Displaying items by tag: PAR

The legislative session is now in the history books.  On Tuesday, the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana (PAR) has released a new report that summarizes the 2022 legislative session from its perspective and states that the latest budget boom drove the legislative agenda as fiscal cliff awaits next term.

Louisiana lawmakers completed a three-month regular session more likely to be remembered for the post-pandemic spending spree, record-setting education increases and significant infrastructure investments than for sweeping policy changes.

It’s getting close to redistricting time for legislators in Louisiana. By federal law, all election districts must be reapportioned every 10 years to reflect the latest census figures. But should legislators, who have a vested interest in how the redistricting lines are drawn, actually do the drawing?

Perhaps the most extraordinary thing about the 2019 legislative season was the lack of extraordinary sessions. For the first year since the governor and current legislators were elected in 2015, we had no special session. Whether the reason was fatigue or election politics, our leaders in the Capitol determined that seven special sessions over the previous three years was enough. One major factor - and the most important characteristic of this session - was the existence of a more stable budget outlook based on a sales tax revenue stream established last year after much political wrangling. The 2019 session was the least contentious fiscal debate since the post-Katrina era. There were no mid-year budget cuts to adjust around, no drawdowns on the state rainy day fund and no obvious short-term gimmicks to prop the budget. The main theme was which programs to expand, not which to cut.