacy graduate program.

And, both made mistakes that translated into financial problems. For example, UNO got away from the basics and flirted with new trendy/boutique programs, while ULM picked up a white elephant building that causes spending in the red on its behalf.

Easter Sunday, 2025

This column publishes five days weekly after noon U.S. Central Time (maybe even after sundown on busy days, or maybe before noon if things work out, or even sometimes on the weekend if there's big news) except whenever a significant national holiday falls on the Monday through Friday associated with the otherwise-usual publication on the previous day (unless it is Thanksgiving Day, Independence Day, Christmas, or New Year's Day when it is the day on which the holiday is observed by the U.S. government). In my opinion, in addition to these are also Easter Sunday, Memorial Day and Veterans' Day.

With Sunday, Apr. 20 being Easter, I invite you to explore this link.

Bossier school pay hike product of politics

Now, was that so difficult? But why didn’t happen sooner and without being told once and warned again not to hike taxes to do it?

Last week, the Bossier Parish School Board sprung pay raises onto district employees. Starting next academic year, educators would receive $2,500 more annually, while other personnel would net 4.75 percent more. The cost will start at $10.6 million more annually.

Of course, among staff and school board members many risked breaking their arms trying to pat themselves on their own backs so vigorously. Most obsequious in effusive praise was Superintendent Jason Rowland, who surely brought tears to the eyes of all involved when he talked lovingly about how the board “cares so much about their [sic] school system.” Closely following him on that score was Republican Member Erick Falting, who a few months ago berated taxpayers for not coughing up more tax dollars to let him spend more, relating how pleased as punch he was to see this happen.

Chance to end wasteful tax credit needs taking

Two bills enter, one bill leaves. But one would be a far better choice than the other regarding Louisiana’s wasteful Motion Picture Production tax credit.

Now almost a quarter-century old, the controversial program that over the years has cost taxpayers billions of dollars going almost exclusively to wealthy, out-of-staters, as in almost every year, this year faces reform efforts in the state Legislature to repair its loss to taxpayers of 60 cents on the buck. Two bills seek to make changes, with both sponsors interestingly next-door neighbors in northwest Louisiana.

SB 232 by Republican state Sen. Adam Bass is by far the most anodyne of the pair, and if anything possibly goes backwards if evaluated on reducing corporate welfare. It loosens several restrictions in current law, such as a cap on awards to a project, while transferring operation of it to the Department of Economic Development but maintains the maximum 40 percent rebate on production expenses. It appears to be an attempt to create more flexibility in the credit’s administration geared towards genuine economic development benefitting state residents rather than a bribe to anybody willing to make a film or television series.

Make LA Healthy Again bills deserve support

References that Republican Gov. Jeff Landry made in his state of the state speech earlier this week to “Make Louisiana Healthy Again” may have puzzled many viewers, but it could become a significant game-changer for both state finances and its population’s health if done right.

Landry mentioned only three specific agenda items in his address, spending much time on insurance reforms, and briefly mentioning the reorganizing the Department of Transportation and Development, with references to the offshoot of the national government version of Make America Healthy Again in between in duration. Its goal is to have government incentivize nutrition consumption habits that produce positive health outcomes.

Half a century ago, the concept bowdlerized as “you are what you eat” was backed with little study and took on the aura of being nothing much more than an extension of anti-capitalist hippie musings (perhaps it didn’t help that one of the earliest progenitors of advocacy for dietary ingredients as a significant contributor to health and longevity, Dr. Andrew Weil, then was involved heavily in research involving psychotropic drugs and using them personally). There’s still quite a bit of shaky (“nutty” also is accurate but too bad of a pun) sentiments pronounced by people associated with this, such as a belief that catastrophic anthropogenic global warming will come if people keep eating meat (too much methane from livestock) but removing evidence-free and politicized hyperbolism allows genuinely scientific-based elements to come forward.

Landry may pull rabbit out on coastal suits

Another “middle way” strategy by Republican Gov. Jeff Landry, implemented before he was governor, may end up backfiring – or perhaps could pay off depending upon the inclinations of his ally GOP Pres. Donald Trump; just follow the money.

At present, Landry is battling to put an insurance reform package into law, one that he proclaims casts a pox on both houses of insurers and trial lawyers for practices he claims needlessly drive up the cost of insurance. The move is somewhat of a gamble, as in comparison to other states’ laws where insurance rates are much lower Louisiana’s encourages litigation and Landry’s agenda doesn’t appear to move the needle enough to substantially reduce rates through measures discouraging litigation while not discouraging industry participation.

But this isn’t the first time Landry tried to find a path between opposing sides of an issue. As attorney general, he tried to discourage the state from intervening legally against energy companies which was alleging, along with coastal parishes, that explorers had caused coastal damage through activities illegal or without permission under state law. Use of state resources this way was part of his predecessor Democrat Gov. John Bel Edwards’ sue-and-settle strategy: treat these firms as piñatas to be busted open for cash by allying with plaintiffs, use the state’s notoriously plaintiff-generous/jackpot justice courts to come up with a judgment against the target, and then work out a semi-extortionist agreement using the judgment as the hammer waiting to come down, with appellate prospects uncertain, that shovels settlement money to plaintiffs – in this case, government.

Landry stakes much in annual governor address

Republican Gov. Jeff Landry’s State of the State address was the longest in recent history, and perhaps the most fraught with political peril for its speaker.

Much of what he spoke about tended very much in the other direction. He had plenty of good economic news that he used to draw a deep contrast with conditions under his predecessor Democrat former Gov. John Bel Edwards, who typically used his such speeches to stump for tax increases, higher costs for doing business, and greater government largesse accompanied by bigger government. That Louisiana depopulated and sank on most economic indicators during those eight years testify to the refreshing change Landry and a Legislature with more inspired leadership and membership to follow to have implemented a (so far, slightly) smaller and smarter government agenda.

In another area and less obviously, Landry drew another contrast. Edwards and his leftist allies ran a con game about health care, where they defined higher spending on it and to more people as a badge of compassion, regardless of the counterproductivity and wastefulness of that approach (consistent with liberal ideology) that abandons any attempt to infuse personal responsibility into the health care equation.

Landry cannot avoid choice on tort reform

Republican Gov. Jeff Landry faces the biggest political test of his career, one that if he fails largely cancels his ambitions of becoming a transformative Louisiana chief executive, if not risks his reelection.

That is, how can he balance the interests of trial lawyers who contributed to his election against the greater part of those mainly responsible for that very election? It is a political problem that will require a political solution where one side has to win.

Landry tried to halve the baby at a recent news conference where he declared he had a “balanced” approach to tort reform. The issue increasingly has become supercharged in the state as it continues to have among the highest vehicle insurance rates among the states, with much higher rates compared to other states of similar size, urbanization, and with populations of equivalent socioeconomic status.