Tag: Taylor Barras

In case anyone watching Gov. First came something of an extended victory lap over what he’s done already. Edwards pointed to the fact that, for the first time in his term, he wasn’t there to talk budgetary doom and gloom. “Unlike in the past, today, we have the opportunity to put our names on a budget we can all be proud of. That last line was meant for an audience of one, House Speaker Taylor Barras, who has used his position on the Revenue Estimating Conference to unilaterally block money in economists’ forecasts from being spent. Also on Edwards’ “done” list were Medicaid expansion, impressive strides in foster care and adoption, economic development wins and criminal justice reform. Edwards pushed the teacher pay raise that he and many legislators support, starting at $1,000 this year for teachers and $500 for support staff, as well as a potentially more controversial increase in direct aid to schools. He talked up efforts to protect people with pre-existing conditions from losing their health coverage, now that a lawsuit to overturn the Affordable Care Act — backed by Republican Attorney General Jeff Landry over Edwards’ strenuous objection — is working its way through the courts. “And we should have a robust discussion about why that coverage is now at risk.” Also on the governor’s agenda are two long-stalled items, a minimum wage hike and efforts to overcome Louisiana’s wage gap between men and women. But as Monday's proceeding hinted, this legislative session could be as divisive as usual.

House Speaker Taylor Barras was described last week “as the ultimate gentleman” in the announcement that he would be the Mardi Gras Grand Marshal in his New Iberia hometown. Twice, adversaries tried to oust him and, by his own account, came close. Edwards must go in the election slated for October, Barras said. Or it could have been because he’s term-limited and going into his final year in the Louisiana House. Barras said that with a GOP supermajority in the House and/or a Republican sitting in the governor’s office on the fourth floor of the State Capitol, the Affordable Care Act, or more specifically the Medicaid expansion part of it, will finally be emasculated. Barras points out that about half of the state’s $34 billion budget comes from the federal government, mostly in the form of Medicaid reimbursements, and should that money go away, the state would be unable to cover Medicaid expenses without raising taxes. As part of the Affordable Care Act of 2010, the federal government picked up nearly every penny of the costs for covering the working poor with Medicaid. The federal government will be sending Louisiana money from taxpayers in other states to fund the remaining 90 percent of the costs. Republicans are 11 seats shy of the 70-vote supermajority they would need to ignore Democrats in the 105-member Louisiana House of Representatives. Then come the fall, all the seats are up for election, including five that are held by Democrats in districts that strongly supported Republican President Donald Trump.

Greg Hilburn/USA Today Network BATON ROUGE – Maybe it was Louisiana lawmakers’ exhaustion after four legislative sessions this year. Maybe the urgency of cuts only days away suddenly felt very real. Many lawmakers seemed almost giddy — dancing, clapping and taking selfies — after the agreement was struck and they could end the tense, frustrating months of arguing about state spending. She didn’t vote for either sales tax proposal in the second special session that cratered without a deal. And I just need to make sure you’re level-headed, remain strong, can handle it until the end because it’s going to get probably messy before we get there.” The House speaker, who helped block previous agreements on taxes, also gave lawmakers trying to rally tax votes an assurance. He said he told them if one of their tax measures had enough support to pass, “I will not stop that process.” When the deal on the 0.45 percent tax rate came up for approval, Barras supported it, lighting up his green button early enough to show other reticent Republicans his decision. Though House GOP leader Lance Harris didn’t support the final tax, he didn’t work to block it, a critical decision that helped pass the deal. The final deal avoided all the worst-case-scenario reductions. The House and Senate have spent 46 weeks — nearly an entire year — in session since 2016, as Edwards repeatedly called them back to work on closing budget gaps. Sen. Jack Donahue, the Mandeville Republican who handled Davis’ sales tax bill in the Senate, told senators: “I know you all are as sick of this as I am.

Did anyone doubt that legalizing medical marijuana dispensing in Louisiana would descend into something less about medicine and more about politics and money? Although Louisiana legalized use of marijuana for medical purposes over a quarter-century ago, the state had no lawful way to dispense it. These changes invited bucks and influence to shape what would come. To date, research shows only two conditions affected significantly and positively by ingesting marijuana: chronic pain and spasticity. Bills this legislative session have tried to multiply applicable ailments for treatment and to make legal vaporization. A bill that has passed the House of Representatives, although removing vaporization, added several medical conditions to the list of legal uses. According to objective business and science criteria vetted by a committee separate from the board, it ranked only fourth in the area. Former two-time mayoral candidate Troy Henry advises his brother, who owns the long-standing pharmacy, on its operation. Political clout may have played no role in the board’s selections last week, yet the overtones injected into the process create an unseemly appearance. When the Louisiana Legislature is in session, he writes about legislation in it at http://www.laleglog.com.