Left fighting rearguard action against pay raises

The struggle never ends against Louisiana’s political left’s quest to expand government, as the battle over a one-time shift in education spending demonstrates.

This week, Republican Gov. Jeff Landry notched a victory towards the state providing yet another stipend for educators and support staff in public schools. It all started in 2023 when the state, rather than baking in a permanent pay hike of $2,000 for those with a teaching license and $1,000 for all other employed full-time by a local education association to the Minimum Foundation Program, instead didn’t pass a formula for the MFP but did make a one-time appropriation for stipends. The process repeated the next two years, even as last year voters turned down constitutional amendments taking money from overstuffed trust funds that would pay down unfunded accrued liabilities that could shift money to LEAs to provide these raises, and did so again this year to a similar measure.

The two rejections came from the left mobilizing voters against those items, because in essence these would devolve power away from the state in ongoing education expenses, placing more in the hands of local governments which the left sees as less reliably able to spend more money and grow government because local officials and taxpayers are more likely to hold the line on spending in many places, whereas having the money as part of the MFP put spending increases across the state on autopilot. With this electorate veto power for the moment and Landry and GOP supermajorities in the Legislature wishing to fund raises but not from the MFP that provided for less local control, Landry hit on a plan through an executive order to perform an intercessional redirection for this budget year only to provide for the hikes.

Change execution method to save public's lives

A recent series of legal rulings has left Louisiana with the need to tweak its law that ultimately saves lives.

Rulings made concerning an Alabama law that permits hypoxia as a method of carrying out capital punishment, coupled with a U.S. Supreme Court declination to review them, said that particular method of execution is unconstitutional. This would rest on Eighth Amendment grounds as cruel and unusual punishment, as in the several instances where such a method has been used, including in Louisiana where the method was added into law in 2024 and carried out last year, the inmates appeared to struggle during the process.

This represents a temporary victory for capital punishment opponents, whose strategy in the face of the constitutionality of the general concept of the death penalty is to try to declare every specific method as unconstitutional. They do this despite the fact that social science research indicates that capital punishment when consistently applied saves innocent lives – or perhaps in spite of it for ideological reasons because they know if they can disrupt the consistency then the practice becomes ineffective and then they can use that to try to attack the conceptual constitutionality argument.

Kennedy presidential prospects hampered by age

It’s an interesting proposition, but if Republican Sen. John Kennedy does run for the presidency, that might be a bridge too far because of something illegal in employment law, but not when ratified by voters.

At a recent speech, Kennedy averred that he might eschew reelection, which he could garner without difficulty, and instead take a stab at the presidency. He said that donors were encouraging him.

 

Kennedy has solid conservative credentials in his time in the Senate but, perhaps more importantly from a national political perspective, has gained a reputation as an effective and witty communicator of those ideas. In fact, an online search will turn up, both in text and by video, sites that proclaim Kennedy’s “greatest hits” in terms of witticisms. As well, Kennedy also has built a reputation as a bulldog in interviewing nominees and testifiers of both parties, calling things as he sees them.

Funds shift should trigger new MFP strategy

Necessity is the mother of invention, and perhaps Republican Gov. Jeff Landry hit on some needed reform of education expenditures.

After two attempts fell short to amend the Constitution in two consecutive spring votes that would have rejiggered state finances to shuttle money to school districts to provide educator and staff raises, Landry proposed a plan to reshuffle the state’s Minimum Foundation Program for this year to take money from operational and other non-instructional expenses and send it to salaries. This would require an intercession vote remotely by two-thirds of legislators in each chamber.

 

Problematically, some state school boards have raised alarms about the plan. In essence, they would be required to beggar spending on non-instructional expenses that could delay projects and support services or leave a district short in case of an emergency such as rebuilding after a disaster. Alternatively, they could dip into reserves for this one-time expense (policy-makers have convened a task force to reform educational spending that they hope provides a permanent increase in future years).

Govts should vet outdated, useless agencies

Maybe both Bossier City and Bossier Parish could use their portions of nearly a million dollars on something better than an outdated local government agency that acts like a bank with public dollars.

At its meeting earlier this month, the parish’s Police Jury reappointed three members to the Bossier Public Trust Financing Authority for four-year terms that would expire at the end of the month. The governing board has two other members whose terms end in a couple of years for the agency created in 1979 to issue mortgages for single-family housing, serviced through area financial institutions. Reappointments will have to be ratified by Bossier City prior to term ends.

In its early years it issued several such bond issues, but since then largely has fallen into disuse. Technically it is a component unit of Bossier City, but in reality it essentially operates as an adjunct of the Greater Bossier Economic Development Fund as its board members all are GBEDF directors and its agent Rocky Rockett is the GBEDF executive director. None receive compensation, although the Authority pays out administration fees and professional fees presumably for its simplified audit annually for the state’s legislative auditor.

LA already seeing benefits from SNAP changes

Louisiana, both gratifyingly and embarrassingly, leads almost every state in reduction of people in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which is a good thing

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act of last year made the most far-reaching changes to public assistance programs in three decades, among them to SNAP. Specifically, states would be penalized starting in fiscal year 2028 for an excessive inappropriate payment rate, reductions in eligibility requirement waivers for regions with higher unemployment rates, allowing fewer legally-residing foreign nationals to access it, and, in 2027, institution of a lenient community engagement requirement for working-age able-bodied adults without dependents.

Especially with the error-rate requirement using data that began using data from last year, states have become more vigilant in determining eligibility. As a result, rolls have declined steadily since the bill’s passage about a year ago. They’re about nine percent lower, or 4.3 million recipients, through February of this year (which should increase further as several states had waivers on standards into April).

Deal controversy to discourage Monroe investors

Double standards and good-old-boy politics aren’t going to serve Monroe well as it tries to take advantage of a generational economic development opportunity.

As the Hyperion data center project continues its buildout, which has given the area economy but particularly Monroe’s a big shot in the arm, bickering continues over a potentially-dubious use of taxpayer dollars. In the crosshairs is a $4.5 million deal by the Interstate 20 Economic Development District, giving the sum to an entity DZE LLC to build residential homes outside of the EDD. Its board, whose members mostly comprise City Council selections that at this time is controlled by black Democrats, bypassed normal procedures to award the money.

The city technically has jurisdiction over the District’s fiscal matters and has refused to release the portion of the money already billed. Initially it argued that it had uncertainty over whether statutorily it could do so, since the project had no real connection to the district. Mainly comprising Pecanland Mall, tax revenue gained through projects theoretically would fund district activities, so it is very difficult to see how infrastructure pertaining to houses outside of the district constitutes economic development within it. Other than the Board, does anyone seriously think new houses across the way will encourage more people to locate near to and want to take the low-wage jobs at the mall?

Bossier Jury setting itself up for lawsuit loss

Go ahead, Bossier Parish Police Jury, make my day, if you dare, although the parish would be far better off if you simply followed the law.

Last week’s Jury meeting ended with a letter of resignation from former Library Director Felesha Sweeney. Two days later, the parish’s Library Board of Control said it had appointed Marissa Richardson as the new interim director, it later clarified.

That’s important as she cannot take the permanent post until, according to statute, appointment by the Board, which requires a public meeting. But the past two meetings of the Board were inconsistent with state law because, among other things, the entire Jury of a dozen masqueraded as members of the Board when legally there can be a maximum of only seven voting members on it.

Taxpayer-funded weight loss bill deserves veto

Republican Gov. Jeff Landry, if he considers costs and outcomes, has good reason to veto SB 433.

The bill by Democrat state Sen. Gerald Boudreaux, after a few iterations, would have the state cover for Medicaid weight loss drugs for obesity, as prescribed. Louisiana Medicaid already covers it for clients where weight gain is a consequence of a chronic condition, which this expansion would not require. This has a five-year estimated cost of $72 million.

Here, the thinking is that obesity causes other maladies that eventually could fall under Medicaid treatment, hence needing state taxpayer support (although Louisiana typically has between 60-70 percent of costs covered by the federal government, so the bill has the Department of Health promulgate standards that would be consistent with federal regulations). By preventing obesity, the guess is that the use of semaglutide, the chemical in the drugs practically speaking that would have to be prescribed, would cost less than the eventual cost of treatment for other preventable conditions.

BC Council increases delivery of fiscal reform

Almost a year into their terms, the current Bossier City Council members that promised fiscal prudence and reform look set to deliver a heaping dosage of it in their meeting this week.

A couple of holdovers and four new members who took office last Jul. 1 came in with stated agendas of making more prudent spending decisions and better fiscal management than the predecessor majority. That has happened in bits and pieces, such as reducing free riding by large apartment complexes on water and sewerage fees and in refinancing bond deals. However, this week’s agenda features the broadest range of reform yet at the same time signals where more work can be done.

One item echoes previous efforts with the extension of a refinancing strategy for older bonds. An ordinance will extend the ability of the city to use a $15 million bond issuance in 2021 originally intended to pare down an issue connected to past public works projects (principally the Walter O. Bigby Carriageway, whose account has been spent in totality) to another active bond series. Essentially, the city will take advantage of differential interest due – the additional series had small payments early but these will increase substantially the closer it gets to its 2036 due date – between old and new issue to save roughly $850,000 annually.