Critics of Gov. John Bel Edwards, most of them Republicans who can’t cope with having a Democrat holding the state’s highest public office, conveniently forget the facts when calling him a spendthrift. Yes, he and the other major gubernatorial candidates in 2015 said they wouldn’t raise taxes, but none of them had any real sense of how bad a financial situation the winner would inherit.

Edwards and members of the Legislature faced a $943 million shortfall in the fiscal 2016 budget when they took office with only five months to wipe it out. They were also confronted with a $2 billion deficit for the new year beginning July 1, 2016.

The news was even worse with a $2.6 billion deficit forecast for 2018-19 and a $2.8 billion shortfall seen in 2019-20.

Edwards and legislators who agreed to raise temporary revenues during two special sessions in 2016 realized there were no other choices. The governor gets the blame, but Republicans obviously went along because they control both houses.

“I did not call you here to continue putting off the tough decisions. We’ve done that for eight years,” Edwards said in his remarks to open the first special session.

Budget cuts and new revenues reduced the $956 million shortfall in 2016 by $700 million. Temporary taxes also reduced the 2016-17 deficit from $2 billion to about $800 million. However, the temporary taxes go off the books July 1, 2018, and that will create a $1.3 billion to $1.5 billion shortfall.

Legislators were supposed to keep that from happening this year by reforming the budget and tax systems and finding budget cuts and revenues to avoid the upcoming “fiscal cliff.” However, they failed miserably.

The House even refused to vote on a budget for the new fiscal year, creating the need for a half-million-dollar special session currently under way. Rep. Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, who doesn’t understand the meaning of compromise, had the gall to blame Edwards and the Senate although the budget bill died in the House.

That is where we are today and how we go here. There have been some failures up and down the political landscape, but Republicans are equally at fault. However, you will notice they have come away with few complaints about their shortcomings that have contributed heavily to this state’s financial woes.

Contrast what has happened in the last year and a half with the situation former Gov. Bobby Jindal faced when he first took office in 2008. Jindal inherited a $1 billion surplus from former Gov. Kathleen Blanco and proposed a $30.1 billion budget in his first year, bigger than the budget proposed for the next fiscal year. Surpluses were also forecast for the next two budget years.

Jindal proposed using $420 million in one-time money in his first budget to fund ongoing expenses, which would become a disturbing trend of his administration over the next seven years.

Perhaps the most disastrous financial mistake in Jindal’s first year was repeal of the Stelly income tax plan. Although at first saying he opposed repeal, Jindal went along with the idea when he saw how politically appealing it would be. Even then he may have been harboring those unsuccessful presidential ambitions.

The nonpartisan Public Affairs Research Council (PAR) opposed repeal, saying the loss of tax revenue would make the state more dependent on the unpredictable flow of revenue from oil and natural gas.

Repeal of the Stelly Plan cost the state $359 million in lost revenues in 2009-10 and $1.15 billion over the next four years. The losses since then are much higher, and PAR’s’ prediction came to pass. We are still feeling the effects of the decline in the price of oil with its accompanying loss of jobs.

Higher education and health care were the major victims of Jindal’s reckless budgeting practices that were approved by many of the legislators still in Baton Rouge. They like to put those days “in their rearview mirrors.”

Economic experts continue to insist the state wouldn’t be facing its current financial problems if Stelly had stayed on the books. House Republicans even today refuse to adjust income tax rates for fear of offending their political contributors. It is the best revenue source because it grows with the economy, and taxpayers who benefit are better able to pay the tax.

Budget woes during the Jindal years were also compounded by the fact he signed the no-tax pledge of Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform.

We haven’t heard much from the Norquist organization lately, but Americans for Prosperity has become its major successor. Some call AFP a political terrorist organization because of its threatening tactics towards any Louisiana public official who even thinks about voting for taxes.

Rep. Steve Carter, R-Baton Rouge, sponsor of the essential but ill-fated gasoline tax increase, was right on target when he said Louisiana’s political system is being controlled by forces from out of state.

House Republicans, the state GOP party, conservative talk show hosts and some political action groups are devoting major resources in order to lay all the blame for the state’s financial ills at Edwards’ feet. As wrong and as unfair as that may be, the governor refuses to be deterred and continues to express optimism about the state’s future.

Jim Beam, the retired editor of the American Press, has covered people and politics for more than five decades. Contact him at 337-515-8871 or jbeam@americanpress.com.