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Lately, several public officials have pointed to a constitutional convention as the solution to the state’s budget woes. While constitutional revision is in order to correct some of the longstanding problems with state government, a full rewrite or even limited revision will do nothing to help balance the budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Louisiana […]
Louisiana voters approved three of the seven constitutional amendments on the Nov. 4 ballot. The three new amendments will impose term limits for certain board and commission members, require extra notice in advance of a special session and allow temporary successors to be appointed for legislators deployed to active military duty.
Gov. Bobby Jindal has vetoed more budgetary earmarks than any governor has in the past. After striking through $16 million of line-item amendments for legislators’ local projects, around $39 million in local earmarks was left in the operating budget.
For all the reform talk and promises made by the governor and legislators when they were candidates, the first regular session of this Legislature has closed with little in the way of substantial reform. The improvements that were made were overshadowed by the extravagant legislative pay raise members passed for themselves and the governor’s refusal […]
The $34,000 proposed pay raise for legislators is absurd. The increase would bring Louisiana legislators’ compensation to $70,000, which is 198 percent of the average pay for part-time legislatures across the nation and 102 percent of the average pay for full-time legislatures – including per diem amounts and expense allowances. The proposal nearing final passage […]
A bill to decrease legislative control over setting tuition for higher education institutions would grant college and university officials a reprieve for a few years from the annual struggle to get two-thirds of the Legislature to approve tuition increases. While the proposed policy does not go far enough in expanding flexibility for institutions, it is […]
The bottom could fall out of the state budget if the bottom falls out of oil prices. To prevent an economic crisis in the future, the state should maintain budget flexibility and a diverse revenue base that includes a progressive personal income tax. The proposed return to pre-Stelly income tax rates and the state’s growing […]