Saturday, March 15, 2025

Keeping Score: Influencing Special Session Outcomes

You hear it in the halls of Louisiana’s legislature all the time – “It’s a good bill. I really like it, but the author voted against my last bill so I can’t vote for his, no matter how good it is.” Seems rather petty, doesn’t it – keeping a personal scorecard against other lawmakers? For far too many legislators, scorecards matter – especially the ones issued by the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry. Governor John Bel Edwards even addressed the issue during his speech at the opening of the current special session. We have to be more concerned with Louisiana’s future than what score we might receive from a partisan political organization masquerading as a trade association,” the governor admonished lawmakers. It’s such an “open secret” that Representative Sam Jones (D-Franklin) – rated 10 out of 100 possible LABI points in 2016 – joked with LABI lobbyist Jim Patterson during a committee meeting last year. I hope my vote helps my score go up,” Jones said, entirely tongue-in-cheek. Yet concerns about the LABI scorecard are obscuring the very transparency that organization touts in its campaign demanding the state implement a “Louisiana Checkbook” website. LABI’s Scorecard awards points for every vote on issues they support. The “possible points” differ from lawmaker to lawmaker, and from chamber to chamber. Bills LABI opposes often don’t make it out of committee, or out of the House or Senate. Those who are on key committees, then, get “bonus points” on their scorecard for defeating a LABI-opposed bill. Here’s what’s happening: legislators have figured out that if the committees they’re on either advance or reject a bill unanimously, the committee vote won’t become part of the end-of-sessions scoring. Sure, once it gets to the floor, they’ll have to vote by name – but there will be just one scorecard category for that bill, instead of two. And those that fear lower LABI scores are going to push their button in accordance with the wishes of that group. Take House Ways and Means, for example. Today they’ll be considering five revenue-raising bills, including HB 8. That measure, by Speaker Pro Tem Walt Leger, cuts in half the amount of federal excess itemized deductions Louisiana residents can take on their state income tax returns. And while LABI has officially taken a stance of “neutral” on this issue when it came up in past sessions, the business association opposes Leger’s other two bills: HB , permanently disallowing the deduction for income taxes paid to other states; and HB 16, reducing certain corporate tax credits now given as economic development incentives. The tentative agreement reached Thursday evening by House GOP leadership and House Democrats includes advancing the revenue-raising bills out of Ways and Means to the floor today by reporting them “without action with recommendation that it be referred to the Committee of the Whole.” That maneuver only works for scoring purposes IF there is no objection. An objection requires a roll call vote, with committee members going on the record by name, as being for or against it. Not everyone on Ways and Means is in accord with that agreement. As Greg Hilburn with Gannett newspapers reported Friday, Dodie Horton (R-Haughton) and Alan Seabaugh (R-Shreveport) both told Hilburn they would let HB 23 (by Stephen Dwight, R- Lake Charles) – a sales tax bill – advance without objection, but will draw the line at advancing the income tax measures. Meanwhile, Democrats have said without the income tax measures at least getting to the floor for a vote, they’ll bottle up the sales tax bill. While Horton’s and Seabaugh’s positions are consistent with being among the “Disciples of No”, one also has to consider what benefits they may derive from remaining mindful of their LABI scores. Horton, who is in her first term, has scored 95% and 87% for 2016 and 2017, respectively. Seabaugh is in his second term, and from 2014 through 2017, his scores have ranged from 92% to 98%, consistently earning his the organization’s designation as an “All-Star”. (Only an “MVP” is better — a perfect score of 100% in alignment with LABI.) What are the benefits of their scores? Campaign donations. As reported to the Louisiana Ethics Administration, Seabaugh received $17,500 in total from LABI’s direct political action committees – EastPAC, NorthPAC, SouthPAC and WestPAC. His campaign got thousands of dollars more from individual LABI members and the political action committees of LABI member businesses. Both Horton and Seabaugh have steadily received small ($250) “attaboy” donations from LABI’s NorthPAC the past two years. But the big money will flow next year, for the statewide elections. And as Jeremy Alford with LAPolitics.com podcast reported this past October, LABI is putting together a new super PAC, enabling them accept unlimited funds for use as campaign donations in the 2019 election cycle. And the higher your LABI score, the better your chances of getting a piece of that action for your re-election campaign. It’s how the game is played. But how do you justify this kind of “gamesmanship” to the people of Louisiana who will be impacted by the failure to fix the fiscal cliff in this special session? Take Ashley McReynolds, for example. Her son Cooper has a genetic disorder known as Prader-Willi Syndrome, He currently receives a NOW waiver, helping him live at home and attend school. The healthcare cuts necessitated by the failure to replace the “temporary taxes” expiring June 30 mean Cooper will likely lose that waiver. What about higher education? Due to nearly a decade of cuts to state funding for colleges and universities, there’s been no money for even building maintenance. On his blog, LSU Professor Bob Mann has documented the deplorable conditions on the Southern University campus, as well as the deterioration of buildings at LSU –including the leaks that cause recurrent flooding of the university’s library. Just this past week, the LSU Emergency Operations Center advised students, faculty and staff that the “climate control system” (air conditioning, in particular) for much of the campus is “running at only 32 percent of its original capacity”, and that a fix for the primarily water-cooled system could take a couple of weeks. They’ve shut down all air conditioning service to faculty offices in order to keep most classrooms tolerable. Over the past several months, newspapers and TV stations around the state have produced celebratory stories about our high school students who have achieved perfect scores on the ACT. (Baton Rouge Magnet High has seven; Ben Franklin High in New Orleans has five; Ruston and Shreveport each have one, etc.) With the inability to fund TOPS due to the fiscal cliff, these students will likely choose out-of-state schools, and take their great potential elsewhere. What does the score matter, if Louisiana’s citizens ultimately lose the game?

Peter Athas: The State of Carnival

Mardi Gras ended last week. It’s time for repentance, reflection, and fish fries. I’m not Catholic, but the Lenten calendar is as much a part of life in New Orleans as Carnival. I’m focusing on the latter, but the two are bound together like conjoined twins and reflect the duality and complexity of life here. The state of Carnival is weird. The weather was lousy, the parades excellent, and the crowds spotty on wet days and massive when it was dry. I belong to the Krewe du Vieux sub-krewe of Spank. The forecast on our day was dire and it rained on and off much of the day. There were dark clouds as we lined up, but it did not rain on our parade. Literally. There were two issues on the mind of  many New Orleanians as we grubbed for beads, Muses shoes, Nyx purses, and Tucks plungers. First, the state of the parade route, which increasingly resemble campgrounds or the parking lot at Tiger Stadium during football season. Second, the spectre of racist throws, which cast something of a pall over the run up to Carnival but were roundly denounced even by the old-line krewes. The good news is that they were nearly invisible on the parade route but they’re antithetical to the spirit of Carnival. Recent developments in parade culture or lack thereof can also be linked to national politics and the rise of Donald Trump and his boorish, selfish supporters. Tom Wolfe dubbed the 1970’s the Me Decade. It’s got nothing on the Trump era, and its impact could be seen during Carnival 2018. The Krewe of Chad:  Back in 2013, Gambit editor Kevin Allman coined a phrase for the importation of tailgate culture into parade culture. It all started with a picture and a tweet: The term caught on and is widely used on social media to describe people who think they can rope off sectors of the public green for their exclusive use. Chaddism used to be restricted to the Endymion parade route in Mid-City, but couches, tents, roped off sectors, ladders, and the like are increasingly seen Uptown. It’s a monumental pain in the ass for those of us who live on or near the parade route since Carnival is supposed to be a moveable feast, not urban camping. For the first time in years, the city attempted to enforce existing ordinances against rampant early Chaddery on the parade route. The Chads were shocked that their selfish efforts were not appreciated by the powers that be. They continue to confuse tailgating culture with Carnival culture to the detriment of everyone A friend of mine recently said, “Scratch a Chad and you’ll hear a Trump voter scream.” I’m not sure why they’re itchy but most of the Krewe or Chad appear to be from other parishes and surrounding states, which went overwhelmingly for Trump. They’re convinced that it’s okay to do what they do, so all I can do is pinpoint the problem and hope it gets better. Selfishness is in, after all. Bigly. Let’s move on a more serious issue raised by Carnival 2018. The Case of the Bigoted Beads: The Forever Lee Circle beads were a cause celebre before the big parades rolled on Magazine, Napoleon, and St. Charles. I wrote a post about them for First Draft, Lost Cause Festers Do Mardi Gras. I wound up in an endless wrangle with a Lost Causer whose story shifted every time he commented on the post or on Facebook. The only thing he was consistent about was that he didn’t like the nickname I gave him. Whatever, dude. You don’t get to pick your own nickname, so I’ll give you a new one, which you should be willing to own: Forever Lee Circle Dude. The Forever Lee Circle beads were made to protest the toppling of the monument to Robert E. Lee. To his apologists, Lee was a gentleman and hero of the lost cause. As far as I’m concerned, he was a traitor and a brutal slave owner with no ties to New Orleans. The prospect of the Forever Lee Circle beads being thrown by float riders was the subject of much agita on social media. That was the only report I saw of those bigoted beads being tossed. It took place during the Krewe of Alla parade. The admonitions by other krewe captains seem to have worked. Score one for the Carnival community; even the conservatives among them don’t want to be associated with blatant racism and reckneckery in a majority African American city. But there was a report of blackface figurines being thrown during the Endymion parade:
“I was just totally perplexed. I didn’t know what to think!” New Orleans resident Carmen Cousin said. Shocked and appalled is the only way Cousin could describe her reaction after she says her 4-year-old son got Black face figurines during the Krewe of Endymion parade on Saturday. Her son was propped up on her fiancee’s shoulders off Canal Street when someone from a float handed him a bubbled wrapped package. “Inside of the bubble wrap were two porcelain Blackfaced figures. One who the female figure looked like she possibly could’ve been a servant and holding a tray and the other was a male Blackfaced doll with a hat in his hand.”
The offensive and irrelevant throws were reported to the krewe; as of this writing they don’t appear to have investigated other than making some perfunctory comments on social media to the people who complained. Lost Causers specialize in blowing smoke. The Facebook post below by a guy from Metairie named Rickey Entwistle is typical of the disingenuous way they handle criticism: The post was deleted, so I’d like to thank Avalanche USA for posting the screen shot. Lost Causers tend to be cowards, so I’m not surprised: White nationalists have long hidden behind, and under, sheets. Entwistle’s claim that lawn jockeys were signposts along the Underground Railroad was found to be unproven by Snopes. I seriously doubt that Endymion riders, who are best known as rowdy louts obsessed with seeing tits, threw these figures to celebrate the Underground Railroad. I suspect that they did it to offend parade goers in the spirit of Trumpers everywhere. If you’re not from New Orleans, you may be wondering why I’m banging on about the selfishness of the Krewe of Chad and the bigotry of the Lost Causers. Carnival is important to us and it reflects who we are, where we’ve been, and where we’re going. The first Carnival after Katrina and the Federal Flood in 2006 was moving and life affirming. It proved that New Orleans was bouncing back after that horrendous disaster. Obviously, racism as exemplified by the Forever Lee Circle beads and blackface figurines is an infinitely more serious offense than Chaddism but they’re symptoms of the same disease. Selfishness and bigotry are once again fashionable among some sectors of our populace. Unfortunately, those attitudes infected this year’s Carnival, which is supposed to be fun, not stressful. Carnival should be unifying, not divisive. I hope that future attempts to color it red in a blue city will be repulsed. The Chadders and Lost Causers *are* repulsive and should stop messing with our fun. I think the former is a lost cause (pun intended, it always is), but I think the latter issue will fade away as the monuments removal controversy recedes into the past. It’s unlikely that we’ll ever recapture the Spirit of 2006, but we can dream. That concludes what started off as a brief look at the State of Carnival. I hope you won’t repent reading it.  

Rick Brewer, president of Louisiana College, “absolutely denies” allegations he made anti-Semitic remarks.

Late WednesdayThe Bayou Brief was the first to report about a federal lawsuit filed against Louisiana College, the small, private Baptist school in Pineville, and its president, Rick Brewer, alleging that Brewer refused to hire a candidate for an assistant football coach position, Joshua Bonadano, because of Bonadono’s “Jewish blood.”  The story was subsequently picked up by the Associated Press and various other state and national media outlets. Tonight, The Bayou Brief received a series of e-mails from Norm Miller, vice president of “communications and integrative marketing” for LC, on behalf of both Rick Brewer and Johnny Hoychick, the chairman of LC’s Board of Trustees, flatly denying the claims made in the lawsuit. Miller’s first e-mail to The Bayou Brief attached the following letter from Hoychick:
Dear Mr. White: Your Bayou Brief article about the Federal lawsuit against Louisiana College and its president concerning a football coach apparently was also printed by the Associated Press.   I presume that you realize anyone who pays a filing fee and hires a lawyer can file a suit, no matter how meritless the suit. As current chairman of the Board of Trustees of Louisiana College, I know President Brewer to be a man of the utmost character.  He is a man indiscriminately supportive of his administrators, faculty, and staff, whose personal mission is to help those in his sphere of influence achieve the highest of goals while maintaining impeccable moral scruples. His commitment to inclusivity is not driven by political correctness.  Rather, his employment decisions are always based solely on professional qualifications of the candidate. Thankfully, you note the rebound Louisiana College has received since Dr. Brewer came to Louisiana College.  Now the claimant at issue and his lawyer seemingly seek to force Louisiana College into paying money in order to avoid the adverse publicity caused by this meritless Complaint. Sadly, our present culture has lost sight of the founding Constitutional principle of “innocent until proven guilty”.  The press reports have exacerbated this unfortunate judgmental trend. At my request, Dr. Brewer has submitted these comments for public consumption: “Based upon lawsuit allegations without truth, I have been vilified and determined guilty by certain persons from across the nation. I am not nearly as upset as I am hurt.  I feel wounded by such reactions because I love and worship Jesus Christ, whose shed blood is the reason I have a personal relationship with the eternal God.” The Board of Trustees at Louisiana College stands squarely with Dr. Brewer’s administrative decisions because we know that his exemplary character and moral fortitude are inspired by Jesus Christ.  Louisiana College will not be intimidated by this suit or the publicity it seeks, and look forward to our day in court when all the facts are presented, which will support the dismissal of this lawsuit. Respectfully, Johnny Hoychick, Chairman Louisiana College Board of Trustees
In response, I asked Miller, “Does (Brewer) deny ever saying the phrase ‘Jewish blood’ in the context of this case?” Within minutes, he responded, “In answer to your question, Dr. Brewer absolutely denies making the alleged remark. Nor has he ever uttered such a phrase in his entire life.” When asked for a response, James Bullman, the attorney representing Bonadono, reiterated his absolute confidence that the evidence will demonstrate Brewer discriminated against Bonadono, who converted to Christianity as an undergraduate student, because of his ethnicity. “We’re confident that when the evidence of this case is presented, there will be no doubt about the veracity of the allegations in Mr. Bonadona’s complaint,” Bullman wrote. “This case is unfortunately simple: the defendants violated my client’s civil rights when they failed to hire Mr. Bonadona because of his Jewish heritage.”  

Another Battle of Biblical Proportions in Louisiana House Committee

“Do you think somebody who can’t find a job should have to die?” Opelousas Representative Dustin Miller asked the Health and Welfare Committee chairman. “No, I think it’s going to help these people become more productive citizens,” Representative Frank Hoffman (R-West Monroe) replied. “We’re helping them by kicking them off health insurance?” Miller asked. “They’ll end up paying taxes and ultimately it’s going to make life better for these people,” Hoffman responded. The Health and Welfare committee began its work Thursday by taking up its chairman’s bill, HB 3, which would impose work, training, or community engagement requirements on Medicaid recipients. After being modified from its original form with an amendment setting up a “demonstration project” in selected parishes first, it ran into some immediate opposition. Committee member Katrina Jackson (D-Monroe) immediately advised Hoffman she had committed to voting no on the bill, and would like more time to study the amendment She would reconsider her vote if he would delay action until Friday. “I don’t want to pull it,” Hoffman said. “It’s going to make life better for these people.” Miller voiced his objections, and then New Orleans Representative Helena Moreno weighed in. “With this bill we’re feeding into stereotypes, and labeling people as ‘those who don’t want to work’. We’re only targeting those on Medicaid,” she said. “Studies show unemployment could be harmful to health,” Hoffman maintained. The governor’s executive counsel, Matthew Block, sat next to Hoffman, and advised the committee, “This is something we were going to do without legislation, but it’s not a budget-positive measure. This is going to cost us money to put in place, and if we do remove people from Medicaid, they will cost the state more money in the long run.” Representative Kenny Cox (D-Natchitoches) asked, “Last time I checked, we were broke, broke, broke. Where’s the money coming from?” Representative Larry Bagley (R-Stonewall) interjected, “Yeah, there’s money involved. But I believe we need to push everybody to find work to do, and I don’t think we’re ever wrong to look at ways to use our taxpayers’ money better.” Miller wasn’t buying it. “This bill is only going to kick people off Medicaid. This is punitive!” he exclaimed. “Let’s kick ’em off. Now, you’re uninsured. You get sick. You go to the emergency room. Who pays the bill? The state does, right? So how are we being responsible with the taxpayers’ money?” Dawn Starnes, with the Louisiana chapter of NFIB – a small-business advocacy group – was livid. “The Medicaid program is a beast! It’s a wildfire raging and needs reform! We want to see some changes!” she remonstrated with the committee, stopping just short of pounding her fist on the witness table. That was enough breathing of fire and brimstone for committee member Robert Johnson (D-Marksville). “I don’t think this bill comports with doing what is best for ‘the least of these among us’,” he said. “At a time when we’ve been very generous with companies, we’re not being good stewards of the people’s money by considering punitive measures on some of our people – just because they’re poor.” Hoffman then acknowledged the writing on the wall, saying,”We still have some work to do, so I’m going to ask that we voluntarily defer.” There was no opposition to that motion. Next up was Tony Bacala’s bill to open state personal income tax records for verification of Medicaid eligibility. Citing “waste, fraud, and abuse” repeatedly, Bacala – a Republican from Prairieville – argued, “This is a bill about the integrity of the program that encompasses half our state budget, when you include federal funds. I just can’t ignore this!” That was in specific response to testimony from LDH Medicaid program director Jen Steele, that a review of 238 cases found five that listed questionable income. When supplemental proof of income was requested and received, all five retained their eligibility for Medicaid. Again, committee members indicated their disfavor of the bill, and Bacala voluntarily deferred his measure. That left two bills by Representative Jack McFarland (R-Jonesboro). HB 4 would require Medicaid recipients to pay premiums for their coverage, and HB 11 would require them to make co-payments for treatment and prescriptions. “I can read the tea leaves,” McFarland said, bitterly. “I voluntarily defer.” Leaders of the House Democratic caucuses spent much of the afternoon closeted with the Speaker and House Republican caucus chairman Lance Harris. The full House convened nearly an hour late due to the discussions, prayed and pledged, and then recessed for another hour and 45 minutes. The Speaker, caucus leaders, the Health and Welfare chair and Ways and Means chairman again withdrew to confer. The “come to Jesus” meetings apparently paid off, for when the House reconvened, Speaker Barras announced, “We have reconciled some of the debate this afternoon and evening. A couple of new options were presented, and we’re double-checking the fiscal notes on those items, particularly the revenue bills. Health and Welfare will meet Sunday at 2 p.m.; Ways and Means at 4, and the full House at 6.” Health and Welfare will be discussing and voting on Bacala’s HB 2 and Hoffman’s HB 3 only. Ways and Means will be doing Dwight’s HB 23 to clean the four sales tax pennies and renew a quarter of the fifth penny. But they will also take up Shadoin’s HB 22 – making the so-called “haircut” to corporate tax deductions and exclusions permanent. In addition, they will vote on three of Leger’s bills: HB 8, HB 14, and HB 16. HB 8 cuts the allowable state deduction for federal itemized deductions in half. HB 14 eliminates the state tax deduction for taxes paid to other states. And HB 16 reduces corporate payroll tax rebates. Does this mean the “Disciples of No” have joined other churches? Not necessarily, though we should know more after Sunday services.

Flying (Paper) Tigers: Why did the leaders of Alexandria’s England Authority abruptly resign?

One week ago, with no fanfare, no advanced warning, without even an office party hosted by his colleagues, Jon Grafton, a man who has been at the helm of the England Economic and Industrial Development District (also known as the England Authority and formerly known as England Air Force Base) for more than 24 years, drafted a hastily-written resignation letter, attached a two-page document of talking points touting his accomplishments and a fancy, colorful brochure. And then, he e-mailed the announcement to his board members and a small handful of local news outlets in Central Louisiana. This should have been a huge deal. Grafton had essentially served as the monarch of a tax-free enclave built on the remains of a decommissioned air force base in the heart of Louisiana, and during the past two and a half decades, he helped to transform the place into a federally-subsidized retirement and golf community with its own business park, fine dining restaurant, and boutique hotel, all anchored by a new, striking, $150M+ airport terminal. Bill Clinton was so impressed he visited the place when he was president. The Wall Street Journal extolled it as a model for military base re-use. In recent years, the air park, which is situated directly next to the city of Alexandria, has added millions of dollars worth of infrastructure and landscaping improvements. Grafton’s retirement should have been major news, but the local media barely paid it any attention. No one outside of Central Louisiana bothered to mention it. The story, however, isn’t just about one man’s resignation after 24 years on the job, because, as it turns out, he wasn’t the only person who resigned from the England Authority last Thursday afternoon. So too did Grafton’s long-time deputy, Ronnie Hair. As the old adage goes, there’s no such thing as a coincidence. According to multiple, independent sources, all of whom have direct knowledge of the chain of events leading up to the dual resignations, Grafton and Hair left the England Authority on the same exact day that the state legislative auditor paid them an on-campus visit, though they had been given a two-day advanced notice. The Bayou Brief reached out to both the state auditor, Daryl Purpera, and Jon Grafton, and at the time of publication, we have yet to hear back. (Full disclosure: Although I have only interacted with Grafton on a small handful of occasions, his wife was my sixth grade World Geography teacher. I adore and admire her, which makes this a tough story to write). Local news organizations in Alexandria are independently aware of the suspicious timing between the auditor’s visit and the resignations of the England Authority’s two most powerful, long-time officials, but, as one media professional told me, they are awaiting the results of the actual audit before publishing anything speculative. After speaking with more than a dozen people familiar with the story and after reviewing and reading the past twenty years of financial disclosures, audits, and news coverage about Grafton, Hair, and the England Authority, I respect the local media’s collective decision to refrain from mere speculation. However, I believe it is in the public’s best interest to know as many of the facts about this as possible in order to ensure that the people of Central Louisiana have a more complete understanding of the context and a more informed perspective on what should be done to guarantee the future of one of the region’s greatest assets. **** “Here’s a young punk, a grade school teacher, who has no experience in what he’s doing at all, wasn’t elected by you people,” former Alexandria Mayor Tillie Synder once quipped about his own city clerk. “No one knows who Jon Grafton is; he lives in Pineville. Most people don’t even know him, can’t see anything but his eyes; he has one of these heavy hippie type beards.” Before the age of the reality-TV president, before there was 24-hour-a-day cable news, Tillie Synder, the chief executive of the largest city in Central Louisiana, built his political brand and his following by insulting his colleagues and his neighbors on a nightly television program, a precursor to Alex Jones’s InfoWars, a show in which he yelled and grunted about absurd conspiracy theories, all while beaming into the living rooms of the 40,000 or so people who called him “Mr. Mayor.” There’s a good chance he suffered from an undiagnosed mental illness: As mayor, he drained the city swimming pool and then restocked it as a catfish pond; the poor bottom-feeders died from chemical poisoning almost immediately. He once called an African-American councilman “an Uncle Tom” and “a chimpanzee,” and when he was asked to apologize, he instead doubled-down, referring to him as a “monkey man” and daring him to bring along “your own bananas” at their next political debate. This was in 1982, the year of his political comeback; John K. “Tillie”  Synder would recapture the Mayor’s Office, after sitting out a term, and he’d do so by winning the majority of African-American voters. So, it shouldn’t be too surprising that Tillie lambasted the young, long-haired city clerk, a detail mentioned in the late John Maginnis’s masterpiece on Louisiana politics, the book The Last Hayride. Jon Grafton may have looked like a bearded hippie, but, by most accounts, he could think circles around almost everyone in City Hall. They knew it. He knew it. And to many, it made him obnoxious. After several years serving as city clerk, Grafton, as one former elected official who worked with him at the time told me, had “overstayed his welcome,” though, still, no one ever questioned his tenacity and smarts. The England Authority was formed in 1991, after then-Gov. Buddy Roemer signed Act 142, and almost immediately, Jon Grafton seemed like the most natural and logical candidate for the position: He already knew practically everyone in town; he had a built-in rolodex of political officials and business leaders, and he possessed the equivalent of a phD in public administration. “Plus, we could finally get him out of City Hall,” the former official joked. **** Grafton officially joined the England Authority’s payroll in January of 1994, and the first four years of his tenure were, by any objective measurement, a smash success. On a freezing afternoon in March of 1996, Air Force One touched down near an outdoor stage that had been set up on the tarmac, and President Bill Clinton descended the steps of his plane and then glided up the stage, alongside Alexandria’s beloved, five-term mayor, the late Ned Randolph. England Air Park was, his wife Deborah later said, the most definitive part of his political legacy. Half of Alexandria had shown up that afternoon to listen to the president. I was there, nearly fourteen years old, tagging along with my family, and somehow, I found myself shaking hands with the Commander-in-Chief. It wasn’t just a memorable moment for me, though; it was one of the most iconic moments in the history of my hometown. On that day, President Clinton officially transferred the property deed of the base to the chairman of the England Authority, the late Jim Meyer, and then said to the thousands of us gathered, “I have to tell you that I have been all over this country looking at military bases. I have worked with communities all over America, personally, to help them start their communities up and to use these bases as economic assets. There is no place in the entire United States that has done a better job than Alexandria has.” It was a cathartic experience for Alexandria; the city had, just a few years prior, been almost certain that it was on its last gasps. The base closure was devastating. Thousands of people moved away. Property values plummeted by 25%. Unemployment was skyrocketing. But the vision behind the revitalization of that old air force base and the leaders who believed in and implemented that vision turned something that seemed like a symbol of doom into a point of pride. Jon Grafton will always deserve an enormous amount of credit for building back that community pride. Unfortunately, though, while the massive infusions of federal dollars bolstered the renewal of the city’s old air force base, it also, eventually, became a source of tension within the community. Alexandria is 57% African-American, and since the England Authority’s inception, the board has never even been remotely close to reflecting the city’s demographic make-up. Currently, there are only two African-Americans who even work for the Authority, neither of whom are in executive-level positions. Because leadership is made through political appointments (incidentally, two of the ten members are nominated by the Chamber of Commerce), its policy and spending agendas are too often either in competition with or completely in opposition to the municipality and region it is supposed to serve. The other obvious problem with a quasi-public entity that relies exclusively on taxpayer money but is governed by an unelected group of political appointees: Oversight and accountability are enormously challenging, and it’s far too easy to forget the job is about public service. **** In the case of Jon Grafton, this first became apparent twenty years ago. In 1998, Grafton was putting the finishing touches on a home he constructed in Charles Park Extension. (Alexandria is a small town; my late father was the developer of that subdivision). One of Grafton’s employees accused him and Ronnie Hair, the same deputy who also resigned last week, of stealing fencing and landscaping equipment for his personal use. Grafton fired the employee, Joe Slowenski, and as a consequence, several members of the England Authority made a concerted effort to fire both Grafton and Hair. On June 24th, 1998, commissioners met for more than two hours to determine the fate of the two men, in a meeting that was completely closed to the public and the media. By the end of it, Grafton and Hair were given a vote of confidence; their jobs were safe. And then, only a few days later, Grafton continued his purge. From June 30, 1998: For more than three months, the story dominated the headlines of the local newspaper, The Town Talk. It was an enormous scandal at the time, and prominent Alexandria lawyers scrambled to find their way into the drama and put their names in print. All three of the men Grafton fired, it turns out, were former employees of the Air Force base, which garnered them a great deal of public sympathy and support, and Grafton was frequently described as arrogant and abrasive; members of his own commission spoke on the condition of anonymity to candidly express their dislike of him, and some spoke publicly about replacing him as soon as possible. Of course, it never materialized. Both Jon Grafton and Ronnie Hair survived that scandal and remained at the top of the England Authority for another twenty years. Allies and friends of Grafton claim he resigned because of a commission that had splintered into opposite, warring factions and because of health concerns related to a recent heart attack he suffered during a public meeting. That, of course, does not explain the strange and sudden timing, nor does it explain his deputy’s decision to also resign. And while we do not yet have the report from the actual state legislative auditor, we do have this most recent report from the England Authority, which was filed with the auditor. There’s an interesting and noteworthy “audit finding” buried all the way down on page 50. **** In the past, I have been critical of the England Authority’s raison d’être. It baffled me when Grafton decided to compete against the city of Alexandria for development and educational funding opportunities. Three years ago, for example, the England Authority attempted to wrest away a $23 million community college campus from the city. More recently, the England Authority is set to spend nearly $4 million to construct a “community center” that is actually designed to compete against city-owned and privately-owned convention centers, and if you dig a little deeper, they haven’t exactly been subtle about their true intentions. The slideshow the engineer presented during a recent public meeting makes no mention of the actual “community” this center would service (because very few people live anywhere nearby), but it does reference the competition: I have previously argued in favor of sunsetting the England Authority, because it strikes me as offensive and fundamentally unjust for a federally-funded and unelected political subdivision to throw around millions and millions of tax dollars on vanity projects when, only a few miles away, where people actually live, there’s a need for basic infrastructure improvements. However, considering the England Authority now has the opportunity to start fresh, with new leadership, I would be more than happy to give the next administration a fair shot and an open mind, but there is one caveat: No one on the commission should be allowed to nominate a candidate as their next Executive Director. Small town, good ol’ boy nepotism discredits the Authority’s legitimacy more than anything else. These commissioners have a fiduciary responsibility to the nation’s taxpayers to seek out the very best talent, wherever they can find it, and if they cannot appreciate that obligation, they should follow Jon Grafton’s and Ronnie Hair’s example and resign immediately. There’s a saying in the military: “In God We Trust, All Others We Monitor.”

Federal lawsuit claims Louisiana College president refused to hire football coach because of his “Jewish blood.”

According to a complaint filed late yesterday in a federal district court in Alexandria and made available to The Bayou Brief, Dr. Rick Brewer, the president of Louisiana College, a small, Southern Baptist school located in Pineville, refused to hire the top candidate for an assistant football coach position, Joshua Bonadano, because of Bonadona’s “Jewish blood.” The complaint alleges that Bonadona, who was reared in the Jewish faith but converted to Christianity while an undergraduate at LC from 2009-2013, did not receive the job due to the anti-Semitic beliefs of Dr. Brewer, statements, it’s worth nothing, that Brewer apparently made to LC’s head football coach, Justin Charles, who had highly recommended Bonadona for the position. Quoting from the complaint filed on behalf of Bonadona: For more than a decade, Louisiana College has been besieged by controversy, incompetent and divisive leadership, and an almost relentless string of scandals, all of which had occurred during the tenure of the school’s previous president, Joe Aguillard (who, incidentally, is also suing the school for religious discrimination and wrongful termination). But so far, Brewer’s tenure has largely remained scandal-free, and the school’s reputation has been rebounding. The Bayou Brief, at the time of publication, has not received a response from the Louisiana College administration or the office of president Brewer, though it is possible they have not yet been properly served with the complaint, according to one of Bonadona’s lawyers, James Bullman. We will update the story as soon as Louisiana College issues a statement. Prior to filing the lawsuit, Bullman filed a complaint with the EEOC on Bonadona’s allegations, and lawyers for the school had argued that because Bonadona had converted to Christianity and identified himself as a Baptist, any claim of religious-based discrimination were not valid. However, that is not the claim made in the complaint, Bullman explained to The Bayou Brief. Religious schools like Louisiana College are allowed to discriminate on the basis of religion, but they cannot discriminate against any member of a protected federal class as a result of a person’s race or ethnicity.
“People of Jewish heritage are protected as a distinct race under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Sharre Tefila Congregation v. Cobb, 481 U.S. 615 (1987),” the complaint reads. “As such, employment discrimination against an individual based upon his Jewish ethnic heritage is prohibited under 42 U.S.C. 2000e-2.” Bonadona’s mother is Jewish, and his father is a practicing Catholic, facts that allegedly came up several times during his interview with president Brewer. According to Coach Charles, Bonadona was the only candidate he recommended for the position; he had been recruited back to his alma mater, and Bonadona received strong assurances that he would be hired. As a consequence, he resigned his job at Southeastern Missouri State University. He currently is employed at Hendrix College in Arkansas. Bonadona is seeking to recover “backpay, lost employment benefits, costs associated with obtaining a new job, mental and emotional anguish, punitive damages, reasonable attorney’s fees, and costs.” You can read the full complaint here. Exhibit A is his job application.
Exhibit B is his complaint with the EEOC.

Louisiana’s “Disciples of No” are ignoring the warning signs

As the minutes ticked off past the Ways and Means Committee’s scheduled starting time, it was clear something was amiss. By twos and threes the members huddled, talking animatedly, but softly, with more than a few signaling obstinance via the body language of crossed arms. Tweets were flying from reporters’ phones, saying Democrats – and the Black Caucus in particular – were holding firm against any sales tax measure unless some form of income tax reform also advanced. Fifty-five minutes late, Ways and Means chairman Neil Abramson called them to order, with apologies and a patently false excuse of “we’ve had difficulty gathering documents.” Representative Pat Smith’s (D-Baton Rouge) bills were called first, with the increase in the phone sales tax, and the $1.50 surcharge on phone cards advancing to the House floor without objection. But once her bill to roll all the sales tax holidays into a single weekend had been amended to the majority’s satisfaction, Representative Dodie Horton (R-Haughton) objected to reporting the bill favorably. When the roll was called, the bill was approved, with 11 in favor, but three votes against: Horton, DeVillier (R-Eunice), and Seabaugh (R-Shreveport). Normally, that wouldn’t matter, since the bill was going to the floor. But with Stephen Dwight’s (R-Lake Charles) sales tax raiser, HB 23, the next item in the queue, it should have been seen as a caution light. Dwight’s bill cleans the existing four pennies of sales tax and renews a quarter cent of the expiring fifth penny. Black Caucus members have made clear statements for several months now that they won’t back renewal of any part of the fifth penny, but Dwight began the action on his bill by saying, “This is an option that fills some of the fiscal cliff that we’re facing, and sales tax is the only thing I’m comfortable with moving.” Barry Ivey (R-Central) said he appreciated the effort to do something, even if it’s “slightly unpalatable.” “It bothers me that this solution is to extend what was a temporary bridge to the solution,” Ivey remarked. “But with an extremely limited special session call, your options are only bad option A, bad option B, or bad option C.” “This is the only option to go forward,” Dwight insisted. But then came the “chain” amendment, shackling passage of Dwight’s bill to passage of seven others: HB 2, HB 3, HB 11, HB 12, HB 29, HCR 2, and HB 15. Those include work requirements for Medicaid, as well as co-pays and premium payments. In addition, the Speaker’s measures for lowering the state spending cap and for establishing the Louisiana checkbook must pass for Dwight’s bill to take effect: all or nothing. Baton Rouge Representative Ted James began laughing, incredulously. “This is amazing!” he said. “This is like the Michael Jordan of amendments! Dwight, are you okay with this amendment?” When Dwight answered affirmatively, James continued, “I’m very interested in the transparency piece, and I hope the author of that bill includes how much we’re actually paying out in credits, exemptions, and deductions. Because I think the taxpayers deserve to know who’s benefitting. I know the folks in my district want full transparency. They want to know who we’re subsidizing – who’s benefitting from the inventory tax. So I’m not going to object to the Michael Jordan amendment.” That amendment was adopted, and Dwight closed on his bill, saying, “I think this is the bill that we need. I think this is the bill that gets us where we need to be. Is it perfect? No, it’s a work in progress.” Then James did object. “We all question why we’re doing this. We don’t like it, but we’re going to continue to do it. I, for one, am not going to continue to do that. “ “I think this bill needs to come out of this committee,” Dwight responded. “I think without this bill, this session is over. “ “This is not the only bill that we have. It’s not the only solution,” James replied. “Everyone knows what’s going on here: we’re playing a game, and I’m not gonna sit here and play it.” “We’re going back to the people and telling them we’re ready to make a billion dollars in cuts?” Dwight asked. “I’m not ready to make a billion dollars in cuts – not for my hospitals, my universities; not for my TOPS students. I want THIS bill to go forward to the floor.” “I don’t want to kill the bill. I want the gentleman to return it to the calendar – the nice way – voluntarily defer,” James insisted. With heads nodding in agreement all across the committee, the stunned chairman accepted the motion for deferral, then immediately called a recess. They returned to their places within a half hour, and resumed calling the bills on the docket. Speaker Pro Tem Walt Leger, who had six bills on the agenda, said, “I’ve been following what’s been going on, and so I request voluntary deferral of all my bills, in order to give more time for negotiations.” Rob Shadoin (R-Ruston), with two bills, said, “Just reading the tea leaves, I want to follow suit.” One after another, authors appeared and requested voluntary deferrals, until a still-flustered Abramson said with a sigh of relief, “I believe that clears the calendar, correct? We are adjourned.” The warning signs have been obvious: crossed arms, eyes flashing with indignation, statements issued by both House and Senate Democratic and Black caucuses that they would not accept a fiscal cliff solution relying on sales tax in lieu of systemic tax reforms. Despite the alarm bells clamoring loudly from the Ways and Means Committee results, just a couple of hours later House Civil Law added a similar ball-and-chain amendment to HB 15, the Constitutional Amendment changing computation of the state spending cap. Its author is House Speaker Taylor Barras. House GOP leadership should be aware that bills linked by chain amendments are all doomed to failure – a poison pill, if you will. Is that their ultimate strategy – to force failure of this special session so they can spin it as the failure of Democrats, and the governor in particular? Or are these “Disciples of No” true believers in the dogma of smaller government being the key to opening the pearly gates of “cutting our way to prosperity”? Whatever the motivations are, it appears their tunnel vision is preventing them from seeing the train that’s about to cross the tracks ahead.

Day 2: Forging Ahead

Heated at times, House committees hammered away at some of the special session bills.

  On the second day of 2018’s special session, Louisiana’s Republican House leadership gave every indication they’re preparing to forge new shackles for themselves and the administration. They’re setting up to link favored bills in an “all our way or nothing” approach to resolving the fiscal cliff. House Appropriations convened first, taking up bills filed by Speaker Taylor Barras, which would implement two of the demands included in his end-of-January letter to the governor. They started with changes to the state’s expenditure cap, a measurement initially established in 1995. Why change? It doesn’t re-set, and through the years it has grown exponentially,” Barras explained. “When the expenditure limit is a billion to two billion dollars above what you have available, it becomes irrelevant. This would make it a relevant number again. It needs to be a limitation on spending.” Noting that his bills on the topic would also change the rules currently saying any overage must go into the Budget Stabilization Fund (a.k.a. Rainy Day Fund), Barras added, “This would give us the opportunity to decide if we want to bust the cap – and to direct the surplus.” Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne expressed concerns the changes could limit calculations now allowed when the governor drafts his executive budget proposal. Barras, without hesitation, agreed it might do exactly that. LABI and AFP (Americans for Prosperity) put in cards of support, but Speaker Pro Tem Walt Leger said he couldn’t support the concept without seeing what other bills for raising revenue were coming to the House floor, though he wouldn’t formally object to advancing the measures. Appropriations also took testimony on the Speaker’s bill creating the “Louisiana Checkbook” fiscal transparency website. There were cards in support from the coalition of pro-business groups, including the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, as well as LABI and AFP, which have already purchased the LouisianaCheckbook.com web domain. Committee member Blake Miguez jumped on the bandwagon, urging support by saying, “This is important to the taxpayers back home who want transparency.” But Dardenne again had words of caution for the panel, reminding them it would take three years, and tens of millions of dollars to upgrade Louisiana’s computer systems, then migrate them into a program where they all talk to each other.The checkbook concept is brilliant,” Dardenne said, “But let’s do it in the most cost-effective way. This bill requires us to deal with a third-party vendor, yet you have told us repeatedly to minimize contracts with third-party vendors.” The bill advanced to the House floor, without objection. Later in the day, the full House agreed to suspending the rules, eliminating one layover day, so the Speaker’s bills could be voted on as soon as today or Thursday. In Ways and Means, the process of taking testimony on revenue-raising bills began amicably enough, starting with a proposal by Baton Rouge Democrat Ted James – to reduce by half the state allowances for federal excess itemized deductions.This gets us a step in the right direction,” James said. But as Republicans on the panel became increasingly aggressive with their questions, James’ smiling responses became more forced. Committee chair Neil Abramson then asked the author if would consider an amendment to allow allow charitable and mortgage interest to be included – even if it exceeded 50-percent of the federal amount.If it makes the bill better, I’m open to amendments,” James responded. “But if you’re just going to vote no anyway, then don’t waste my time.” The bill was returned to the calendar, and Abramson explained, “We’re just hearing bills today. You may close on it when we vote later.” They heard Ruston Republican Rob Shadoin’s bill to make the so-called “haircut” bills – reducing the allowable percentages of some corporate tax deductions – permanent. They parked it, as well. Baton Rouge Representative Pat Smith’s bill to consolidate the three annual sales tax holidays into one weekend was next. Kenner Republican Julie Stokes applauded the measure, reminding committee members this was a reform suggested by several of the reform task forces in recent years. But Haughton Republican Dodie Horton was having none of it.Why? Why do you want to repeal these holidays, which reward the hardworking taxpayers of Louisiana?” Horton asked.To provide for the fiscal cliff we’re facing,” Smith replied. Ways and Means then turned to bills dealing with sales tax – specifically “cleaning” the four pennies of state sales tax that will remain once the fifth penny falls off the revenue rolls on June 30. The tenor of the questions quickly made clear the bills authored by Lake Charles Republican Stephen Dwight were favored over those filed by Jackson’s Kenny Havard – also a Republican, but more of a centrist than Dwight. Havard became so frustrated he exclaimed at one point, “Either do something – raise taxes or just cut! We could train monkeys to come down here and vote no!” Tension was even more palpable as Speaker Pro Tem Walt Leger presented his group of revenue-raising bills. Aware that House GOP leadership had already labeled the concepts as “non-starters”, Leger began by addressing the expected objections.These bills are designed to offer as many options as possible to manage the fiscal crisis,” he said, going straight into his arguments for advancing HB 9.This comes from the task force recommendations. It shifts the tax brackets back to Stelly, as voted on by the people, creating a more sustainable system,” Leger stated. “We are all too reliant on the sales tax. This is a way to try and balance things out.” Horton objected, saying, “This bill is a significant hike on the middle class. We just had a tax cut from the federal government, and now we’re going to raise their taxes? I can’t support this!” Leger reminded her that repealing parts of Stelly is what sent Louisiana into the spiral of recurring fiscal crises. And he noted that Kansas, which tried similarly cutting taxes with the promise of economic stimulus, had finally recognized the the whole concept was a failure. Horton responded, “But North Carolina!” Leger said, “This bill, in isolation, is not the answer to our problems. But this bill, along with other bills that have been and can be filed, are the ways for us to have a system that is more like a North Carolina, or a state that we would like to emulate.” Leger’s bills were also held for later voting, presumably today. Throughout the day’s hearing, Ways and Means vice chair Jim Morris kept repeating an advisory to bill authors: “Tomorrow, I will offer an amendment to all these bills that come up here – just so you know.” What did he mean by that? Based on prior sessions with this group, they’re going to try and forge a contingency chain – linking their favored bills together with amendments that make passage of those measure an “all or nothing” proposition. For example, the sales tax pennies in Rep. Dwight’s bill won’t be cleaned unless the Speaker’s spending cap and Louisiana Checkbook bills pass first – in essence, exactly what was insisted upon in the Speaker’s letter. It’s a maneuver that’s been tried before – most recently with Representative Barry Ivey’s tax reform bills during the 2017 regular session. And it invariable ends up killing all the bills so linked. Cue Aretha Franklin’s song from 1967…

“The Problems We Face Are Not New”: Promises vs. Partisanship

“We’ve been through this song and dance before. The problems that we face are not new,” Governor John Bel Edwards said, as he addressed the joint session of the Legislature at the start of this, his fifth called special session in just over two years in office. “I know there are a few of you who believe I should not have called this special session. There are even a couple of you who believe there is no fiscal cliff. There are even those of you who acknowledge that there is a fiscal cliff, although you don’t want to fix it,” the Governor said in his speech. “For those of you who acknowledge that there is a cliff, and propose that the only solution is to make spending cuts, as I’ve told you before, I can respect that position. I disagree with it, but I can respect it. What is disrespectful to the people and families of this state is for you to take that position and then also insist that you are not the one that has to make the tough and painful choices. If you want to reduce government spending, propose the specific cuts and put your name on them. But let’s be honest about one thing when you say that government should spend less. What you really mean is that government should do less.” Governor Edwards then gave the assembled legislators some visible examples of “doing less” – singling out his own guests for the occasion. He introduced Brenna Satterfeal, a Southeastern University freshman majoring in Special Education, who fears she’ll have to drop out if TOPS isn’t funded. He also acknowledged ARC of Louisiana director Kelly Monroe, whose organization serves many state residents with disabilities, telling lawmakers 55 to 60 percent of the people ARC serves will lose their benefits without a fix to the fiscal cliff. Further, ARC will have to layoff more than half its workforce – an estimated loss of 2000 jobs. The governor also gave legislators an inescapable reminder of what a “cuts-only” approach this time will do, singling out Children’s Choice waiver recipient Karina Haines, and her mother Tina – both wearing the familiar yellow shirts of disabilities advocates. For while the lobby of the House chambers was a sea of yellow shirts prior to the session convening, the vast majority of Republican House members avoided them entirely, by slipping in a side door. “The problems we face are not new,” Edwards reminded the legislature. “The fiscal cliff is the result of more than $1.3 billion in temporary revenue set to fall of the books June 30th. And yes, that revenue was supposed to serve as a bridge to long-term tax reform. That was the promise that we made to the people of Louisiana.” That’s a major concern for state Senator Troy Carter of New Orleans. The chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus says he’s “not terribly confident” this session can solve the problem. “We know that we can’t cut ourselves out of this deficit,” Carter says. “We know that we can’t tax ourselves out of this deficit. Extending the fifth penny of sales tax is dishonest to the people of Louisiana, because we promised we wouldn’t. We don’t have the luxury of being as divided as some would want us to be,” Carter added. The governor addressed the partisan divide, as well, lobbing a couple of verbal grenades at the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry and its president, Stephen Waguespack. “We have to be more concerned with Louisiana’s future than what score we might receive from a partisan political organization masquerading as a trade association,” Edwards said, as he neared the end of his speech. He was referring to LABI’s annual “Legislative Scorecard”, which grades lawmakers on how closely their votes conform to LABI’s position on various bills. And the governor was clearly referring to Waguespack – who served as former Governor Bobby Jindal’s chief-of-staff – when he added, “We surely can’t afford to outsource our decision-making to the principal architects of the mess we are trying to clean up. Waguespack, who was not in attendance at the Capitol Monday, tweeted a response: “We need more bipartisan solutions and less partisan criticisms. Speech unfortunately prioritized political shots over specific policy proposals.” Yet the governor’s address concluded with a plea to leave partisanship out of the decision lawmakers will be making. “For the next 17 days, I am asking you not to think only as Democrats or Republicans, but first and foremost as Louisianans. We all want the same things,” Edwards said. There is only one ‘side’ to be on here and that is on the side of the people of our great state who are tired of hearing about the same problems year after year with no resolution.” What does Louisiana’s most experienced lawmaker think the outcome of this session will be? I’m not sure there will be a long-term resolution like there ought to be,” Senate President John Alario said, with a slow shake of his head, and a sigh. “We have to wait on the House.”

Special Session: Who Will Go Home Hungry?

Following the failure to pass any tax reform measures during the 2017 regular legislative session, two things became clear: (1) a 2018 special session would be necessary, and (2) Governor John Bel Edwards hoped it could be as amicable as a church potluck supper, with everyone bringing something to the table. Yet no matter how often the governor reminded House leaders of the invitation, they and members of their “tighten your belt” faction were reluctant to even consider breaking bread together. On the other hand, they had no compunctions about pouring from their bottles of whine. House Appropriations chairman Cameron Henry (R-Metairie) led off in September, with his Facebook video saying, “The governor has now started ‘fear season’ – sending out information on things that are going to be cut if he doesn’t get all the money he wants.” Representative Alan Seabaugh (R-Shreveport) imbibed his whine repeatedly, appearing regularly on his hometown’s KEEL -710 radio, saying things like, “We need to stop talking about putting our hands deeper in the pockets of the taxpayer of Louisiana,” and, “Whenever you hear them talking about a compromise, it means Republicans doing what the governor wants.” House Speaker Taylor Barras has taken a few sips himself, telling the Moon Griffon Show audience, “Their definition of reform is anything that’s got a billion dollars tied to it,” and “We want some spending and budget reforms.” When House leadership and the conservative cadre finally submitted their RSVP to this supper, what did they want to bring? “Just desserts”. In a state with the third-highest poverty rate in the nation, they want those receiving Medicaid benefits to prove their worth – by requiring them to work, to pay premiums for this insurance, and make co-payments for benefits received. They want a year-to-year cap placed on all state spending. And then there’s the real cream puff – the“Louisiana Checkbook” website. Nine of the first fifteen House bills filed for this special session address those items. Yet among the 23 House bills filed for the special session by the close of business Friday, fourteen measures attempt to add some nutrition to the starvation budget necessitated by the fiscal cliff. Democrats, like Speaker Pro Tem Walt Leger of New Orleans, and Ted James of Baton Rouge are bringing the meat and potatoes of recommended tax system reforms; including reducing the state-allowed amount of federal excess itemized deductions, imposing sales tax on services, and reducing the rebatable amount of corporate taxes paid. Three of the House’s more moderate Republicans are bringing sustenance, as well. Rob Shadoin (R-Ruston) has a bill to compress income tax brackets, along with one to permanently reduce allowable corporate tax deductions. Both Kenny Havard (R-Jackson) and Stephen Dwight (R-Lake Charles) have measures to permanently and completely clean the four pennies of state sales tax that remain after the fifth penny expires June 30 this year. It remains to be seen whether the 21-member House Ways and Means Committee – comprised of 13 Republicans and 8 Democrats – will allow any of these items to be brought out of the kitchen and served to the full membership. Nine of the committee’s GOP members can be deemed part of the “tighten your belt” coalition. The other four Republicans have previously broken ranks with that group – something House leadership should consider as cautionary. They should also be cognizant of results of a recent public opinion poll. Conducted February 7-12 by Anzalone Lizst Grove Research, the statewide commissioned poll surveyed 600 likely voters and found that 54% blame the fiscal cliff on “too many tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy, while just 36% see it as a result of “not enough spending cuts.” When given a choice between finding new revenue or cutting the state budget, a better than 2:1 majority prefers to “identify new revenue, even if it means raising taxes, to fill the budget shortfall” (58%) over “cutting one billion dollars from the state budget, which would fall largely on education and healthcare funding” (26%). The poll also showed 84% of surveyed voters said the Legislature should work with the Governor to find a way to replace expiring revenue. That included 78% of all Republicans queried, as well as 77% of Independents. When asked, “If your legislator worked with Governor Edwards to replace the expiring revenue, and avoid cuts to education and healthcare funding, would you be more or less likely to support that legislator?”, the results were as follows: overall, 78% were more likely to support the particular lawmaker, with 84% of Democrats, 73% of Republicans, and 76% of Independents saying “more likely.” So despite all the legislative posturing, it appears the people – who will be rating lawmakers and the governor’s job performances at the ballot box next year – want a bi-partisan buffet served up when the special session convenes at 4 p.m. Monday. Shall we say grace?