Tariffs, prices, flood control: Senate candidates hear about local concerns

Senate candidate Julia Letlow came to Morgan City on Tuesday to hear concerns from local government officials and industry leaders.
Letlow, R-Start, heard about workforce development, tariffs and the need for more local funding, especially for infrastructure improvements.
Meanwhile, her Democratic opponent, Jamie Davis of Ferriday, says he’s hearing from working people about their struggles with rising prices for gas, groceries and insurance.
Letlow and Davis are running for the Senate seat now held by Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, who lost his re-election bid in the primary. The general election will be Nov. 3.
Letlow appeared Tuesday at the Emergency Operations Center for an event hosted by state Sen. Robert Allain, R-Franklin. The half-hour round table was part of her 64 Parish tour. St. Mary is No. 33.
“I’m trying to learn and be the best senator I can be,” Letlow said.
Two Conrad Industries executives represented industry: President and CEO Cecil Hernandez and Senior Vice President Daniel Conrad.
Conrad announced last week that it has been awarded an agreement to build a prototype landing craft in Orange, Texas, for the U.S. military. In St. Mary, the company continues to build berthing vessels for the Navy under a multimillion contract.
“We’re going to pursue those programs and others,” Hernandez said.
Their concern: tariffs, which increase the cost of important goods.
“Tariffs are killing us with steel costs and costs across the board,” Hernandez said.
Gerard Bourgeois, legal council for the Port of Morgan City board, brought up the rising cost of insurance and, in the wake of recent economic development wins in the region, workforce development.
Letlow said President Donald Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill, which passed last year, contains funding for job training.
“We know these big mega-industries are going to need workers,” she said.
Port of Morgan City Executive Director Raymond “Mac” Wade said the port channel is a gateway to the Gulf for local industry, including military and space-related projects. For the last five or six years, the Army Corps of Engineers has paid for unprecedented levels of dredging to keep the port’s channel at its 20-foot depth and 400-foot width.
“It takes a lot of money to keep the channel open …,” Wade said. “We’ve had tremendous support. We need more support.”
St. Mary Parish government Chief Administrative Office Paul Governale said the parish could use the $1 million in hurricane recovery funding that the Federal Emergency Management Agency owes the parish.
St. Mary Levee District Director Michael Brocato said the local flood control infrastructure is aging.
The parish is well protected from storms, Brocato said. He hopes a coalition of local interests will be formed to work on flood control in the region.
In the meantime, two flood gates in St. Mary are in extreme need of repair, Brocato said.
And the Old River Control Structure, which diverts 30% of the Mississippi River’s water into the Atchafalaya, needs work.
“Our structures are 50, 60, 70 years old, and they need attention,” Brocato said.
Democrat Davis made his way to Morgan City earlier this month for the Shrimp & Petroleum Festival and is on his way back to south Louisiana for this weekend's Sugar Cane Festival and Fair in New Iberia.
In a phone interview Wednesday, Davis outlined the concerns he’s hearing on the campaign trail.
“From working-class people, they’re struggling with just daily life,” Davis said.
He pointed to the ongoing conflict with Iran, which he said should be ended. The fighting is driving up fuel costs, he said, which adds to the cost of transporting goods.
The tariffs imposed by the president since he returned to office last year also should be ended, he said.
“I understand what he’s trying to do,” Davis said. “It’s just not working.”
The challenge will be to protect American industry, he said.
Davis also expressed concern for the health of rural hospitals after changes in federal health care reimbursement.