Future of LSU AgCenter parish offices remains unsure

Parish Council passes resolution in support of service

When a resolution proposed by St. Charles parish Councilwoman Julia Fisher-Perrier to preserve LSU AgCenter funding amid the state’s budget crisis drew criticism, she maintained it was about the food supply and stood her ground on calling for support.

AgCenter funding is under threat of being cut to the point that parish offices could be lost as part of proposed drastic state cuts to services.

State Sen. Gary Smith Jr., D-Montz, said he supported preserving the program in the extraordinary special session, but the budget slashing isn’t over.

St. Charles Parish, as does some other parishes, subsidizes the AgCenter’s parish office.

Fisher-Perrier’s resolution passed unanimously at the March 7 council meeting.

But Milton Allemand of Hahnville questioned supporting such a measure calling for continued funding at a time when legislators were trying to fill a more than $900,000 hole in the state budget.

The special session aimed at addressing the deficit ended March 9, but legislators agree the cutting is far from over and has given rise to continued talks over tax reform to re-stabilize state finances.

“No one in the state wants to cut anything, but the legislators in Baton Rouge are taxing us for this money,” Allemand said. “They assume the taxpayers have this money. We’re going to run out of money. Somebody has to cut. We can’t just keep going back to the taxpayers.”

Fisher-Perrier responded she agreed with the importance of infrastructure, drainage and water, but she also considered an affordable, substantial food source just as important for Louisiana.

She also said the AgCenter provides support to the school system, children and local small businesses.

“The food source is No. 1 and the reason I pushed that,” Fisher-Perrier told Allemand.

But Allemand concluded about paying taxes, “I don’t want to pay anymore … I pay enough.”

Fisher-Perrier also considered the AgCenter supporting job growth another reason to support the program, particularly after learning that 9 million have been created since the Reagan administration. Since that time, 7 million people have become unemployed, which she maintained translates into only 2 million new jobs created.

“It’s not just a local issue, it’s a statewide issue,” she said. “We don’t need to worry only about our parish, but all the parishes (all 64) because if they don’t exist anymore than neither do we.”