Recent editorials from Louisiana newspapers:
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Jan. 10
The Times-Picayune on the state budget:
Fiscal reformers have told the Legislature that Louisiana should scale back or do away with the deduction of federal taxes on state tax returns. Lawmakers didn’t have the backbone to do that or make any other changes the Task Force on Structural Change in Budget and Tax Policy recommended before the 2017 session.
Now Congress essentially has done it for them.
By increasing the amount of the standard deduction for federal returns it is less likely that Louisiana taxpayers will itemize expenses on their state taxes. That and other changes are expected to increase revenue for state government by $200 million to $250 million in 2019.
That is a gift to the state, which is facing $1 billion deficit July 1 when a temporary sales tax is set to expire. Those income tax revenues won’t necessarily come in soon enough to help with that gap, but it should help balance the state budget over time.
The Edwards administration also might be able to speed up the effects of the federal tax changes by adjusting Louisiana’s tax tables to reflect the new rates, legislative fiscal adviser Greg Albrecht said.
But Gov. John Bel Edwards’ revenue secretary said the administration needs more information about how the federal changes will play out. Whenever the state gets the infusion of new revenue, there would still be a deficit of roughly $800 million.
That means lawmakers still need to replace the revenue expiring in July or find cuts. Gov. Edwards doesn’t believe they can reduce spending enough to balance the budget without decimating health care and higher education. So far, the Legislature has produced no proposals to counter that argument.
Gov. Edwards inherited a $2 billion deficit when he took office in January 2016 and persuaded lawmakers to increase taxes that spring. But they made the sales tax and some other revenue-producing measures temporary. That has triggered a “fiscal cliff” at the end of this fiscal year June 30.
As they work to close the gap, legislators ought to reform Louisiana’s fiscal structure.
The tax policy task force gave them a good plan: reducing or eliminating the federal income tax deduction on state tax returns, eliminating many tax credits and lowering tax rates. The task force also recommended reducing sales taxes, restructuring or phasing out the corporate franchise tax and looking for ways to save on contracts.
The state also must stop using one-time or temporary funding to patch together the budget.
A new state audit found that Louisiana’s assets decreased by $2.4 billion between 2013 and 2017 due to a “reduction in revenues and multiple fund sweeps requiring the liquidation of investments to fund legislative appropriations.”
Those fund sweeps occurred during former Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration, when he and legislators looked for any way possible not to increase taxes despite lacking money to balance the budget.
They spent the entire surplus Gov. Kathleen Blanco left them and gave away billions of dollars in tax credits and exemptions the state couldn’t afford. They also reversed smart income tax reforms crafted by former Rep. Vic Stelly - costing the state roughly $600 million per year in revenues.
Without that money for state services, they spent down trust funds that were supposed to last for decades. A Baton Rouge judge ruled that was unconstitutional in 2014, but legislators kept doing it.
All those things led to the mess Gov. Edwards, a Democrat, inherited in 2016. He tried to get the Legislature, which is dominated by Republicans, to make lasting changes then to state finances, but they refused.
Now here we are again facing a deficit of more than $1 billion. Higher education and health care were slashed during the Jindal years, and legislators ought to protect them this time. That will take a different approach, though, particularly in the House.
Legislators have been more concerned with scoring political points to hurt Gov. Edwards’ re-election chances than in doing what is best for Louisianians. That must change.
Online: http://www.nola.com/
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Jan. 10
The Courier of Houma on state Treasurer John Schroder’s idea about an online portal for the public to view spending:
In Ohio, residents who want to find out what their government is doing with their money can go online and find out.
While that seems like a simple achievement, it is not a reality here in Louisiana.
If you want to know more about what the state or local government is doing with your tax dollars, the process is needlessly complicated and amounts to an incentive not to look.
That is a shame. But at least one statewide official has embraced the goal of creating an Ohio-inspired system of public information sharing right here in Louisiana.
Newly elected Treasurer John Schroder has promised to champion a system similar to the Ohio Checkbook, the name given to that state’s online search database. In Ohio’s case, it took about $800,000 and two years to implement the program, whose main focus in public transparency and accountability.
Those are worthwhile goals, and they should be embraced by public officials who want the electorate to be informed about the state’s business.
“Money and funding is obviously a challenge, but a transparent portal into spending could generate savings for us,” Schroder recently told Jeremy Alford with Lapolitics.com. “People’s activities change when you make things more transparent.”
And that is the essence of the argument. If state and local officials know that their decisions will be open to public scrutiny because they will be more readily discovered, those same public servants are likely to exercise much more caution and discretion over the use of our money.
It just makes sense. Why would we want a system that makes public inquiry more difficult when an easier way of doing things is available at such a modest price.
Schroder’s idea has been supported by various groups, and the notion of making public information easier to find is difficult to oppose.
Still, the challenge will come in gaining the political traction necessary to make this improvement a reality for Louisiana.
Our state is facing severe fiscal challenges, which were brought on and worsened by years of neglect. Now, as we struggle to balance our books against yet another looming “crisis,” our state’s political officials would be wise to put into place a system that will enhance public scrutiny and encourage the ideas criticisms that could lead to unforeseen savings.
The question, in fact, isn’t why Louisiana should implement such a system. The question is why anyone would refuse to endorse the notion and work toward a better way of doing business.
Online: http://www.houmatoday.com/
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Jan. 8
American Press of Lake Charles on a report about a decrease in the number of counselors in state schools:
Louisiana education officials don’t agree with a national report that says the number of student counselors in state schools worsened more than any other state over a 10-year period. The National Association for College Admissions Counseling compiled the report.
The association said the state went from 218 students per counselor in 2004-05 to 468 students per counselor in 2014-15, according to a report in The Advocate. The report said the ranks of counselors dropped by 54 percent even though public school enrollment fell by 9 percent over the same decade.
A spokesman for the association said, “In my view, when you look at a profession that shows that kind of increase, you really have to ask the question of whether my kids are going to get the help they need to get to college.”
Sydni Dunn, spokeswoman for the state Department of Education, said federal officials classify counselors 13 ways and the state in 20 ways. She said even using the federal data cited by the national group the student-to-counselor ratio was one counselor for every 284 students. Using state data, it is one counselor for every 234 high school students, she said.
Tara Washington, a counselor at Woodlawn High School in Baton Rouge, told the newspaper counselors are the heartbeat of the school. Students in doubt go to the school counselor, she said. Woodlawn has 913 students and two counselors.
Scott Devillier, superintendent of the top-rated Zachary school system, said his high school has one counselor per grade, which he added most systems don’t have. However, it is a goal for which other systems should be striving.
A veteran school superintendent said social workers and others serve in similar capacities to counselors, but it isn’t the same thing.
In some systems, school counselors are given duties outside the scope of their primary responsibilities and that doesn’t serve students well. They need help when they have problems and guidance to ensure they have every opportunity to pursue higher education if that is their goal.
Rather than quibble over statistics, state and local education officials need to use this latest report as an incentive to ensure that school counselors are in sufficient supply to meet students’ needs.
Online: http://www.americanpress.com/
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