Last week at the state Capitol
Print
Email
Save
Share
Del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Reddit
Lawmakers are meeting in a regular legislative session that must end by June 23. A look at the happenings so far:
BIG DEAL OF THE WEEK:
- Louisiana’s income picture grew brighter with revisions made by the state forecasting panel, known as the Revenue Estimating Conference. The panel boosted state revenue projections by $824 million: $462 million in additional cash for the current budget year and $362 million more for the next fiscal year that begins July 1.The increases are tied mainly to skyrocketing oil prices.Lawmakers could decide what to do with the cash in the current session, but Gov. Bobby Jindal wants them to sock much of the money away into savings to spend in later years on one-time items, like road improvements or coastal restoration projects.
- Both the House and Senate are on record supporting Gov. Bobby Jindal’s proposal to make the state labor department the coordinating agency for worker training programs. Each chamber unanimously agreed to the legislation last week. Supporters said the state’s work force training efforts are woefully uncoordinated, and they said the Jindal proposal (House Bill 1104 and Senate Bill 612) will help better match workers with businesses and fill an estimated 100,000 vacant jobs in Louisiana.
- Over 1 million Louisiana motorists would get higher auto insurance bills under a proposal to require a higher minimum level of coverage.The House Insurance Committee voted 6-2 to send Rep. Erich Ponti’s bill to the full House, despite the industry’s objection that it would lead some drivers to avoid the price hike by dropping insurance altogether.Ponti, R-Baton Rouge, said his bill is necessary because the state’s minimum coverage level hasn’t changed in over 20 years, and car values and health insurance costs are now far higher. He said the change would bring Louisiana’s minimum rate in line with neighboring states.Former Gov. Kathleen Blanco vetoed a similar bill last year.
- The full House will consider a Gov. Bobby Jindal-backed proposal to allow adult motorcyclists to ride without helmets, but force new bikers to take safety training before getting a license.Rep. Mert Smiley’s bill (House Bill 1295) would require bikers under age 18 to wear helmets, but not adults. The safety course would become mandatory July 1, 2009, for those applying for motorcycle licenses for the first time. Smiley’s bill moved forward despite opposition from James Champagne, former head of the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission, who compared the motorcycle helmet requirement to mandatory seat-belt laws, speed limits and traffic lights, all of which are aimed at safety. Champagne’s former job was as an appointee of the governor, but he was removed from the position earlier this year — a dismissal he attributes to Jindal’s support for repeal of the helmet law.
- A House committee will vote this week on a proposed income tax break for Louisiana residents. The Senate changed the bill (Senate Bill 87), which was originally introduced to shrink individual income taxes, and ballooned it into a full phase-out over 10 years of the entire individual income tax. Now, House members are weighing what’s most responsible for the state’s finances — and what can get the signature of Gov. Bobby Jindal. The House Ways and Means Committee is expected to vote on the bill Monday.
- The full House will work Thursday and Friday on crafting its version of a state operating budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Gov. Bobby Jindal proposed a $30.1 billion budget. The House Appropriations Committee will make its changes today and then the full House will start going through the budget bill. After the changes, the 2008-09 budget bill (House Bill 1) will head to the Senate Finance Committee for review.
- n A bill that would force an insurer to offer homeowners polices to active duty military personnel who receive auto insurance from the same firm has failed twice in the Senate, likely killing the bill for the session.Opponents of Sen. Derrick Shepherd’s proposal (Senate Bill 61) objected to another provision in it, one that would expand a unique consumer protection provision in Louisiana law — a restriction of insurers’ ability to drop a policyholder if the homeowner has held the policy for three years or longer. The bill by Shepherd, D-Marerro, would have expanded that protection to situations when the homeowner moves into a new dwelling, no matter its condition or location.
“I’m concerned at this point about House Bill 1 coming to a total train wreck.”
— Sen. John Alario, D-Westwego, saying he was worried about the budget bill that would pay for state operating expenses next year. Alario said with budget cuts proposed by House members and a giant income tax break approved by the Senate, the state may not have enough money to pay for health care services and higher education improvements in the upcoming budget year.
ON THE INTERNET:
http://www.legis.state.la.us
