Members of the Louisiana Senate have cooler heads when it comes to deciding on the value of proposed legislaion.(Photo courtesy of senate.la.gov).

The Louisiana Senate, as it has done for many years, helped make the recently concluded legislative fiscal session more productive by killing some bad bills and taking some positive steps.

However, the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana said the session saw an erosion of ethics and public records laws and diminished laws that promote accountability and transparency in government.

The Senate, instead of eliminating the Revenue Stabilization Trust Fund and moving its $3.9 billion into the Budget Stabilization (Rainy Day) Fund for use with future budget needs, pulled $1.2 billion from the fund for valuable one-time projects.

Senate amendments to the state budget that had been approved by the House set aside $709 million of that money for roads, bridges and similar work that has been delayed much too long, $273 million to boost economic development, $75 million for local water system improvements and $43 million for higher education delayed maintenance.

The House passed sales and income tax changes that only went into effect Jan. 1. The Senate let the income tax cut die and used the sales tax bill to create the Local Revenue Fund to be used solely to offset local costs of eliminating the inventory tax.

Republican Gov. Jeff Landry wanted $93.5 million for the LA GATOR school choice program that will give parents grants for private education., and the House approved that amount. However, Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, said last year only $43.5 million would be spent on what is a new state program.

Henry said he made it clear on how much would be spent in order “to make sure we don’t grow government too fast.”

The Advocate Friday reported that with just an hour left in the session, the Senate killed a controversial bill that would have barred companies from owning both pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs) and pharmacies. Landry got so upset, he said he would call the Legislature back in for a special session to address the issue.

Henry said senators had concerns about the rapid pace at which the bill was being considered. The newspaper said the bill only emerged from a conference committee with the language addressing PBMs.

“There’s a legislative process for a reason,” Henry said. “That amendment did not have one ounce of public testimony through the process.”

The newspaper said CVS, which owns both a PBM and a nationwide chain of drug stores, said the bill would have forced it to close 119 stores in Louisiana.

Henry said the bill wouldn’t have taken effect until 2027 anyway, which meant the Legislature could simply vote on the bill next year.

Louisiana voters on March 29 rejected a complex constitutional amendment that would have provided permanent pay increases for teachers and school support workers. The funds would come from eliminating three education trust funds.

Objections were raised about eliminating those funds and voters didn’t like the complexity of that amendment. So they will see a simpler amendment on the April 18, 2026, ballot.

The House and Senate worked together to come up with that amendment. It took three bills. One eliminated the trust funds, a second used those funds to lower teacher retirement debt and the third levied the raises — $2,250 for teachers and $1,125 for support workers.

Here is some other action from the session.

• The Legislature approved a bill that aims to stop out-of-state doctors from prescribing abortion drugs.
• Both houses passed a bill that would require app stores to verify the age of users.
• A bill that would ban Louisiana’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs had Black legislators calling it racism. The bill passed the House but died on the Senate calendar.
• Passed a bill that aims to provide public access to certain juvenile criminal records, which drew considerable opposition from advocates for juveniles.
• Louisiana may be able to speed up executions after passage of an overhaul of post-conviction relief. It is expected to affect more than the state’s 55 death row inmates.
• Approved an amendment, if approved by voters, that could make it easier to fire state workers who are protected by civil service.

A special thanks to the state Senate and its President Henry for using so much common sense to bring some sanity to the legislative process. We needed the comfort they gave us in these trying times.

 

Jim Beam, the retired editor of the American Press, has covered people and politics for more than six decades. Contact him at 337-515-8871 or jim.beam.press@gmail.com.

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