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Lawmakers spent part of their recent regular session creating different task forces that could redefine Louisiana’s education system, from post-graduation tax credits and college tuition assistance to kindergarten funding. While those study groups garnered a great deal of attention in the session’s final days, the House and Senate also created many other noneducation task forces during the regular session that concluded Monday. Here are six worth following:
1. SCR 22 by Sen. Brach Myers and Rep. Annie Spell asks the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s office to prepare an extensive report about how Louisiana is spending its opioid settlement money. HCR 50 by Rep. Tehmi Chassion similarly seeks clarity on how the money is being used. Louisiana’s share of funds from corporate entities deemed responsible for the opioid epidemic is expected to total $577 million through 2038, with 80% going to parish governments and 20% to sheriffs. The LLA’s last report on the subject noted that “no entity has been specifically tasked with enforcing the terms of the opioid settlement agreements” in Louisiana. “Like many of you, I have constituents who have lost family members to opioid use,” Myers told the Senate Health Committee. “For them, this is very personal. We receive a lot of phone calls at our office with genuine interest about where these funds are going.”
2. SCR 23 by Senate Agriculture Chair Stewart Cathey creates the Agricultural-Based National Security Priorities Task Force to study “farm security, domestic supply chain resilience and ways to support farmers and food production.” Among other issues, the task force would review enforcement of state limits on Chinese purchases of agricultural land, as well as potential vulnerabilities related to Chinese drones and AI technology. Legal immigrant farm labor, fertilizer production incentives and food production vulnerabilities also would be on the agenda. He said the proposal grew out of conversations with national groups about how advances in agricultural technology might affect national security.
3. HCR 35 by Rep. John Wyble asks the Louisiana State Law Institute to study and make recommendations that could expedite the sale of adjudicated tax-delinquent property. The resolution addresses the long-standing dilemma for local governments regarding how to get blighted properties back into commerce while still respecting property rights.
4. HCR 61 by Rep. Chuck Owen directs the Louisiana Law Institute to study the often-controversial constitutional authority to expropriate property. Specifically, it asks how a recent Louisiana Supreme Court decision might affect whether eminent domain powers granted to private entities remain consistent with the Constitution.
5. SCR 63 by Sen. Adam Bass asks the LLA to examine and evaluate the process of developing and preparing legislative fiscal notes. Legislators often question the accuracy of the fiscal notes attached to their bills, sometimes suggesting that an exaggerated cost estimate is being deployed deliberately to kill their bill.
6. HR 197 by Rep. Joseph Orgeron urges and requests the Public Service Commission to study distributed energy generation and storage. He said he wants the PSC to continue work it has started to address the state’s “unprecedented load growth” utilizing rooftop solar power by residents and small businesses.
—They said it: “Democrats wouldn’t trust Jesus.” –Speaker Mike Johnson on the reaction to President Donald Trump’s nomination of Bill Pulte, who has no intelligence experience, as director of national intelligence, as reported by NBC’s Melanie Zanona
