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Reform-oriented strategy was sorely lacking during the 2007 Regular Legislative Session. For a state still neck deep in its recovery from two catastrophic hurricanes two years prior with three extraordinary pots of cash to spend, a lame-duck governor and a term-limited Legislature, Louisiana demonstrated a remarkable capacity for sticking to its traditional script. The unprecedented […]
After a hard-fought battle by the Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA), a waiver of the state’s cost share for rebuilding projects finally was passed by Congress and signed by the President last week. The LRA, the Legislature and the administration now are exploring the state’s options for using the $775 million in Community Development Block Grant […]
All increases in higher education tuition and required fees in Louisiana currently must be approved by a two-thirds vote of the Legislature. Since this requirement was implemented in 1995, these charges at Louisiana’s institutions have increased at a much lower rate than that of other higher education institutions in the South, resulting in Louisiana having […]
The Governor has proposed a significant commitment to public education in requesting across-the-board raises of $2,400 each for teachers and $750 for school support workers. This would raise average teacher pay to the Southern regional average of $46,400 for 2007-08. However, the proposed raises will fail to push pay up to the Southern regional average […]
More than 18 months after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated a swath of the Gulf Coast from the Texas-Louisiana border to Mobile, Alabama, recovery and rebuilding efforts in the affected communities are best described as uneven. While some of the hardest hit areas have developed rebuilding plans that are guiding their efforts to piece their […]
The Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA) and the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget recently fought a turf battle over funding decisions, and the wrong side won. The full Legislature now has a final chance to salvage the integrity of the planning process the state has followed thus far in allocating billions in federal recovery aid. […]
It was apparent from the moment it was announced that this special session of the Legislature was poorly timed and failed to allow for sufficient planning and debate. Fortunately, the possibility of using most of the state’s recovery-related windfall revenues to improve its long-term prospects remains intact. Unfortunately, $239 million in unnecessary tax credits for […]