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.

Thanksgiving Day, 2025

This column publishes every Sunday through Thursday around 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 Sunday through Thursday associated with the otherwise-usual publication on the previous day (unless it is Easter, 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 Memorial Day and Veterans' Day.

With Thursday, Nov. 27 being Thanksgiving Day, I invite you to explore this link.

Hydrogen panel wants to tap taxpayers needlessly

Whistling into the wind is all right as long as Louisiana taxpayers don’t get put on the hook.

The Louisiana Clean Hydrogen Task Force released its report this week. Its mission was to study current hydrogen production, transportation, storage and use, and to recommend how Louisiana should respond to emerging “clean hydrogen” markets. “Clean” hydrogen is one that in its manufacture produces little in the way of carbon byproducts or carbon used in the process.

Typically, clean hydrogen production involving carbon in any form is paired with carbon capture and sequestration, certainly the most common form coming from use of fossil fuels especially natural gas. Louisiana has inherent resources to facilitate this process, such as an extensive pipeline network, shipping points for end products such ammonia, and geological formations suitable for sequestration. Plus, its manufacturers consume a large amount as well, often coexisting with production.

Scrambling Moreno decreases public safety

When you suffer political humiliation, create a straw man and make yourself look heroic to obscure your inherent culpability with silliness, Democrat New Orleans City Councilor and mayor-elect Helena Moreno reminds us.

Earlier this month, Moreno politically suffered a brutal debasement when she had the state dictate terms to her about a budgetary rescue. Allowing the State Bond Commission to issue $125 million in revenue anticipation notes in exchange for close oversight of city finances by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s office, it forces her and the incoming Council to kowtow to outsiders on financial matters, even some very specific ones.

With city government’s wings now substantially clipped, what to do in order to prop yourself up and make people forget your substantial loss of power, to think you have more than you do and are more relevant than you actually are? In Moreno’s case, she decided to make city policy-makers look tough in opposing Republican Pres. Donald Trump’s, with the blessing of GOP Gov. Jeff Landry, plan to send Department of Homeland Security personnel to the New Orleans area next week to conduct intensive sweeps to locate and detain illegal aliens, particularly trying to nab those who committed crimes other than being in the country illegally.

Fiscal issues may shape W. Monroe mayor's race

Maybe West Monroe voters will get a choice they didn’t have in 2022 in their city’s mayor’s contest.

Republican businessman Don Nance tried to offer himself in 2022 as an opponent to Republican incumbent Mayor Staci Mitchell. She was running for reelection after having defeated 10-term incumbent Don Norris in 2018. Back then, she criticized Norris for what she termed a depopulating city and declining sales taxes, and as one idea for bucking the latter proposed building a facility across the way from the Ike Hamilton Exposition Center, a Norris project.

Nance was critical of that idea and other of her spending priorities. But that matchup never happened because he was disqualified when his residency, specifically his failure to register to vote at the residence at which he claimed a homestead exemption as required by statute, was challenged. West Monroe requires a year of residency within the city, and Nance’s exemption was on a property outside the city limits (although that didn't seem to matter when it came to the Shreveport mayor's race later that year).

New scoring reveals hard truths about LA schools

Parents and researchers might be pleased with Louisiana’s new accountability scoring system, but a lot of school board members and educrats won’t be.

This week, the state’s Department of Education released academic year 2025 results, times two. It reported school and district performance scores using both the current 150-point metric that separates elementary, middle, and high schools where elementary schools had three components, middle schools four, and high schools five components in score computation, along with new a 100-point scale approved last year based upon the proportion of students who achieve certain benchmarks with high schools having three components and all others two.

Specifically, elementary and middle schools would have 54 percent scored on student growth in math and English, with special attention paid to the lowest achieving students, and 46 percent with student proficiency in math, English, science, and social studies. For high schools, the former would be proportioned at 42 percent and the latter at 33 percent, with the additional component of 25 percent comprised of on-time graduation, readiness on a nationally recognized exam, and preparation to enter the work world or further studies.

Renewable energy, not data centers, cost consumers

Louisiana may stand to profit both in having lower electricity rates and increased economic growth, from the policy stupidity of other states

As the number of data centers explodes throughout the country, only now is Louisiana starting to gain traction with the proliferation. The state ranks 35^th in number with ten operational (out of 1,926 in the country), but with nine under construction is third-most in ratio of being built to existing yet is close to the bottom of ratio of announced to existing (even if the two announced are massive in size). It’s 23^rd in space and 13^th in wattage used, so it punches above its weight and both totals should increase sharply within the next couple of years (the Hyperion project alone when expanded to its full capacity will increase wattage by over two-and-a-half times all existing state center output).

One reason why Louisiana is off to a good start is its energy prices. Among industrial users, the most recent (August) pricing ranked it lowest in the country. At 6.28 cents per kilowatt/hour, it’s almost a third less than the national average of 9.06, and well below the costs of the top states in numbers of centers (only Texas is close).