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.

BC rottenness becoming harder to hide

As the Bossier City political insider world continues to crumble, what once could be sidestepped in darkness and silence increasing becomes blatant revealing the rottenness of the entire structure.

The legal ramifications of this worldview and attitude were on full display at the City Council meeting this week. The first hint came with an agenda item telling the world the Council would head into executive session to discuss what was called potential litigation. This is permissible under state public meetings law that shields content about a limited range of topics including legal and personnel actions.

The matters included city money spent on rehabilitation of parking lots supposedly damaged by construction on the nearby Walter O. Bigby Carriageway, but under questionable circumstances that reek of favoritism and cutting corners. More specifically, Republican Councilor David Montgomery had advocated publicly and vociferously for expensive roads work that could increase access to a single business – one owned by a longstanding friend of his who also has a close friendship with an employee in the city’s Public Works Department. Refurbishing and connecting the parking lot of that business, Scot’s Audio, to another, Bossier Power Equipment’s also rehabilitated, would accomplish that objective. Whether related, City Attorney Charles Jacobs, his assistant Richard Ray, and with the approval of Republican Mayor Tommy Chandler but without proper due diligence, authorized the work and in a way that may have violated public bid law.

Ganja, hemp bills to do little to kill LA's buzz

If you can’t keep Louisianans from getting high legally, maybe you can discourage them by taxing one form more, somelegislators hope.

Ever since the institution of medical marijuana in Louisiana almost a decade ago, and a few years later legalizing sale of consumable hemp products, it’s been easier than ever to go around in a haze without legal repercussions. In the case of medical marijuana, what started as a tightly-controlled regime somewhat based upon science that shows marijuana provides almost no genuine medical benefits of any kind has become a free-for-all where just about anybody can get as much as they want for whatever reason they want. The trend continued last year where a couple of new laws extended the program to 2030 and eased some administrative burdens, although at least lawmakers didn’t go for complete legalization.

Complete legalization, limited only in respect as being termed a “pilot program,” is back on the table this term from HB 627 by Democrat state Rep. Candice Newell, who brought the legalization effort last year. Should that succeed, Democrat state Rep. Edmond Jordan has HB 636 all cued up and ready to go to tax it, although applied not to the sellers but producers of the constituent parts.

Hopefully, these will go nowhere but for another hallucinogenic product it’s gone way beyond the camel poking its nose into the tent. After hemp production and sales legalization, lawmakers realized the way the law was written it could deliver products that deliver quite a buzz as well. Legislation passed last year tapped brakes onto the industry, forcing a toning down of potencies and restricting sales to fewer potential outlets and not to people under 21.

But the problem remained in that even if “servings” were quantified at a lower size and psychotropic level, with impunity adults can run out and buy as much as they want to bring about a high, although with more difficulty. Even though the state tax receipts from these items consist of only a few million bucks annually, the nascent industry’s lobbying arm has proven adept at keeping the enterprise legal (Louisiana’s level of regulation falls about in the middle of states; a few make it illegal while about half have it legal with little restriction, with the rest in between).

Thus, a couple of bills have been prefiled for the upcoming regular session that would jack up taxes on hemp-based sales as a disincentive for use. One, HB 235 by Republican state Rep. Mike Echols, would tack on an extra 17 percent excise tax with collected monies distributed to education, criminal justice, drug education, and hemp testing uses. The other, HB 187 by GOP state Rep. Bryan Fontenot, raises the existing three percent levy only 12 percent.

If legislators want to walk back hemp legalization while assuaging any guilt they might feel about allowing adults to walk into almost any kind of stores and grab enough products to buzz yet mouthing pieties about not hampering business but secretly looking for more revenue for general purposes, they might latch onto Fontenot’s bill. They also could approve a pair of bills by Republican state Rep. Laurie Schlegel that apply punitive measures to illegal sales.

But neither genie appears to be put back into the bottle, or at least realistically restricted in any way. Just not enough of the spirit of Daniel Schneider to go around the Capitol, it would seem.

TOPS bill must jettison lowest standards

More than just retain more higher education students in state, the Louisiana Legislature should expand on a bill to make the Taylor Opportunity Program for Students a true merit-based award.

TOPS guarantees that if a graduating high school senior in Louisiana achieves certain mediocre standards that the state will pay a substantial portion of higher education tuition. Until about a decade ago all tuition was covered, leaving only fees unsubsidized (although higher achievement above the lowest standards merited an additional stipend), but then the level was decoupled from tuition increases and a gap began to grow. For example, the present reimbursement of in-state non-accelerated program tuition at my institution leaves a gap of $283.68 or just over 5 percent for the annual 30 hours, not including $1,712.64 in other fees (this is for the basic Opportunity qualifier; higher ACT scores could push a qualifier into the Performance or Honors category where stipends of $400 or $800, respectively, are given).

The gaps, it is claimed, are part of the reason why a slow by sure decline in number of Louisiana graduates accepting TOPS awards. In response, Republican state Rep. Chris Turner has filed HB 77 that would increase the minimum award for each TOPS level that in many cases exceeds the highest tuition and fees now charged (there would be a few exceptions, such as those Louisiana State University makes to admit certain students that otherwise wouldn’t meet Board of Regents-defined standards, but many of the exceptions come in under other scholarship programs). It also would create a fourth category for the highest achievers, Excellence, with a larger bonus (keep in mind, however, that Honors winners wouldn’t even meet the admission standards at some flagship universities in other states, while Excellence winners would).