Every Louisianan, regardless of their income, race or zip code, deserves access to affordable health care, high-quality schools, reliable transportation networks and a strong safety net in case they fall on hard times. In the two-month “fiscal” session that wrapped up on Thursday, the Legislature took some measured steps toward preserving those goals: 

  • Lawmakers passed a $53.5 billion budget package that avoids major cuts and preserves critical funding for Medicaid, K-12 public schools, public colleges and universities and workforce training programs. As part of this plan, they directed $709 million to address a backlog of transportation needs, as part of $1.2 billion that was taken from the Revenue Stabilization Trust Fund for one-time investments.  
  • Legislators wisely backed away from proposed tax cuts and new spending on private school vouchers that would have endangered the state’s core investments and left the state with large budget gaps to fill in the coming years. 
  • They listened to their constituents by not revisiting the broad overhaul of the state constitution that voters decisively rejected in March. Instead, they sent voters a more narrow amendment that would give public school teachers a permanent salary increase if approved by voters in April 2026. 
  • Harmful legislation to ban Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) practices in state government and public colleges and universities passed the House, but did not come up for debate in the Senate. 

The session was not without disappointments: 

  • For the third year in a row, public school teachers received one-time stipends instead of the permanent pay raise they deserve. As a result, the women and men who are helping to lift Louisiana’s reading scores to record levels continue to be paid less than their colleagues across the South and the rest of the country.
  • Senate Bill 130, billed as a “program integrity” measure for Medicaid, will instead add unnecessary bureaucracy to the Louisiana Department of Health and cause tens of thousands of eligible Louisianans to lose their health coverage for procedural reasons. 
  • Immigrant families in Louisiana will face a harder road thanks to bills that require state agencies to track undocumented immigrants and make it a crime to refuse to cooperate with federal immigration agents. 
  • Bills that would have helped low-income families with children keep more of their earnings by enhancing the Earned Income Tax Credit and establishing a Child Tax Credit failed to gain traction. Legislators also refused to create a new top income-tax bracket for Louisiana’s highest-earning households, which would have raised resources the state  needs in order to make stronger investments in children, families and communities who’ve been left behind for too long.   

By moving cautiously on budget and tax policy, Louisiana lawmakers tacitly acknowledged the grave threats to Louisiana’s fiscal stability from the federal budget reconciliation bill that’s pending on Capitol Hill. As it left the U.S. House, the bill would cut billions in federal funding Louisiana receives for Medicaid, and saddle the state with more than $326 million a year in new costs to maintain SNAP food assistance. Proposed cuts to education programs and the Federal Emergency Management Agency would cause additional damage. 

State legislators recognized the threat, as the state House and Senate each passed resolutions urging Congress to avoid making cuts to Medicaid – cuts that would fall hardest on people with low incomes and the health care providers that serve them. 

Legislators head home at a time of deep economic and fiscal uncertainty. Along with federal threats, the tax cuts that legislators approved in a November special session will make it harder for the state to make new investments in people and communities. Legislators deserve praise for not making these problems worse during the fiscal session. But Louisiana can – and must – do better.