In 2022, the developer of a controversial grain elevator in the historically Black community of Wallace cut a deal with the Port of South Louisiana to avoid roughly $200 million in property taxes. A lawsuit filed Monday accuses the Port and St. John the Baptist Sheriff Mike Tregre of illegally forgiving Greenfield LLC’s tax liability. The Lens’ Delaney Dryfoos reports:
In Greenfield’s PILOT agreement, Greenfield pledged to make a one-time payment of $4 million in 2022, with subsequent annual payments of $2 million to kick in once operations began. Greenfield also agreed to pay the Port annual administrative fees of $300,000 for five years beginning in 2022, presumably when the site was in development, and to continue those administrative payments at a $200,000 per year rate throughout the life of the lease. … In the end, Greenfield never did pay property taxes. Greenfield also did not make any of the agreed-upon PILOT payments.
Property taxes provide local governments with revenue that supports everything from parks and libraries to police and public schools. But as Dryfoos notes, Port officials and Tregre gave away these crucial dollars without the approval of local entities:
The tax-forgiveness decisions were also made without the agreement of other local entities that receive a part of those tax payments, including St. John Parish Council, the School Board, the Assessor, the Library, Lafourche Basin Levee Board, Pontchartrain Levee District and the LA Tax Commission, according to the court filing. … “The Port of South Louisiana’s dealing with Greenfield is the most glaring example of the unfair advantages given to big business that we as residents would never receive,” Joy Banner said (cofounder of The Descendents Project).
Greenfield ultimately shelved its plans to build the grain export facility.
Nursing home investigations take too long
The Louisiana Department of Health does not conduct investigations of abuse and neglect at state nursing homes in a timely manner, with the average incident taking close to 400 days to complete. That’s according to a new report by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor. The Times Picayune | Baton Rouge Advocate’s Alyse Pfeil and Meghan Friedmann report:
It can take months or even more than a year for the state health department to investigate allegations of abuse or neglect at care facilities like nursing homes and group homes for people with disabilities — all while the accused stays on the job, the audit found. Moreover, nursing facilities could unintentionally overlook instances of abuse and neglect committed by potential hires due to loopholes in state health regulations, according to the audit report, which covers a five-year span from the summer of 2018 to the summer of 2023.
LDH explains how low staffing levels hinder the department’s ability to promptly respond to allegations:
About 55 perpetrators per month were referred to LDH for review in the 2021 fiscal year. That increased to 73 per month by 2024. There are just one full-time and two part-time reviewers at the health department. As of August last year, there was a backlog of 354 incidents that needed review, the health department said. The auditor also found loopholes in rules requiring care facilities to check potential employees against the adverse actions list database.
Harmful SNAP changes would increase hunger
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is one of the most effective anti-poverty programs, reaching about 1 in 8 Americans. But cuts and other harmful changes could be in store for the program with a looming Republican trifecta in Washington. A new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities explains why emerging GOP proposals would take food away from millions of people and come at a time when families are already struggling to make ends meet:
These SNAP cuts and policy changes would come at a time of rising food insecurity. After falling for several years, food insecurity rose in 2022 and 2023 (the two most recent years for which data are available), coinciding with higher grocery prices and the end of most temporary pandemic-related relief measures. In 2023, 33.6 million adults and 13.8 million children lived in households that experienced food insecurity, with Black, Latino, and Native American households continuing to experience substantially higher rates of food insecurity than other households.
Calls for more prison oversight
Prisons and jails across the country are plagued by overcrowding and understaffing, which can lead to dangerous consequences for inmates, guards and surrounding communities. Stateline’s Amanda Hernandez reports on the debate of whether providing more oversight is the solution:
Policy experts predict that correctional oversight will take center stage in this year’s legislative sessions, driven by mounting scrutiny of worsening prison and jail conditions and the growing adoption of independent oversight bodies across the country. … But some correctional officials argue that adding another layer of oversight won’t solve their fundamental problem. “We know the root causes of our current conditions: We have too many inmates and too few correctional officers,” Michael Resnick, the prisons commissioner for Philadelphia, … .
Louisiana, which does not have a prison oversight body, recently created harsher criminal penalties that will increase the state’s incarcerated population.
Number of the Day
66% – Percentage of low-income families that struggle to pay bills due to volatile incomes. (Source: Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking 2024 via Brookings)