State lawmakers delayed a vote on Wednesday to extend the contract of the vendor that runs Louisiana’s new private school voucher program, which drew a quick rebuke from Gov. Jeff Landry. The Times-Picayune | Baton Rouge Advocate’s Patrick Wall explains how members of the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget are concerned with ballooning costs of the LA GATOR Program:
Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, said the budget committee will approve the contract at its meeting next month. Before that, he wanted to use Wednesday’s hearing to inform lawmakers and the public about the potentially huge cost of subsidizing private education for thousands of students, he said. “Of all the things we have in the budget right now, this is the one item that can grow the fastest out of control,” he said during the hearing. “That’s why I want to spend this amount of time on it.”
Wall explains how expensive subsidizing private school tuition can be:
[Henry] said Wednesday that if all 35,000 eligible students who applied got grants, it would cost the state $350 million. “I don’t think that’s realistic at this time — I don’t think that will ever be realistic in Louisiana,” Henry said, adding that he worries the state is “giving parents false hope.”
The inimitable Jim Beam of the Lake Charles American-Press notes the groups promoting private school voucher programs across the country, including in Louisiana.
Medicaid cuts create Congressional heartburn
A sweeping spending package moving through Congress would cut $880 billion from Medicaid in order to partially offset more than $5 trillion in tax cuts that will primarily benefit the wealthy and large, profitable corporations. While all GOP members approve of the massive tax cuts, the targeting of the federal health care program is causing heartburn for some moderate republicans whose votes are needed to advance the larger package. Jennifer Shutt and Ashley Murray of States Newsroom report:
On the other ideological side of the conference, a group of 14 centrist House Republicans sent a letter to GOP leaders a few days after voting to adopt the budget resolution to announce they “cannot and will not support a final reconciliation bill that includes any reduction in Medicaid coverage for vulnerable populations.” “Cuts to Medicaid also threaten the viability of hospitals, nursing homes, and safety-net providers nationwide,” they wrote. “Many hospitals — particularly in rural and underserved areas — rely heavily on Medicaid funding, with some receiving over half their revenue from the program alone.
Lessons from pandemic can help states manage federal funds
The federal government provided states with more than $800 billion to help navigate the turmoil of the Covid-19 pandemic. State leaders implemented different strategies to track and spend this historic influx of money. Pew’s Rebecca Thiess explains how states can use the experiences of the pandemic to help manage federal funds in the future:
Amid growing uncertainty about the future of federal funds, states need funding management practices that can make the most of dollars that are already available and can be used or adapted for new federal funding opportunities as they arise. The additional capacity and practices that states created to manage federal money provided in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as some established after the Great Recession and major natural disasters, have applications for managing federal funds moving forward. States can draw on the lessons learned from the pandemic to assess which workforce, technology, or process capabilities can most efficiently manage one-time and recurring federal funding.
Getting rural health-care workers to stick around
States face a plethora of challenges, such as location and lower pay, in enticing health-care providers to stay in rural areas. But some states are implementing new policies that aim to attract – and retain – doctors, nurses and others to these underserved communities. Governing’s Jule Pattison-Gordon reports on efforts in Colorado:
In response, Colorado created the Colorado Health Service Corps, a loan repayment program that helps participants with student debt if they commit to spend several years in underserved areas directly caring for patients, regardless of ability to pay. (…) Colorado’s Corps currently has 550 participating clinicians, making it the largest state-based program. Since the program’s launch in 2009 roughly 2,000 people have participated, with fewer than 0.5 percent trying to renege on their agreements.
Pattison-Gordon explains how the University of Illinois College of Medicine Rockford created an education program tailored for rural medicine:
That program began with a cohort of four in 1993 and has since graduated 271 physicians. (…) So far, 75 percent of Rural Medical Education program graduates have gone on to serve in towns with fewer than 20,000 people, and they’re almost 10 times more likely than the university’s other graduates to practice in communities experiencing a shortage of primary care, the institution reports. They stay an average of eight to 10 years in their first practice location, Hinkle says. That’s especially significant given that, unlike some other initiatives states have tried, this program doesn’t offer financial incentives for practicing in rural areas.
Number of the Day
41.1% – Percentage increase in credit card delinquencies in Louisiana from February 2022 and August 2024. In total, 140,551 Louisianan consumers were at least 60 days past due on their credit card bill. (Source: Urban Institute)