On the same day that Gov. Bobby Jindal has signed his two key education reform bills into law, two other major schools bills are set for Senate debate today. One vote away from the governor’s desk is another version of the school voucher bill—House Bill 696 by Rep. Kirk Talbot, R-River Ridge—which would grant refundable tax credits to those who contribute to nonprofits that provide private-school scholarships to public school students.
The scholarships are available to students with family incomes within 250% of the federal poverty level, with preference to those in schools graded “D” or “F.”
A constitutional amendment to create a new school district in southeast Baton Rouge, Senate Bill 299, also awaits Senate action. The bill, by Sen. Bodi White, R-Central, needs a two-thirds legislative majority to get on the November ballot.
A bill that cleared Education Committee this morning could eliminate that final step for new school districts in the future. HB 609 by Rep. Alan Seabaugh, R-Shreveport, would amend the constitution to allow the formation of new districts if approved by voters in that area and in the area of the remaining district. That makes the district formation process easier in one way, not having to mount a statewide campaign for approval, but makes it harder if there is resistance in the whole district to the separation. If both constitutional amendments pass, the one by Seabaugh would not affect the new Baton Rouge district.
—The major debate coming in the House will be on HB 850, to authorize the sale or lease of the Avoyelles Correctional Center in Marksville. Though the state leases out prisons to private companies, it has yet to sell one.
The bill, by Rep. Henry Burns, R-Haughton, squeaked through House Appropriations, 13-11, over strong objections from community leaders in central Louisiana.
If passed, the estimated $35 million sales proceeds are to be deposited in the so-called rainy day fund, according to the governor’s executive budget. An amendment to require that failed in committee, 12-12, when Chairman Jim Fannin, D-Jonesboro, urged members to keep their budget options open. If the prison is sold, the state estimates an $8 million annual operational savings because it would pay a lower per diem than now for each inmate housed.
—It’s not the Medicaid privatization oversight that legislators sought last year, but SB 629, which passed Senate committee, would require annual reports by the Department of Health and Hospitals on the progress of the new Bayou Health managed care system and Behavioral Health Partnership. Last year, a bill to allow the Legislature to terminate the coordinated care network contracts after three years was vetoed by the governor.
