With a legislative session poised to begin on March 29, state lawmakers are grappling with a difficult budget situation. The financial picture is so bleak that the Civil Service Commission has recommended that annual pay raises be suspended for 60,000 state employees beginning July 1. Long gone are the days post-Katrina when federal money was pouring into the state. Almost five years after the hurricane, the level of federal funds being allocated for Louisiana has declined sharply. In addition, Louisiana tax revenue has been falling. For example, in the month of February, “both income and sales taxes did not meet expectations,” according to LSU economist James Richardson. This situation has created a mid-year budget deficit that could reach $400 million. Several months ago, the Jindal administration made painful budget cuts of almost $250 million, which severely impacted higher education and healthcare services. The need for additional budget cuts should provide legislative support for the work of the state streamlining commission chaired by State Senator Jack Donahue (R-Mandeville). There will be a number of bills that will be introduced in the session that will contain the spending reductions recommended by Donahue’s commission. 

One method to deal with the crisis is to tap the Rainy Day Fund, which totals approximately $774 million. The state constitution allows legislators to withdraw no more than one-third of the total amount in any given year. In the last session, legislators used $86 million to balance the budget, leaving $172 million available for use in this session. It is a real travesty that any money has been withdrawn this year and removing more money would just compound the problem. To remove the funds, a two-thirds vote of the legislature would be needed, but if the Governor gets involved, the votes may materialize. Raiding the Rainy Day Fund is the easy way out for spineless legislators. Louisiana has been living beyond its means for many years. It is time that fiscal sanity is restored and the budget is brought in line with our neighboring states.  

Instead of raiding our fund of last resort, the legislature should focus on significant budget cuts. Louisiana has not come anywhere close to cutting the budget to a satisfactory degree. The state still has too many employees per capita and too many state colleges and universities. For a state that is one fourth the population of Florida, it is amazing that Louisiana has more colleges and universities than the Sunshine State. Louisiana also has four boards of higher education, leading to millions in unnecessary spending.  

While difficult budget decisions loom, too many legislators are worried about trivial issues. Every year, some of our misguided legislators waste time debating the merits of the state poem, flower or fruit. This year, a host of ill-advised bills have been introduced, including one to outlaw low riding pants. State Representative Rickey Hardy (D-Lafayette) is following in the footsteps of former legislator and convicted felon Derrick Shepherd and introduced a bill to outlaw sagging pants. Shepherd tried on numerous occasions to criminalize low riding pants, but failed in both 2004 and 2008. The effort did make national headlines and was ridiculed by Comedy Channel hosts among many others. If Hardy’s bill becomes law, any person wearing clothing that intentionally exposes undergarments could be subject to fines and community service. After multiple offenses, the penalties would increase substantially. With our fiscal problems, is bad fashion really a matter that deserves legislative attention? 

Another questionable bill has been introduced by State Senator Robert Adley (R-Benton). He wants to outlaw the sale of energy drinks to anyone under the age of 16. Adley is acting on the issue because of a constituent who claimed that her son was rendered unconscious and started vomiting after consuming an energy drink.  

This youngster may have other health problems that could have caused this reaction. The federal government has no prohibition on youngsters using these beverages, so neither should the state government. If the energy drinks were harmful to youngsters certainly the federal government would have already issued health warnings. It should not be the business of the Louisiana Legislature to regulate energy drink sales.  

There are much more important issues to address than energy drink usage, but Senator Adley will call witnesses and waste precious legislative time on an issue that should not be a priority for this session.  

Louisiana is in desperate need of massive fiscal reform. Senator Adley and his colleagues need to focus on how to create more private sector jobs and make Louisiana a more competitive state. In the last economic report, the fastest growth sector of our economy was government jobs. This trend must be stopped, but, instead, legislators are wasting time on fashion, energy drinks and other trivia.  

Over the years, the Louisiana Legislators have enacted too many laws. They are on path to pass more counter-productive measures in this session. A better use of time would be to remove laws from the books and make life easier and less regulated in Louisiana. The people of our state do not want more government, they want less. Maybe one day, our politicians will get the message.