Legislators update on state, local happenings

State legislators, parish and local leaders met Wednesday for breakfast at the Forest Restaurant to discuss state and parish progress.
The first to report was State Representative Beryl Amedee, who addressed an upcoming fiscal session and the state budget.
“This is my fourth year in the legislature,” Amedee said, “and our primary focus has always been on the budget.”
A member of the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget, Amedee said the committee received “two or three weeks ago,” the govenor’s proposed budget to be discussed in the upcoming session.
“The governor’s budget as proposed is $39.4 billion, which is the largest ever in the state of Louisiana,” she said, adding that over the last three years, the budget has grown by $7.9 billion and that it is proposed to increase by 4.9 percent by 2020 over that of the current year.
“So, if the state’s economy has grown over the last year at 1.1 percent, but the state budget has grown at 4.9 percent, you can see that we have a problem,” Amedee said. “It is going to be difficult to try to sustain this.”
She further noted that again this year, as in years past, “the Department of Health will take up about half of the state budget.”
“The Department of Health’s allotment in 2015 was $8.7 billion dollars,” she said. “In the proposed budget for 2020 it is going to be $14.7 billion, and I am told that when the Department of Health comes before Senate Appropriations, the ask is actually going to be for $19 billion. So, $6 billion over four years is mostly attributed to Medicaid expansion.”
According to Amedee, Medicaid alone, at its current rate of apportioned funds, will raise the state’s budget by $500 million annually “for the foreseeable future.”
She accused the Department of Health of failing to take the necessary steps to curb Medicaid fraud, waste and abuse.
Amedee suggested that in the name of combatting Medicaid fraud, waste and abuse, investigators should focus more on providers than beneficiaries.
She said that a small group of legislators has been meeting with investigators and has been focusing on fraud as it relates to the contracted Medicaid providers.
She further stated that having brought the results of the investigative group’s findings to the Department of Health, she was frustrated with the lack of interest they showed in implementing measures to curb such fraud.
“For every dollar we are spending on healthcare that is fraudulent, that is a dollar we could spend on someone who is eligible,” she said.
Next to report, was State Representative Sam Jones.
Jones lambasted last year’s dysfunctional state legislature, and stated that if it were up to him, he would never attend another special session again.
He jokingly referred to the members of the House of Representatives as fighting like children, and members of the Senate as the “grown-ups” who would have to fix what the House had broken during their fight.
Of the rosier side of state affairs, Jones said, “Right now, we have more people employed in Louisiana than ever in the history of the state, ever… 2.2 million people.”
He explained that St. Mary Parish hasn’t experienced that employment prosperity because of how much oil-field employment factored into our economy, and how hard that economy was hit when the oil market crashed.
He said that it is other parts of the state that are enjoying the benefits of employment prosperity.
He pointed to Lake Charles as the number one job producer in America, and said the rehabilitation of New Orleans’ jobs market can be attributed to the diversification of their industries.
“Now,” Jones added, “there are signs here, that we are recovering, but we have different parts of the parish that are recovering faster than other parts.
“It is unusual that the west end is recovering faster than the east end, because I can’t remember a time in my lifetime when that has happened. But, there just happens to be a little more diversification here.”
He designated the casino, sugar mills, boat-building, carbon plants and the upcoming school being built in cooperation with South Louisiana Community College, as signs of west St. Mary Parish’s diversification.
Of east St. Mary Parish, Jones said that the off-shore oil industry is showing signs of “waking up,” and that the east end of the parish is also looking at signs of recovery.
He then pivoted to the March 30 vote on the millage renewal to keep Franklin Foundation Hospital’s operating budget from expiring.
Jones said he endorses the millage renewal and has already voted for it himself.
“The idea of not having a hospital is unthinkable,” he said. “That is an unthinkable situation, because you don’t have a community per se, if you don’t have a hospital. It is the next most important building in a community, next to the church.”
He also said that he wanted to give teachers a pay raise of $1,000 per year, adding that for the raise to be achieved, it would take “working through the reality of that budget.”
He praised Senator Bret Allain and publicly endorsed his re-election, stating, “We are for different parties and we may not agree on everything, but we get the big things right. We get the things about ‘back home’ right. And we even agree on a lot of the big things because he has a little bit of me in him and I’ve got a little bit of him in me, and we love where we live. We love this place. We love this parish. We are in commonality with that.”
Jones then bid farewell to attendees. “This is my last time to address you prior to a session. It has been an honor and a pleasure to serve you for more than 40 years.
“I don’t know why in the world y’all keep electing me. I guess maybe the competition is so bad because nobody wants these jobs. But, I want you to know that I work hard for you every day in Baton Rouge.”
The final address of the morning came from Senator Bret Allain.
He reiterated the importance of passing the millage renewal to keep FFH in operation, saying that without the millage renewal, “there will be no hospital in Franklin.”
Allain then turned his attention to Jones, who had returned to his seat.
Allain said of Jones, “Sam Jones is not only a dear friend—he’s a fiscal conservative, because he has had to be because he is a money manager. “We disagree on a lot of other issues, but let me tell you, when it comes to St. Mary Parish, not only publicly…but privately, he knows where all the bones are buried and he has been in public service for so long that he knows where all the money is.”
Pointing to Jones, Allain continued, “That guy over there has gotten you more money and has been a better friend to this area than anybody I can think of.”
Allain called for an ovation for Jones, who waved and smiled for its duration.
Next, Allain turned to addressing the state budget, saying, “We have to be very smart about distributing the money we have. “When it comes down to it, Democrat or Republican, at the end of the day, we’ve got to govern.”
Allain then named protecting higher education as a top item on his agenda, saying “Nothing can bring an area back around like higher education.”
He called attention to the vocational school to be built with the help of SLCC, of which Jones had spoken, and Allain announced a planned summit April 2 calling for public input concerning needs for vocational training to be offered at schools.
He then changed topics and announced the construction of “a permanent structure,” to prevent flooding of Bayou Chene. “We finally got that in there,” he said, “We’re going to build a permanent structure—$80 million total, $50 million is coming today and we are going to start construction by the end of the week.”
He closed by saying that he is working on a bill to decrease hog population in the parish, and then he took his seat.
Also, the Chamber of Commerce awarded Wayne LeBlanc and LeBlanc’s Tractor and Implement, for 50 years of service in the parish.
The award was accepted by Wayne LeBlanc and his son Jason LeBlanc.