Senate, House Running Out of Time

The Louisiana Legislative Session is to close no later than 6 p.m. this Thursday. Four days are all that remain to work on the year's upcoming budget.

At this point, the House and Senate are at odds regarding use of the rainy day fund, Obama's stimulus plan and delaying a scheduled tax break (not a tax increase like some may want you to believe).

Obviously, this is not a one-year budgetary crisis, and even though I'm incredibly passionate about maintaining higher education in Louisiana - both as a testament to the importance of education and as an economic necessity for the state - I'm intelligent enough to understand that the proposed cuts to higher-ed will not disappear in their entirety. But steps have been taken to alleviate these cuts to a generous degree. For the legislature to abandon those steps in the session's waning moments would be devastating to Louisiana and be indicative of the terrible lack of efficiency in the state's style of government.

I'm confident that the legislature will at least alleviate a huge portion of the proposed cuts, and once the allocation is made to higher education, those charged with efficiency of that sector will take a close look at the state's institutions and make allocations wisely and accordingly. I'm certain you can deduce where I stand on that front, but I will reserve opinions on that for a later post.

Read up on the latest developments in the Advocate:

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/politics/48740312.html?showAll=y&c=y

The Young and the Restlessly Misguided - Defending L.A. SB 335 against the Louisiana Young Republicans

Today the Louisiana Young Republicans Federation sent out a press release that was picked up by the Dead Pelican praising opposition to SB 335 and spinning the bill as a Democrat-authored tax increase. Oh, young ones:

"The Louisiana Young Republican Federation thanks Governor Jindal and the Young Republican members of the Louisiana Legislature who stood tall and publicly opposed raising the income taxes of working families in Louisiana."
Source: http://www.thedeadpelican.com/2009/YR335.HTM

They're not the only ones speaking out against SB 335 as a "tax increase." All sorts of Republican opposition, including LA Party Chairman Roger Villere, is coming out of the woodwork to do their due diligence in demonizing Democratic legislation by spinning emotion-laced claims of tax increases and foulcry for Louisiana families. You can read Villere's misleading pleas for action here:
Source: http://www.lanewslink.com/archives.php?id=11291

Firstly, if you're not caught up on the legislation, check out the news links to the right side of this post and brush up on it. SB 335 is legislation aiming to delay income tax-break increases from 65% to 100% on certain items.

Let's be real. This isn't a tax increase, no matter how much the Republicans and "fiscal conservatives" want to label it as. SB 335 merely delays a scheduled tax break. It is not levying a new tax. It is postponing a tax break.

As for those like Forgotston who want to claim the bill is unconstitutional because the Senate, not the House, is raising revenue, get real again! This is a postponement of a payout, not authorization to raise revenue. It's saving money that already exists, not generating more.

I consider myself, for the most part, a fiscal conservative and an overall moderate with no partisan ties (affiliations that I feel can blind people, but that's for another post). And yet, these attacks on SB 335 don't seem to be in favor of fiscal conservation, but in favor of partisan warfare.

If you want to talk fiscal conservation, let's talk about fiscal responsibility. How about saving all that money that is going to go into the pockets of people and provide a short-lived blip for the economy, and putting it toward a long-term economic development investment for the state in, I don't know, higher education? And let's not forget health care either. I'd rather the state's residents have adequate health care from adequately-educated LSU-Shreveport medical graduates than make sure everyone can afford to spring for their second iPhone.

It's certainly not a Republican consensus, Audra Shay. You might get Ellen Carmichael's approval, but there are other Republican contributors to this cause and this blog that will disagree with you.

I think I can't say it any better than the Times-Picayune editorial staff. Read their latest output, and before you pin it as liberal dribble, read the whole thing. Everything is in there.
Source: http://blog.nola.com/editorials/2009/05/louisiana_legislature_and_gov.html

Senate Finance Committee - Knights in Shining Armor?

As we posted previously, the Senate Finance Committee has been doing diligent work to help preserve as best they can Louisiana's higher education by finding alternatives to a massive $219 million budget cut for this upcoming year.

The Committee has not only called for use of Louisiana's "Rainy Day" fund - a combination of surplus and other funds for use during, you guessed it, economic crises - but they have also passed SB 335, which will stall tax breaks and put a freeze on deductables from state income tax at 65%. This bill is contentious in both the House and the governor's office, but the Senate seems confident in its passage.

With SB 335 alone, the proposed cuts will drop more than half to $100 million - still a hefty cut but relatively much more manageable for Louisiana's higher-ed institutions. At these levels a cut to LSU would certainly be less drastic than previously expected. And if a portion of the rainy day funds go to education, the effects would be even less. Understandably, many areas of the state's economy need attention, and those most important areas should receive rainy day consideration.

SOS - Save Our Schools thinks education should be right there at the top of the list.

Source: http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/46871232.html?index=14&c=y

Some for me, some for you :)

Jindal confirms willingness to tap rainy day fund

by Bill Barrow, The Times-Picayune

Monday June 01, 2009, 2:45 PM

BATON ROUGE -- Offering the latest volley in the Legislature's ongoing debate over budget cuts, Gov. Bobby Jindal said today that he is willing to sign a budget that would include $50 million in higher education financing taken from the state's rainy day savings account.

More here: http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2009/06/jindal_confirms_willingness_to.html