The annual legislative scorecard compiled by the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, released today, serves up a failing grade for 94 out of the Louisiana Legislature’s 144 members.
LABI President Stephen Waguespack and Chairman Jay Lepeyre didn’t beat around the bush when describing the recent session’s end product in the introduction of the scorecard: “This was the highest tax increase in Louisiana in decades.” They specifically cited the Legislature’s decision to raise taxes on employers and individuals by more than $600 million annually through a dozen different bills subsequently signed into law by the governor.
Rep. Steve Carter, R-Baton Rouge, chairman of the Capital Region Legislative Delegation, was among those to receive an F this go around—a 51% ranking in LABI’s voting formula. Carter says it’s incredibly challenging to succinctly explain why lawmakers were faced with so few options in closing a $1.6 billion shortfall. From a lack of viable proposals from Gov. Bobby Jindal to a session that ran short on time, Carter says lawmakers made the best decisions they could.
“My game plan all along was to save higher education and to get our students in a good position to move forward, rather than cutting our colleges and universities to the bone,” says Carter. “When you push that red or green button, there’s always someone you’re going to hurt or help.”
Freshman Rep. Darrell Ourso, R-Baton Rouge, likewise received a failing grade of 53%.
“I had a mission to help protect and fight for higher ed and LSU and Pennington,” he says. “On one side of the equation I succeeded. Certainly, the headline we did not read about this session was the one that could have seen higher ed declaring financial bankruptcy in Louisiana.”
Waguespack and others argued during various debates this session that lawmakers were looking only at business-related taxes to close the shortfall and the pain wasn’t being properly shared.
“Throughout the regular legislative session, many lawmakers repeatedly insisted their only choice to fund higher education and health care was to raise taxes,” Waguespack says. “We are disappointed that numerous legislators fell for this trap. The Legislature voted to prioritize an ever-growing government and increase taxes on small and large companies across the state.”
As such, the majority of incumbent lawmakers received an F this session in the scorecard, with 64 failing in the House and 30 in the Senate, which will make pulling money out of LABI’s political action committees this fall all the more difficult for them. The rankings, which are important to many lawmakers, could also open up new opportunities for incumbents to be challenged.
Only two lawmakers failed to break 20%, representing the lowest scores in the Legislature. They are Rep. Jack Montoucet, D-Crowley, with 16%, and Sen. David Heitmeier, D-New Orleans, with 18%. Only 12 lawmakers earned A grades. The lone Capital Region lawmaker to get an A grade is Rep. Barry Ivey, R-Baton Rouge, who had the highest score of all lawmakers, at 99%.
According to Camille Conaway, LABI’s vice president for policy and research, the bills that raised taxes this session were weighted heavily in the scorecard, pulling down the 2015 and overall cumulative scores for a number of legislators. Between half and two-thirds of the 2015 score relies upon the tax votes, she says.
See a listing of Capital Region lawmakers’ grades and scores from LABI, and check out the complete 2015 Legislative Scorecard.
—Jeremy Alford
