Saying he won’t be a “business-as-usual” leader, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards took his oath of office today, promising to stabilize the state budget and end cycles of financial crises that threaten public health services and colleges.
As he placed his hand on the family Bible for the swearing-in ceremony, Edwards became the only Democratic governor in the Deep South after an improbable victory, The Associated Press reports.
He follows term-limited Republican Bobby Jindal, inheriting a budget mess that will require him to work with a majority GOP Legislature. Edwards pledged bipartisanship in his approach, which he said needed to end Louisiana’s use of stopgap, short-term financial maneuvers that create new budget troubles annually.
“We can no longer afford to lurch from year to year, cobbling together temporary fixes and expecting to realize permanent sustainability. If we don’t fix the structural budget deficit, we can’t fix any of our other problems,” the new governor said at the inaugural ceremony held on the steps of the Louisiana Capitol.
The Edwards administration estimates Louisiana faces a shortfall of up to $750 million in the state’s $25 billion budget for the remaining six months of the current fiscal year and a gap more than twice that amount for next year.
While Edwards talked of working across party lines, however, he outlined a decidedly Democratic agenda that seemed likely to face resistance from a Legislature with Republican majorities in each chamber.
He said he will ask lawmakers to increase the minimum wage, pass a new equal pay law and work to make college more affordable, to combat poverty in Louisiana. And he said he’ll start the process for expanding Medicaid on Tuesday, as allowed under the federal health law.
“Your tax dollars should not be going to one of the other 30 states that have expanded Medicaid when we are one of the states that expansion will help the most,” he said, a line that received thunderous applause from supporters.
But the governor called addressing the financial mess his top priority, saying he’ll seek to make budget cuts and “rework the failed system of tax incentives, credits and rebates, which too often bleed the state’s revenue and leave little to show for the spending.”
Edwards provided no specifics about which tax break programs he’d seek to scale back. He intends to call a mid-February special session aimed at closing the budget holes and making the tax changes.
Six other statewide elected officials also were sworn into office Monday. Four are returning for another term: Secretary of State Tom Schedler, Treasurer John Kennedy, Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain and Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon. Two are newly elected: Former Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser took office as lieutenant governor, and former congressman Jeff Landry as attorney general.
The 144-member Louisiana Legislature also was seated earlier in the day.
Read the full story, and check out the full text of Edwards’ inauguration speech.Â
