WAFB Channel 9, Baton Rouge, LA |2009 Louisiana Legislative Session begins

2009 Louisiana Legislative Session begins

By Caroline Moses - bio | email

BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - The legislative session began at noon Monday and that means the fights are sure to follow. Governor Bobby Jindal welcomed legislators to what he called an "important time to come together." Legislators have about one billion dollars less to spend this year than last year. Already, there have been fights about what to cut. Legislators expect those debates to heat up even more this session.

On the first day of session, Governor Bobby Jindal once again delivered his campaign slogan of change. This year, legislators say they expect drastic change in both chambers. "Well, I think it's going to be a lot different than last year; we have no money this year," said Rep. John LaBruzzo, R-Metairie. "Being short on money always brings a different dynamic," said House Speaker Jim Tucker. "People are probably going to stick to their guns more so than in the past," added LaBruzzo. This session, most legislators are no longer new to their jobs. They understand the process and what it takes to get what they want. "Members are much better prepared to really participate," said Tucker. "This year, I think people are more focused more on their own agendas," said LaBruzzo.

Over 1,000 non-fiscal bills were filed this session, but most of the energy will be spent dissecting Governor Jindal's shrinking budget. "I think the governor got a lot of grace last year and had money to spread around to make people happy," LaBruzzo said. This year, Jindal cut $1.3 billion from the state budget because of declining revenues. Those cuts have legislators looking for some change. Already, they're not all cheering the governor. "When you find yourself in crisis, people really dig into what priorities are more so than when you have a few more dollars to spend," said Senator Eric LaFleur, D-Ville Platte. "It causes people to rigorously defend things they think are important," said Tucker. "I don't think you'll see the cohesiveness this year as you did last year," said LaBruzzo.

Governor Jindal expects some resistance on his budget proposal. He says he's okay with that, as long as lawmakers don't raise taxes and cut enough to maintain his $26.7 billion budget. "We can't tax and spend our way out of this," said Jindal. "We must do more with less." More-with-less seems to be the theme of this year's session. For now, most legislators are out celebrating the start of a two-month budget debate. Tuesday morning, they'll get to work with at least eight committee meetings scheduled.

The session may have just begun, but as expected, day one attracted some protestors to the Louisiana Capitol. Protestors crowded the Capitol steps to fight budget cuts. They deemed it "Black Monday" because of the hefty cuts proposed for education. Students from Nicholls State University wore red and danced around a Paper Mache' shark. They stayed out there for more than two hours, trying to attract legislators to their cause. We can likely expect to see a lot more protests like this in the next couple of months.

State lawmakers have already agreed to the remaining list of road projects to be funded with Louisiana's slice of the federal stimulus money for highways. The joint House and Senate budget committee agreed Monday to $133 million in spending for four projects. The largest is $72 million for widening Interstate 10 in Baton Rouge. In total, lawmakers have agreed to $300 million in highway spending with stimulus dollars. Louisiana Transportation and Development Secretary William Ankner says his department has already started contracting for the work.

©2009 WAFB. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. 

BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - Over 1,000 bills will be debated at the Louisiana Capitol for the 2009 legislative session, but discussions are likely to revolve around House Bill 1, which deals with the state budget.

The bill is more than 200 pages and could lay the foundation for long-term changes in the way state government operates. The state is facing a $1.3 billion revenue drop next year, meaning major cuts loom for health care, education, and other programs.

Governor Bobby Jindal is proposing a $26.7 billion state operating budget. The House Appropriations Committee began holding meetings weeks ago, hoping to get the budget to the governor earlier this year to give legislators time to overturn any veto the governor makes. By law, the governor has the right to line-item veto anything from the budget. It takes a two-thirds vote of the legislature to overturn a veto.

Committee meetings get underway at 9:30 Monday morning, but the session doesn't officially begin until noon. Governor Jindal will speak to a joint session of the legislature at 1:00. He says he will not sign any bill that proposes new taxes, but several of the bills deal with tax hikes.

House Bill 75 would increase cigarette taxes by $1.00 a pack. The bill is proposed by Representative Karen Carter Peterson, D-New Orleans. Peterson says her proposal would bring in about $200 million more a year in taxes. Her hope is that cash would fill in the gaps in health care and higher education in Louisiana.

House Bill 480 could mean the end of red light cameras watching over intersections across Baton Rouge. The bill would prohibit local government from using them to issue tickets, meaning a big goodbye to the two dozen cameras set up at 15 intersections across the area.

House Bill 25 would provide a sales tax holiday for hurricane preparedness items when a named storm threatens and a state of emergency has been issued. If the law is passed, it would eliminate state and local tax on certain items.

While many other states are proposing bills on gun control, one Louisiana lawmaker has proposed a sales tax holiday on the purchase of firearms, ammo, and hunting supplies. If passed, Senate Bill 52 would deem the first weekend of September as "2nd Amendment Weekend."

House Bill 177 would mean a change in how you get popular decongestants. The law aims at designating some decongestant ingredients as controlled dangerous substances, including drugs like Sudafed and Claritin D. It would also require pharmacists to keep track of when and how often you've used those drugs.

Pre-filed House Bills          Pre-filed Senate Bills

©2009 WAFB. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.