Nelson appt upgrade to achieving Regents' goal

Louisiana is getting a noticeable upgrade with Richard Nelson assuming the presidency of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System.

Nelson currently helms the state’s Department of Revenue, having served as a state representative for one term and running for governor before exiting the race early. He carved out a reputation for fiscal responsibility, offering several pieces of legislation well-designed to make the state more competitive economically, and took many of those ideas and stumped successfully to put some of them into law once Republican Gov. Jeff Landry installed him overseeing Revenue. Others fell by the wayside by a defeated constitutional amendment, but there will be another try with them for voters in 2026.

That commends him well in taking over a higher education system which has had its traditional model of heavy lifting by taxpayers that discouraged efficient operations usurped by a more balanced one that increases reliance on tuition, creating an incentive to provide useful educations to a clientele interested in value for its money. This especially matters with community and technical colleges, for while the former may serve as a gateway to a bachelor degree and above, much of community college emphasis and the entire focus of technical colleges is vocational in nature.

Bossier 2025-26 deficit spending worrisome

A trend that developed in Bossier Parish this year of deteriorating finances looks to accelerate in 2026, according to preliminary budget documents that the Police Jury will discuss at its next meeting, which should send a warning to jurors and the public.

In October, the Jury held its required public hearing on the budget, with passage scheduled to occur at its first December meeting. As over a month-and-a-half has passed since then, numbers may have changed from what was forecast to be the anticipated changes, but they likely are close enough.

When reviewing what by accounting standards are considered to be the major funds of the parish, which combined comprised in 2024 about three-quarters of all revenues deposited, that year was pretty decent. These funds after expensed items and transfers finished $11.7 million in the black, and although the dozen or so minor funds all together had expenditures doubling up their assigned revenues, the parish still overall was $4.7 million to the good.

Election pressures digging deeper Shreveport hole

Despite Shreveport having a turkey delivered to it, election year politics threatens to compound its negative effects even more.

On the heels of budget negotiations that bandy about pay raises for city employees beyond the statutorily-required ones for police, Moody’s Ratings dropped all forms of Shreveport debt down a notch to barely investment grade. It stated essentially two reasons for doing so: the city’s dwindling fiscal position highlighted by its deteriorating fund balances that are indicative of deficit spending, and by its unwillingness to increase further water and sewerage rates to provide sufficient capital to fix the numerous and large deficiencies in its water, sewage, and drainage systems.

The rate issue is the time bomb that Republican Mayor Tom Arceneaux inherited when he took office. Although it barely was discussed during the 2022 campaign, whoever took office as a result would have to address Shreveport’s massive day of reckoning concerning an Environmental Protection Agency consent decree that has gone way over budget. Separately, S&P Global rated the newest issuance low investment grade level and kept the two other issues related to water and sewerage at the same level scarcely above junk status. Additionally, the firm turned negative on the city’s outlook, meaning it increasingly believed a downgrade of ratings was in the cards within the next couple of years.

This has put Arceneaux between a rock and hard place, because he can’t raise rates without the cooperation of a Democrat City Council supermajority that doesn’t want to do that. And, with the 2026 campaign underway, voters might not look kindly on another hike after an increase last year, already having voiced disapproval at a two percent increase of his that didn’t even go towards fulfilling the decree, which councilor criticism forced him to yank.

But making matters worse is Arceneaux has thrown his support behind pay raises for city employees. He proposed a three percent increase for all except those in public safety who would receive five percent as state law mandates at least a two percent increase. For some that is not enough as they would like to see the public safety cohort receive a ten percent hike.

Once again, election year politics may be raising its head, with Arceneaux wanting to give city employees a reason to vote for him. But clearly the city can’t afford that, costing some $4.4 million that the administration claims will come from royalties from oil and gas revenues, federal funds left over from the American Rescue Plan Act and shifting some city funds dedicated to other services, including public streets. In other words, using one-time money and beggaring some needed capital spending.

That is foolhardy, but worse is because the even more foolhardy alternative gets pitched, this makes Arceneaux look like he’s miserly as well. Even before pitching the pay increases, the budget contemplated reducing the general fund balance by $5.5 million, a deficit any recurring pay hike expense will increase even further in future years.

Politically, the pursuit of higher pay with no predictable and stable resources to back it could be an electoral winner, as only the most informed and prudent voters will gig him while city employees will be heartened, and it’s not like opponents announced and unannounced are likely to spend more prudently. Yet it serves as another example of the decades-old can-kicking habit by Shreveport politicians that is building a larger and larger fiscal mess from which not even a supposed fiscally conservative Republican is immune.

Alarmism wave may hit LA data center growth

Climate alarmists have kept busy trying to snuff out the two most important new avenues of economic development in Louisiana, challenging policy-makers to counter such agendas contrary to the benefit of the people.

Earlier this fall, a rogue state judge invented law out of thin air to halt construction of another liquified natural gas production facility for export purposes near Lake Charles. She said the state didn’t take into account the alleged factors of catastrophic anthropogenic global warming effects and “environmental justice” in issuing a permit needed to proceed – an unprecedented ruling.

Although precedent argues that ruling stands little chance of being upheld by a higher court, the state went ahead and revised its determination to expedite the process on the basis of the judicial objections. In it, the state reaffirmed that the concerns it supposedly hadn’t addressed were and concluded the appropriateness of issuing the permit. For now, that may have turned aside the ploy of several activist groups concerned with carbon issued into the atmosphere in the transport and liquidation of natural gas as well as its eventual use after transportation to prevent propagation of the process.