LA LEGISLATIVE SESSION OPENS - Louisiana’s Legislative Session for 2019 officially opened in Baton Rouge yesterday. Over the next 60 days, lawmakers will debate various bills, a good bit of time will undoubtedly be focused on Louisiana’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year which begins on July 1st. Lawmakers won’t be faced with the challenges from last year which was dealing with deficits and a looming Billion-Plus Dollar fiscal cliff, which was expected to happen when the temporary 9 cent sales tax was to expire last July. Instead, for the first time in many years, Louisiana has a budget surplus thanks in part to a stronger economy and compromise legislation from the last special session. Governor John Bel Edwards elaborated on this as he addressed a Joint Session of the House and Senate.
"What was once a $2 billion dollar budget deficit is now a surplus that will lay a foundation for us to continue to move the state forward," explained Edwards. "You won't hear me talk about a fiscal cliff today. Funding for higher education is stable, TOPS is fully funded, and healthcare services aren't on the chopping block."
Political observers don’t expect to see too many fireworks during this legislative session but that could change. But Pearson Cross, Associate Professor of political science at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette explains that w this session is at the beginning of an election cycle so lawmakers up for re-election may not want to take too many legislative risks.
"The cloud under which this budget session is going to take place is the elections of 2019, the Governor’s race in particular, but also the fates of all the individual legislators," Cross explained. "I’m not looking for anyone to really stick their neck out a long way because it’s too easy to get it cut off this close to an election."
On tap for Louisiana Lawmakers to debate will be teacher’s pay-raises, abortion restrictions, sports gambling, abolishing the death penalty, and one bill proposing the merger of LSU-in Shreveport with Louisiana Tech.
