A deal on teacher pay?

Gov. Jeff Landry is proposing to use $150 million earmarked for K-12 public school operations to partially replace $2,000 stipends state teachers are slated to lose next year. The money is distributed to schools via the Minimum Foundation Program, the state’s public school funding formula. The Louisiana Illuminator’s Julie O’Donoghue reports: 

The plan will require Landry to issue an executive order after the Louisiana Legislature’s session has finished June 1. Two-thirds of state lawmakers in each chamber also have to approve moving the money, with a vote taking place by mail-in ballot. … The money would come from approximately $1.2 billion in the formula that goes to “non-instructional programs” such as school administration, business services, facility acquisitions, construction and other spending that happens outside of classrooms, according to the lawmakers.

Landry is scheduled to hold a news conference at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday. 

Louisiana has a $3.9 billion savings account (the Revenue Stabilization Fund) it can tap to ensure teachers don’t receive a pay cut next year. The Senate is proposing to take $800 million from the account to fund construction projects, corporate giveaways and earmarks in lawmakers’ districts, but not to replace teacher stipends. The Times-Picayune | Baton Rouge Advocate’s Meghan Friedmann reports: 

“If they can find $800 million for local projects, for corporate incentives and other construction needs, then certainly they can find money to keep teachers from taking a pay cut in this economy,” said Jan Moller, director of Invest in Louisiana, a Baton Rouge-based progressive think tank. The Revenue Stabilization Fund should not be a long-term solution, but it could buy legislators time until they reconvene, Moller said.

There’s a better way to ensure teachers don’t receive a pay cut that doesn’t involve taking money away from public schools. A new commentary from Invest in Louisiana’s Jan Moller explains why the Legislature should use the Revenue Stabilization Fund to replace the teacher stipends until a long-term fix can pass. Click here to contact your legislators and tell them to pay our teachers. 

Verify data used for new congressional maps

A bill to reduce the number of Black-majority congressional districts in Louisiana faces one final hurdle before the session ends next Monday. Senate Bill 121 is expected to get a House floor vote on Thursday before advancing to Gov. Jeff Landry for his signature. Community advocate Tia Fields, a policy analyst with Invest in Louisiana, writes in the Illuminator that the Legislature must ensure the numbers behind the new map are accurate:

In some parish segments, voter registration totals appear difficult to reconcile with stated voting age population figures. … Amendments to the bill in last week’s committee hearing add another layer of concern. Substantial boundary changes were adopted after hours of testimony and limited public review. Once entire parishes and precincts are shifted among districts, the population math should be recalculated and explained plainly. Otherwise, Louisiana risks passing a map with a clear political purpose but a data foundation that remains cloudy. 

The new map should be able to withstand public review: 

That review should include more than the total population. Lawmakers should require a district-by-district and parish-segment breakdown showing total population, voting age population, registered Democrats, registered Republicans, no-party voters and other party registrations. The public should be able to see whether the amended map fairly allocates people, not just territory, across Louisiana’s six congressional districts. 

Rural broadband hits a snag

The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program, a $42 billion Biden-era initiative, aimed to expand high-speed broadband access to rural areas. The Trump administration rewrote the rules for the program, which included transitioning away from underground fiber-optic cables to satellites from Starlink, which is owned by Elon Musk. The moves are expected to decrease the number of rural homes and businesses getting high-speed internet. The Times-Picayune | Baton Rouge Advocate’s Jenna Ross explains how efforts to bring high-speed broadband to Lake Providence are stalled again: 

Though Conexon’s award for federal funding was rescinded, the Kansas City-based company was planning to extend fiber across the city on its own dime. With the help of a state grant known as GUMBO, it had already built fiber to homes outside of town. … [Conexon’s co-CEO Jonathan] Chambers says the state owes his company millions. [ConnectLA Executive Director Veneeth] Iyengar says the company needs to complete its work. … “The BEAD program has failed us here,” [Delta Interfaith organizer Nathanael] Wills said.

Frustrated residents are looking to community controlled broadband initiatives: 

“Now I’m not going to kid you: It’s not cheap,” said Gigi Sohn, executive director of the American Association of Public Broadband. “But I just scribbled down a list of a dozen communities across the country that have decided — including Lafayette in Louisiana — to take their future into their own hands.” 

More money for fortified roofs

Louisiana’s fortified roofing program could get another $50 million, under a bill that’s advancing through the Legislature. The Times-Picayune | Baton Rouge Advocate’s Sam Karlin reports: 

The cash would come from excess funds collected by Citizens, the state-created insurer of last resort, and is expected to net an extra $50 million for the program, enough for 5,000 additional roofs — on top of the $30 million the program gets annually. In all, the program would have enough money for 8,000 new fortified roofs this year, nearly double the number completed so far through the grant. To date, the Louisiana Department of Insurance has certified 4,800 roofs through the program.

Houses with fortified roofs are more likely to sustain hurricane-force winds, and have been hailed as a key part of the solution to the property insurance crisis in coastal regions. But demand is outpacing supply for the Louisiana Fortify Homes Program. And the $10,000 grant is not enough to cover the full cost of installing a fortified roof: 

(N)onprofit leaders who help low-income homeowners put new roofs on their homes say the program will need to adapt, especially given that homeowners are expected to pay any expenses over $10,000 on their own dime. “I want them to spend more money,” said William Stoudt, head of Rebuilding Together New Orleans, which helps low-income homeowners put fortified roofs on their homes. “There’s definitely a case for needing $80 million. But the program needs to continue to evolve to account for its changes over the past few years.”

Number of the Day

699,000 – Number of Louisianans who would receive a raise if the federal minimum wage was increased to two-thirds of the national median wage ($20) by 2030. That’s nearly 40% of the state’s workers. (Source: Economic Policy Institute)