Gov. Jeff Landry’s budget proposal includes $93.5 million for Louisiana’s new private school voucher program – a $50 million increase over current spending levels. Senate President Cameron Henry told The Times-Picayune | Baton Rouge Advocate’s Patrick Wall the Legislature has no intention of funding the extra money in a year when lawmakers also are looking for at least $200 million to increase teacher pay:
“I was not remotely expecting that,” [Senate President Cameron] Henry said about Landry seeking an extra $50 million for the program. “Somehow there was a misunderstanding, which we will rectify.” Despite Landry’s request, Henry said he will hold firm to spending roughly the same amount as vouchers cost this school year: $43.5 million “It will be no more” than that, he said, “because that was the original agreement.”
The recent failure of Amendment 2 is putting pressure on legislators to provide teachers with a meaningful pay raise, which is complicating budget math:
Without raising taxes or otherwise boosting state revenue, it’s unclear how the state could afford teacher pay and the nearly $100 million Landry wants for LA GATOR, said Jan Moller, executive director of Invest in Louisiana, a nonpartisan think tank. “There’s going to be really tough choices that the Legislature will be forced to make,” he said.
Feds fiscal retreat has consequences for states
Efforts are underway in Washington to shift more costs and responsibilities to states for programs that provide food assistance, health care, disaster recovery and other priorities. Carl Davis of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy explains why this move would strain state budgets:
The policy developments unfolding at the federal level are very likely to put state budgets under increasing strain in the months and years ahead. Some of that strain is likely to take the form of cuts in intergovernmental grants to states and localities. But states’ own tax revenues are at risk as well due to the economic fallout created by the budding trade war, aggressive immigration actions and rhetoric, and federal employee layoffs and contract cancellations.
Wesley Tharpe of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities explains how the federal government’s shirking of its current responsibilities would lead to widespread harm:
And because states must balance their budgets each year, many would likely struggle to cover the added costs even when times are good. Because most states and localities would be unable to fully cover the added costs by raising new revenues, they would have to impose cuts — either directly to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or by shifting funds from other state services, such as education, and likely both.
Bad roads cost state drivers
The poor quality of Louisiana’s roads create exorbitant costs for state drivers. That’s the conclusion of a new report from TRIP. The national transportation research nonprofit explains how inadequate funding on the frontend is creating increased costs on the backend:
Due to inadequate state and local funding, 50 percent of major locally and state-maintained roads and highways in Louisiana are in poor or mediocre condition. Driving on rough roads costs the average Louisiana driver $858 annually in additional vehicle operating costs – a total of $2.9 billion statewide.
Trinity Velazquez of Louisiana First News explains how poor infrastructure affects Louisiana’s economy:
“Leaders across Louisiana should be concerned about the poor condition of infrastructure across our state and how it weakens our economic development and quality of life,” Adam Knapp, CEO of Leaders for a Better Louisiana, said. The state’s transportation system is vital to Louisiana’s economy. In 2023 alone, 1.4 billion tons of freight worth $591 billion moved across the state. That number is expected to increase by 75% in weight and 107% in value by 2050, according to TRIP.
Maternal deaths occur long after delivery
Almost one-third of maternal deaths from 2018 to 2022 occurred six weeks or more after giving birth, according to a new report from JAMA Network. Roni Caryn Rabin of The New York Times reports on the need for better care after a mother’s postpartum period:
“Our study illustrates why we can’t take our eyes off maternal health,” said Dr. Rose L. Molina, an associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive biology at Harvard Medical School and one of the study’s authors. Women need “access to high-quality care from the moment of conception to a full year after birth,” she added. While there has been a growing emphasis on care in the year after childbirth, “we’re not there yet.”
The federal government appears to be moving in the opposite direction:
The study was based on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s division of reproductive health, which monitors maternal mortality and identified the risk of so-called later maternal deaths — those that occur from six weeks to one year after the birth. The Trump administration shuttered the division last week amid mass layoffs and a restructuring of the agency, even though the United States has far higher maternal mortality rates than any other industrialized nation, with stark disparities among racial and ethnic groups. The division’s research aimed at understanding and narrowing those health gaps.
Number of the Day
70% – Percentage of Americans who oppose cutting Medicaid to pay for tax cuts. (Source: Fabrizio Ward via Politico)