Louisiana legislators are in the midst of another disappointing session in Baton Rouge. They have been busy inserting themselves in more areas of our lives. Legislators are in the process of passing laws mandating that everyone in a vehicle wear a seat belt, forbid the use of hand held cell phones in vehicles, and ban cigarette smoking in bars and casinos. Lawmakers are passing laws that restrict freedom, increase the role of government and collect more fees and taxes from the people of Louisiana.
Regrettably, state lawmakers are unwilling to attempt major fiscal reform. Last year, legislators had a plethora of money to spend and a huge surplus, but this year, they are facing a huge financial crisis due to declining oil and gas prices and the downturn in the national economy.
While the state was flush with cash last year, it has a major budget deficit this year. This should have been a great opportunity to restructure a state government that has tripled in size over the last 12 years. It should be easy to identify waste and unnecessary spending to cut; however, real budget reform is not being tackled in this session.
Clearly, Louisiana and the Governor do not have the political courage to tackle these major challenges. For example, instead of major reductions in spending, State Senate leaders want to increase taxes on citizens and postpone a planned tax break. They are supporting a bill by State Senator Lydia Jackson (D-Shreveport) to delay for three years the rollback of the dreaded “Stelly tax plan.” If this bill passes, taxpayers will not be allowed enhanced deductions on their personal income taxes.
In another disturbing development, Governor Jindal reversed his position and agreed to raid the state’s rainy-day fund to restore cuts in higher education. In the Governor’s budget blueprint, he outlined $219 million in planned cuts to higher education. Now university officials and their legislative supporters are scrambling to restore the cuts; however, it is indisputable that there is major waste in our higher education system.
Why does Louisiana, a state with 4 million people, need as many colleges and universities as the State of Florida, which has a population of 16 million people? Louisiana has three higher educational systems: the Southern University system which primarily serves African American students, the University of Louisiana system and the LSU system. This saddles state taxpayers with three higher education boards, three sets of administrators and three bureaucracies and too many four year colleges and universities.
If legislators had courage, they would streamline our colleges and universities and save taxpayers millions of dollars. Unfortunately, major change and systemic reform is unlikely this session due to the typical cause, lack of political will.
Instead of real reform, too many legislators are preoccupied with minor issues, such as whether motorcyclists ride without helmets. This year, hundreds of unnecessary bills were introduced to deal with minor issues and very limited special interest groups.
Even more damaging, other bills have been introduced to increase taxes on cigarettes and gasoline and to give the State of Louisiana a major portion of the fees collected from red light camera tickets. It is never a good time to increase fees or taxes, but, with a bad economy, it is the absolute worst time right now.
It is difficult to shake up the monster of Louisiana state government, but that is exactly what legislators should be doing right now. They should use this crisis as the perfect opportunity to make the type of changes that should have been implemented decades ago. Alas, legislators are content with rearranging the chairs on the ship of state, but real fiscal icebergs lie just ahead.
Jeff Crouere is the Host of “Ringside Politics,” which airs at 7:30 p.m. Fri. and 10:00 p.m. Sun. on WLAE-TV 32, a PBS station, and 7 till 11 a.m. weekdays on WGSO 990 AM in New Orleans and the Northshore. He is the Political Analyst for WGNO-TV ABC26 and a Columnist for selected publications. For more information, visit his web site at RingsidePolitics.com.. E-mail him at jeff@ringsidepolitics.com
Jeff, you're wrong about higher education. Louisiana doesn't have too many colleges and universities. In a state that is dead last in the proportion of its population that is college educated, closing colleges and universities makes little economic sense. Especially when one considers the substantial earnings gaps between those with college degrees in an information-based economy and those with a high school degree or less. A large explanation for our state's low rankings on national indicators is traceable to the deplorable state of education in Louisiana from pre-K to higher ed. The truth is, higher education is UNDERFUNDED in Louisiana. LSU is underfunded compared to its competitors in the Southern region. And if LSU is underfunded, certainly the other institutions are. Furthermore, your comparison with Florida is misplaced - when you consider the number of community and technical colleges in that state, you come up with 39 postsecondary institutions. It is time for Louisiana to make an historic commitment to education - and that means finding the money to pay for it. Ideological "no-tax" literally threatens to sink this state. Will it be expensive? Yes, but not as expensive as the alternative - prisons, the welfare rolls, the flight of the state's best and brightest to other states, and lost productivity because of a poorly educated population will cost this state far more in the long run than any tax increase tthat places higher education on a more stable footing. Written by Dr. Albert Samuels
on 6/5/2009
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Jeff, your criticism of waste in higher education is misplaced. The cuts in the budget do not touch the wasteful spending you refer to but eliminate programs, classes and faculty positions and will result in tuition increases. Let's not forget that Jindal served as President of the University of Louisiana System during Foster's second term. Each system has its own president. Jindal wasn't even truly qualified to hold the position. His salary was the kind of wasteful spending that should be eliminated. You should ask him to return it to the general fund. As to the Stelly Plan, everyone knew it would replace the state sales tax on food and utilities with an increase in income taxes to end the annual budget deficits that were occurring. It worked. Rep Stelly was a Republican from Lake Charles. He was so embarrasseed by his fellow Republicans that he became an Independent. Now that it has been repealed, we're right back where we started. Written by David Quidd
on 6/3/2009
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Amen to that. The only meaningful "change" we will get in our governance is when the people take as much power from elected officials as is practical. Written by kpf
on 6/2/2009
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The budget for the operations of the legislature grow every year. They are one of the few entities in state government that can carry over a surplus, too. Their budget may be small potatoes in the big picture, but until things like that start to get cleaned up, I'll never be convinced that the state needs more revenue. Every state agency, every university, and every elected official has programs and operations that are not vital to this state. The only way to flush out that garbage is to cut budgets, hold the line, and make politicians and administrators responsible for using their funds properly. You can be sure that politicos will protect their slush funds and will cut where it hurts first, hoping for quick relief. But then let them face the music for cutting vital services, while they're buying big screen TV's and leather office furniture, and operating PR programs within their agencies staffed by high paid cronies. They play taxpayers for suckers, and have manipulated us for decades. It takes guts and commitment to defeat them. Voters need to show some for a change. Written by
on 6/2/2009
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I am sure no one posting here buys everything they would desire to own - you have to budget and prioritize. In other words, you "spend less" because your finances are limited. Prior to Stelly ever being born - let alone his tax increase becoming law - government at all levels has had a problem with spending too much. I do not have enough "write-offs" to itemize, but I did get hit very hard by Stelly, and am glad it is gone. Without Stelly I pay about $2500 to the state, that is a large percentage of my disposable income (after the federal taxes, insurance and household expenses eat up the majority of my gross). I think that is more than enough to provide to our "honest hard working and wise state elected officials." Let them make the cuts they need to make. Written by kpf
on 6/2/2009
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that what hasn't been said is that the point of the Stelly Plan was to have people paying income tax that they could deduct from their federal taxes rather than sales tax which they cannot. And, yes, originally it was revenue-neutral but with peoples' incomes rising over time revenues were to increase. Sales tax is also the most regressive form of taxation and provides the least stable revenue stream. Written by The Real Story is
on 6/2/2009
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The Stelly Plan deserved revocation simply because it was passed on false pretenses. It was sold and promoted as revenue neutral, which it was not. Correcting the tax laws to honor that pledge was the right thing to do. Now if legislators want to raise taxes, let them do so and face the voters with their actions and intentions clearly identified. Written by I hate a liar
on 6/1/2009
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The Stelly Plan was packaged as revenue neutral, instead it increased our taxes, hence it was unpopular, expecially among our conservative Republicans(remember they are suppose to be against big government and taxation, unless someone else is being taxed). Remember, business wants the little guy to be taxed, property taxes, etc. Yet, I don't see them bringing jobs to this area even when they get their way with our legislators. Written by concerned
on 6/1/2009
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The only fiscal reform legislation ever passed by the Legislature was the Stelly Plan which was ratified by the voters. Repealing it last year was a mistake the legislature has to deal with. Written by David Quidd
on 6/1/2009
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I don't really blame politicians - it is the voters who are responsible. Politicians who "give us stuff" get elected, those who "take stuff away" are not quite as popular. Unfortunately the only dose of fiscal reality either elected officials or the public understand is a "crises." Just like an alcoholic, we'll have to hit bottom before we accept we need to change. Too bad really, we are squandering away our nation's and state's riches to special interests - "The best politicians money can buy." Written by kpf
on 6/1/2009
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