Legislators end regular session; cuts could affect Moss Regional
Published 6:31 am Tuesday, June 7, 2016
<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">BATON ROUGE —Legislators ended their regular session here Monday, and opened a second special session 30 minutes later. The goal is to try and raise revenues to reduce $600 million in cuts made to the $26 billion budget for the state’s fiscal year beginning July 1. Taxes couldn’t be increased during the regular session.</span>
<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">One of those reductions totals $100 million and it affects the private hospitals that operate the former charity hospital system. Moss Regional Health Clinic at Lake Charles could be affected by the cuts.</span>
<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">For the first time since the 1970s, the House ended the session without passing House Bill 2, the capital construction bill. The House and Senate couldn’t agree on changes made to the legislation. The measure had been on the House calendar since June 1, and it sat there until Monday when the House refused to call it from the calendar. It will come up again at the special session.</span>
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<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Lawmakers passed the operating budget Sunday. Southwest Louisiana legislators, with one exception, voted for the budget that could again threaten closure of the Moss Clinic. The clinic is operated by Lake Charles Memorial Hospital. The Moss clinic, along with hospitals at Alexandria and Bogalusa, were threatened with closure in an earlier version of the budget.</span>
<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The House restored funding for the hospitals when it debated House Bill 1 that contains the budget. However, the Senate wasn’t confident of the revenue sources used by the House and reduced funding for TOPS and the hospitals.</span>
<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The Senate voted 35-2 for the budget. Sen. John Smith, R-Leesville, was recorded as absent. The House vote was 63-38. Rep. Bob Hensgens, R-Abbeville, was the only area legislator voting against.</span>
<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Sen. Ronnie Johns, R-Sulphur, said the state Department of Health will decide where the $100 million hospital budget reductions in the Senate version of the bill will take place. The area legislation delegation will work to ensure the Moss clinic is protected, he said.</span>
<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The budget approved Sunday funds the popular TOPS scholarship program at only 48 percent, contains the hospital cuts and reductions to prisons, public schools, higher education, the voucher program for students in poor performing public schools, K-12 public schools, child welfare services and other health care services.</span>
<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Gov. John Bel Edwards is asking lawmakers to fund the critical services at the special session. The budget bill will be reconsidered during the special session in hopes of reducing the shortages. Committee hearings on proposed bills will begin today.</span>
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<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Rep. Mike Danahay, D-Sulphur, said the budget cuts are severe and legislators who oppose raising more revenues will have to explain to their constituents why the reductions were allowed to take place.</span>
<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Johns and Danahay said changes to health care insurance premium taxes could raise $150 million. They said the changes have been agreed to by more insurance companies.</span>
<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Edwards wants to reduce the amount of excess federal itemized deductions that taxpayers can claim on their state income taxes to 57.5 percent. The deductions have been at that level before. Edwards said that would still allow taxpayers to claim deductions for their mortgage interest payments and charitable contributions.</span>
<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Johns said another possible revenue source are the assessment payments homeowners make to the Citizens Property Insurance Corp. It is the state-backed company for property owners who can’t purchase insurance on the open market.</span>
<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Current law allows homeowners to reclaim 75 percent of those assessments. A proposed bill would reduce that to 25 percent. Johns said 40 percent of the assessments go unclaimed.</span>
<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Corporate tax breaks are also on the agenda as possible revenue sources.</span>
<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Johns, Danahay and other members of the area delegation said they don’t think lawmakers are in a mood to change income tax rates that are the subject of other bills.</span>
