Displaying items by tag: Louisiana legislature

by Ron Chapman

It has taken a while, but Louisiana has finally achieved the distinction of passing up Mississippi.  After a lot of effort, finally, we are LAST in Education. 

According to Wallethub, a credit scoring company, “Louisiana has the worst public school system in the nation.”  The state scored 48th in Math, 48th in Reading, 45th in drop-out rates, and 47th in ACT scores.   Only 29% of the population is college educated.  That should not be surprising when the state scores 40th in college readiness and 44th in High School graduation percentages. 

by Stephen Waguespack, President and CEO of Louisiana Business and Industry

For almost three years, the state Capitol has been absolutely, positively one thing: chaotic.
 
The 6th special session during this time-period begins this week and will once again pit the Administration’s desire for tax revenue against the Legislature’s lack of consensus on that very topic. This plotline should sound familiar by now.

This just-completed Louisiana regular session was known, in part, for its division—left vs. right, Democrats vs. Republicans, House of Representatives vs. Senators. However, every once in a while, the legislators came to agreements.

The Louisiana legislative session, part two,  is finally coming to an end. Part one occurred earlier this year as a special fiscal session, in which the legislature could not agree upon a budget at all.  However, given that the legislature could not raise revenues during the part two or regular session this year, that just might occur on Tuesday, when another special session kicks off, or, shall we say, legislative session, part three?

Political parties are at a low ebb both in Louisiana and throughout the rest of the country. Public opinion often dips below 40% approval rating in numerous national and statewide polling. Voters continue to lose faith in how both Democrats and Republicans govern. When asked why people belong to a certain party, the negative views of the opposing party are often given.  In other words, “I’m a Democrat because I can’t stand the "Republicans” and visa versa. 

Another spring, another special session.

Is it the sixth since Governor John Bel Edwards took over from Bobby Jindal?  Like Sally Bowes sang in Cabaret, "maybe this time"?

As the Louisiana regular session comes to an abrupt close this week, the special session focused upon a gaping $650 million hole, begins Tuesday. After two successive shoo shoos fiscal sessions meant to make up the difference in what the state spent this year and what it has money to spend next year, it is hard to be very confident that a solution will come at hand.

Our Louisiana Legislature loves to pass laws that restrict the behavior of the residents of our state. This increases the power of the “Nanny State” government and also brings in needed revenue for bureaucracies.

The latest effort is a bill to ban the use of a handheld cell phone in a vehicle. The bill will lead to a large fine on the first offense and an even larger one on the next offense.