Gov. John Bel Edwards asked Louisiana’s oil and gas industry leaders today for their help to fix the state’s messy budget, while stressing they have a reliable friend in the governor’s office—despite the fact that, as he said, many of them probably did not vote for him.
Speaking to more than 100 members of the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association at the group’s annual meeting, Edwards said he is doing everything he can to fight regulations handed down from Washington, D.C., that would hurt the oil and gas industry while it is mired in one of its worst downturns in history.
“While I can’t promise you when the price of oil is going to go back up or the price of gas or anything like that, I can promise you that in the meantime, so long as I am your governor, you’re going to have a reliable partner in times of growth as well as in times of turmoil,” Edwards said.
The Democrat from Amite said he has spoken to both President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden twice to express his concerns on how they handle the oil and gas industry.
Edwards also said he will send his executive counsel to Washington to talk to federal leaders about the harmful effect that new federal rules and regulations will have on the industry.
Edwards spoke for about 20 minutes and also touched on the state’s budget. He reminded the leaders, who live throughout Louisiana, that he did not ask for tax increases on the oil and gas industry in his call for the fiscal special session, which ended last week.
“To the extent that you all are businesses, there are revenue increases that will impact you, but there was not one single proposal that targeted your industry, specifically, for revenue,” Edwards said.
The governor’s comments came on the same day that the state Revenue Estimating Conference revealed a $70 million deficit this fiscal year and a $750 million deficit for the next fiscal year following the 25-day special session to address the state’s financial crisis.
Edwards also said he is meeting with credit agencies Thursday night to discuss his plans to fix the state’s structural budget and bring about tax reform in the 2017 fiscal session. Financial firm Moody’s downgraded the state’s credit rating in February.
“What we have in front of us in 2017, with that fiscal session we have next year, is an opportunity to engage in comprehensive tax reform that will put our state on a better fiscal path going forward,” Edwards said.
—Ryan Broussard
