There are only two areas of state government that have standstill budgets for the next fiscal year: the legislative and judicial branches, with $108 million and $176 million proposed, respectively.
That means while most all other branches, departments and agencies are taking cuts to help address the $1.6 billion shortfall, lawmakers and judges are getting a pass, according to the Public Affairs Research Council.
In its latest commentary on the state budget, it is recommended that the Legislature and the judiciary each take a 5 percent cut, which would save the state $13 million next fiscal year.
“Unlike just about everyone else, these government bodies have enjoyed increased budgets the past eight years,” said PAR President Robert Travis Scott.
Political Hall of Fame facing reductions
With budget reductions slated for the Political Museum and Hall of Fame in Winnfield, sympathetic supporters are scrambling for ways to find cash, and Appropriations Chair Jim Fannin is helping lead the charge.
Overall the museum is facing a $50,000 loss in the budget of the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism. Fannin’s HB 125 would rework the funding scheme in the Winn Parish Tourism Fund so that the museum would get an additional $10,000 annually, bringing their local haul to around $45,000. But that still leaves the political hub $40,000 in the hole.
“It’s in my district and I don’t think any of us want to see it shut down or scaled back,” Fannin said.
Ticket prices for annual induction ceremony have gone up and there’s also a drive underway to increase memberships.
As for Fannin, he is currently not a member of the Political Hall of Fame. His legislation, however, should probably be considered as his official nomination paperwork.
The bill has been passed by the House and is pending action on the Senate side.
Move to regulate cable providers fails
When asked last week to give the Public Service Commission the authority to regulate cable and video service providers, the House Commerce Committee changed the channel.
HB 534 by Rep. Joe Bouie, D-New Orleans, would have stripped the secretary of state’s office of its current oversight role and passed it along, with some additional responsibilities, to the PSC. But most of the lawmakers on the committee said they weren’t provided with a good enough reason to make the change. The bill was deferred by a vote of 14-3.
Brandon Frey, executive counsel to the PSC, said the commission passed a resolution earlier this month to ask for the power to adopt new standards of customer service for cable providers. Supporters say the goal was not to create new fees for the PSC, or to expand the staff, but to rather add a new layer of oversight to providers that are bundling their products with phone services, which are already being regulated by the commission.
“The commission does field a high number of complaints for an area that they do not have jurisdiction over,” Frey said. “Some commissioners say they field more complaints about this than the areas they do have jurisdiction over.”
Rep. Jay Morris, R-Monroe, argued that the market is already regulating cable and video services and consumers can turn to satellite or Internet TV if they’re displeased.
“In years past cable was your only option,” he said. “But today it’s not. It’s not exactly a monopoly.
Why burden the cable company with more regulation and another set of standards, that they don’t know yet what they will be, when they’re already subject to competition?” Cheryl P. McCormick, CEO of the Louisiana Cable and Telecommunications Association, added in an interview prior to the hearing, “We’re already regulated on the federal level by the FCC and there’s more competition in the video services field than there has ever been. We believe more regulation is not the answer.”
Dardenne brings on former Foster handler
Long-timers on press row will certainly recognize the name of Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne’s new communications director for his gubernatorial campaign.
Consultant George Kennedy has hired Marsanne Golsby, press secretary to former Gov. Mike Foster. Golsby has been working in public relations in recent years and handling corporate clients in the Baton Rouge area.
Aside from being a former reporter herself, Golsby is legendary for her loyalty and willingness to become part of the story as a way to take a hit for the team.
In March 1999, Greenpeace activists were shadowing Foster’s every move and complaining about polluted waters along the Mississippi River. Protestors prepared and delivered a “toxic lunch” for Foster: a meal of pan-fried catfish harvested from an allegedly tainted bayou.
As they waited to see if they could give the meal to the former governor, Golsby deflated the moment by chowing down on two mouthfuls of supposedly toxic fish while staring down the protestors.
They Said It
“It must be Miller time.” —Speaker Pro Tem Walter Leger, taking a question from Rep. Greg Miller“Ordinary people built the ark. Professionals built the Titanic. But we all have to work together to fix it.” —Rep. Lance Harris, on the budget shortfall
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