Sen. Regina Barrow’s Act 325 formed a new ombudsman’s office in 2023 to investigate complaints about the treatment of children in state care. The office’s first annual report provides more examples of how the Department of Children and Family Services is falling short. The Times-Picayune | Baton Rouge Advocate’s Alyse Pfeil reports:
“Complaints ranged from a case worker’s failure to return repeated phone calls to insufficient or inaccurate information provided to the complainant or contained in case records,” the report says. Other types of complaints said DFCS failed to place foster children with family members and keep siblings in the same home, even when it was possible to do so.
DCFS Secretary Rebecca Harris lashed out at the ombudsman, former juvenile court judge Kathleen Stewart Richey:
Sen. Katrina Jackson-Andrews, D-Monroe, said she was more “shocked” about the “back-and-forth between the two agencies” than about the findings of the report itself. Said Sen. Beth Mizell, R-Franklinton: “This is really absurd to me, that we’re dealing with two different directions, but we’re trying to get to the same good place for our children.”
Using taxpayer dollars to secretly court aerospace companies
Two bills aimed at attracting aerospace companies to Louisiana are nearing final passage after clearing the Louisiana Senate on Monday. House Bill 1088 would provide state and local tax breaks for aerospace facilities, while House Bill 1179 would shore up Louisiana’s generous property tax break for manufacturers to aerospace companies. The Louisiana Illuminator’s Wesley Muller reports:
House Bill 1088 would provide a sales tax rebate on the purchase or rental of items, equipment and materials used in aerospace facilities by companies that create at least 200 direct full-time jobs and spend at least $1 billion in capital before July 1, 2031. [Rep. Tony] Bacala’s other bill would ensure that aerospace manufacturers can claim the state’s Industrial Tax Exemption Program, which provides lucrative tax breaks on parish property taxes. Bacala, in an interview, said aerospace manufacturers already qualified for ITEP under existing law and are reaffirmed in House Bill 1179.
Lawmakers are taking taxpayer dollars, which could be used to give teachers a raise, improve infrastructure or strengthen the state’s fortified roofing program, to court billion-dollar rocket companies. But the public is barred from knowing the details of the deals:
There are several potential space flight projects that Louisiana is competing for, but the details are confidential. A few state officials, including legislators, are privy to more information about the potential project but have signed nondisclosure agreements and aren’t allowed to discuss them publicly.
State lawmakers reconsider costly private school vouchers
Many states have created voucher programs in recent years that divert public tax dollars to private schools. These programs are extremely expensive because they essentially subsidize the tuition of students who are already enrolled in private schools, which represents entirely new costs for states. Joanna LeFebvre of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities explains:
An analysis of data from state school voucher programs in seven states that created new or recently expanded existing programs found most newly eligible school-aged students had already been enrolled in a private school or were being homeschooled in the previous year. For example, participation in Florida’s school voucher program doubled in 2023, when the state eliminated income limits, with 84 percent of new 1st through 12th grade voucher recipients having already been enrolled in private school.
At the same time, policymakers are also contending with the fiscal fallout of the federal megabill, which shifts more costs from Washington to state legislatures. Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry’s request to double funding for the state’s private school voucher program is giving Senate leaders heartburn:
They want more information about the vouchers’ impact on student outcomes, especially because prior research found that school vouchers caused declines in Louisiana students’ test scores, particularly in math. Lawmakers chose to fund public school tutoring instead of a private school voucher expansion last year, citing concerns about possible public school funding reductions, lack of voucher-related benefits in rural areas, and ongoing costs, which could reach $500 million annually when fully expanded.
Rural health fund could be a cash cow for big companies
The federal tax and budget megabill included a $50 billion fund to address rural health issues, a move to assuage concerns for how the new law’s massive Medicaid cuts will impact rural hospitals. Sarah Jane Tribble of KFF Health News explains how big companies are using the fund to position themselves for a big payday:
(S)tate plans reveal that a heavy dose of prescribed spending will go to companies that can increase the use of electronic health records, strengthen cybersecurity, and improve state and health system technology platforms. And at least four large-scale coalitions of companies are now pitching multipronged services to the states. … How those services will help improve the health care of rural Americans at places such as Open Door remains an open question.
The funding from the Rural Health Transformation Program won’t be enough to offset the new law’s estimated $137 billion cut to federal Medicaid spending in rural areas over the next decade. In total, the megabill cuts Medicaid by nearly a trillion dollars over the next decade.
Number of the Day
55% – Share of Americans who say their financial situation is getting worse. (Source: Gallup)