A historic snowfall in the Beltway last week brought out the best in Louisiana’s political class during the marathon events of Washington Mardi Gras, says Jeremy Alford in his latest column. “Snow blanketed the city, shutting down airports and hindering even travel by car, but it didn’t break the spirits of those attending the state’s premiere political event,” writes Alford, who was in Washington, D.C., for the annual event. “Bipartisan foolishness peaked Saturday at high noon during a legislative snowball fight.”
Democratic state Rep. Ted James, along with Republican Reps. Chris Broadwater and Jean-Paul Coussan, hoisted U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy in the air to throw him in a snow pile, says Alford.
“James remarked later on Twitter that it was proof that Republicans and Democrats can ‘carry the same Bill,’” Alford writes. “After a fast start to the political year, marked by some tough fiscal decisions by Gov. John Bel Edwards and a brutal House speaker election, the levity was a welcomed departure.”
Edwards also attended the festivities, marking the first time in three years that a governor made the trip. But Alford says Edwards worked more than he partied.
“He showed up at only a few events as he conducted meetings with federal officials and worked from his hotel room,” he writes. “While everyone else was hitting up the parties that surround the Mardi Gras ball and dinner-dance, the governor’s schedule served as a reminder that pomp and pageantry would soon be replaced by harsh realities.”
Even inside the 65th Parish, which the bar at the Washington Hilton becomes around this time of year, Alford says good-natured conversations eventually turned into chatter about the budget. A $750 million shortfall for the current fiscal year and a $1.9 billion gap for the next dominated most talks.
“‘John Bel is trying to ruin Mardi Gras!’” Alford recalls hearing one lobbyist remark at the Hilton bar that evening. “It was a clear sign that the political hangover was beginning.”
Adding a penny to the state’s 4-cent sales tax is the chief target of criticism from conservatives. It would be the quickest of turns, to be passed during the special session that begins the week after Fat Tuesday and implemented by early April. It would bring in an estimated $216 million before the fiscal year ends in June.
Republicans in the House aren’t happy about Bel Edwards’ proposal to hike the state’s 4-cent sales tax during the special session, says Alford, nor do they like the proposals to hike the cigarette tax by 22 cents and tweak the corporate and personal income tax brackets.
“Some are saying the tax increases will never get through the lower chamber, and conservatives insist they are prepared to move forward with drastic cuts. Yet even that is a tall order in a budget that’s already tight,” he writes.
Jeremy Alford publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter, or on Facebook. He can be reached at JJA@LaPolitics.com.
