WHAT AFFECTS LOUISIANA? - The Northwest Louisiana Legislative Summit took place yesterday at the CenturyLink Center in Bossier City as hundreds attended to hear a panel discussion on topics affecting Louisiana. The discussion was moderated by Barry Erwin, president of the Council For A Better Louisiana, a non-partisan group that focuses on policy matters.
"Elections tend to be a distraction," Erwin explained. "So what we're trying to do is focus on things that will really move the needle for our state in the future."
The focus for the panel discussion was infrastructure, education, criminal justice, and tax reform. The panel consisted of State Senators Barrow Peacock, Ryan Gatti, and State House Representatives Wayne McMahen, Larry Bagley, and Thomas Carmody all Republicans. Democratic Governor John Bel
Edwards was the keynote speaker. One item discussed was whether or not Louisiana’s constitution should be revised as many have criticized it as being too long and makes legislation complicated. After he spoke, I asked Governor Edwards if there is any collective appetite for a constitutional convention.
"There's not agreement among legislators anywhere in the state as to whether we should have one and if so, what we should try to accomplish from it," explained Edwards.
The governor also pointed out that legislative action during the past year revealed lawmakers could work past constitutional bottlenecks.
Edwards said "We were able to fix our problems and acheive the stability that we needed for so long without a constitutional convention."
It is an election cycle as the governor’s race is heating up and with Edwards the only Democratic governor in the south, it’s no secret that the National Republican party would like to see this race as a win for their side. Edwards commented on recent attack ads accusing Edwards for raising the state sales tax.
"We had the largest budget deficit in the history of our state when I became governor,"Edwards explained. "We had a Republican majority House and Senate each of which voted with a 2/3rds (majority) vote to pass those revenues. But we also made cuts and we found savings and took a balanced approach to a balanced budget."
Edwards faces Republicans Ralph Abraham, Representative for Louisiana's 5th congressional district, and businessman Eddie Rispone of Baton Rouge.
The Northwest Louisiana Legislative Summit was hosted by The Bossier Chamber of Commerce, along with the Greater Shreveport Chamber of Commerce, the Shreveport-Bossier African American Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Minden Chamber of Commerce and the North Louisiana Economic Partnership.