Bonus bucks should restore, pay down; nothing new

The relief some hoped would materialize did this week for Louisiana, but the bonus must be spent wisely in a manner that eventually shrinks government.

The state’s Revenue Estimating Conference this week determined that the state would have $130 million more for this, fiscal year 2024-25, and $139 million more predicted for next year, FY 2026. Policy-makers around the capitol had hoped to hear that the previous December projections had undershot what would be actual and forecast performance, but until now faced uncertainty with a raft of tax code changes kicking in at the start of this calendar year.

As these numbers didn’t apply to previous fiscal years (the other REC meetings throughout the year often take a look back into the just-completed fiscal year) which would be declaration of a surplus, the REC had the option to declare the additional revenues as recurring for this current period and obviously for the next, which it did. That means anything goes as far as expenditures, if even spent, as opposed to tagging these as nonrecurring where only specified, essentially one-time, expenditures could occur.

Rent seekers run faulty sob stories by BC Council

Sob stories echoed throughout the Bossier City Council chambers at its last meeting, as rent-seekers bookended the gathering intent on maintaining at least some their grifts on the citizenry or apologizing without taking responsibility for corporate mistakes.

First up during the invited public comment phase of the meeting were several representatives of apartment complex owners in Bossier City, encompassing a few thousand units. They were outraged because the close-to-free ride the city had been giving them on its sanitation fee ended early this year.

Until recently, the city charged $12 a month per multifamily dwelling water meter – whether a small strip or an entire complex of apartments, often water service isn’t apportioned by unit but the cost of which is included in rent, as it comes to all through one single intake for a set of units. But at the start of the year, it changed that to $12 per unit (the typical residence now pays $36) as part of a financial rejiggering designed to erase growing deficit spending bringing to the brink of red ink this year the city enterprise fund that collects and pays out for solid waste pickup, street cleaning, median mowing, beautification, and animal control.

Edwards out, Landry in, public sees better things

More evidence of the Landry effect – or, if you will, absence of the Edwards effect – surfaced with the release of Louisiana State University’s 2025 Louisiana Survey, which also may shed light upon the policy agenda of Republican Gov. Jeff Landry.

For many years now the survey has asked similar questions of participants, and this year’s results revealed a growing optimism not seen in several years. After hitting record levels, in the neighborhood of two-thirds, over the past three years of state residents saying the state was headed in the wrong direction, this March/April’s survey saw that number drop to parity with those opining the state was headed in the right direction. Internal numbers show the turnaround occurred because more numerous Republicans to a larger degree changed their minds (extrapolated; it’s not a panel construct but in statistical terms the aggregate results from different samples each year have a high likelihood of representativeness), even as Democrats to a somewhat lesser degree became more negative, plus respondents unaffiliated with either major party also turned more positive.

Largely the same dynamic was replicated in confidence in state government to address concerns. After hitting a high in Republican former Gov. Bobby Jindal’s first term, this slowly eroded, levelled off in the first term of Democrat former Gov. John Bel Edwards, then cratered during his second term before rebounding a bit in 2024 after Landry assumed office and shooting higher in 2025. Republicans’ views drove it up, while Democrats’ basically didn’t change.

Tate departure offer opportunity for LSU, system

The Louisiana State University System rests on the precipice of a potentially exciting new era now that Pres. William Tate IV will fly the coop, if some basic issues can be resolved.

Tate took the Rutgers University system job, which is in a bigger state, has more money and students, and caters more to his leftist sentiments. In the scheme of things, it is a step up from the LSU gig, and an inevitable move by him.

Understand that there’s only a limited amount of destination jobs in higher education. Perhaps maybe three dozen prominent private schools and a dozen or so state systems qualify, and those who aim for that churn as quickly as they can through the ranks of all other schools and systems. Anybody who stays in one place for more than a few years has some kind of attachment to the school and area, which if a quality administrator is a blessing for that institution.

Monroe council majority throwing too many bombs

At some point, the nicknamed “Brown Bombers” on Monroe’s City Council need to stop throwing bombs and to start trying to govern more responsibly.

Almost a year ago two new councilors, Democrats Rodney McFarland and Verbon Muhammad, joined the panel after city elections. With another Democrat who won reelection, Juanita Woods, since then the three have made it a point to inject an adversarial relationship as much as possible into their dealings with independent Mayor Friday Ellis. Accordingly, they have picked up the appellation from supporters in their districts that comprise southern Monroe, which have majority black electorates and they themselves are black.

The latest Council meeting provided two more instances where it seemed the body’s majority acted primarily to oppose for opposition’s sake Ellis’ governance. One involved unspecified but hinted activities in the Fire Department where the majority initiated the process to invoke an investigation. Section 2-07 of the city charter allows it to call one where it may subpoena witnesses, administer oaths, take testimony and require the production of evidence. However, that takes a final vote of four of five councilors, and neither member of the Council minority, Republicans Gretchen Ezernack and Doug Harvey, indicated through their opposition to the introduction, seems willing to go along.