The transportation committees for both chambers of the Louisiana Legislature will get together on Wednesday to discuss plans to restructure the state Department of Transportation and Development.
The DOTD reorganization has been in the works at least since Gov. Jeff Landry issued an executive order back in May, and it’s one the top priorities for year two of his administration. Next week is when the proverbial rubber hits the road.
Figuring out the future of DOTD clearly will be one of the top issues for the regular session that kicks off in April. Hovering under the radar, with the potential to stir up controversy, are possible changes to the state’s levee boards.
Landry already has shown keen interest in a New Orleans-area levee board.
Shane Guidry, a wealthy Metairie businessperson and an adviser to the governor, reportedly has been deeply involved behind the scenes in reshaping the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority–East, even though he is not a board member.
Senate Transportation Chair Patrick Connick says he believes Landry is planning a broader levee oversight overhaul that goes beyond any particular board.
“I don’t have his plan yet,” Connick says. “I haven’t seen it. I just know it’s coming.”
Connick says he wants to make sure reforms adopted after Hurricane Katrina, meant to depoliticize the boards and get them to focus on flood protection, are protected.
Kate Kelly, Landry’s official spokesperson, says she was unable to provide any information about the governor’s plans for state levee boards.
Last year, lawmakers gave the governor sweeping power to select the leaders of most state boards and commissions. Landry used that authority to tap civil engineer Roy Carubba, a business associate of Guidry’s, to be president of the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority–East board, The Advocate reported, though Carubba first had to be nominated by an independent panel of experts to serve on the board.
Levees aside, lawmakers want DOTD leaders to walk them through the department’s response to the Boston Consulting Group report about ways to make DOTD more efficient and effective, says House Transportation Chair Ryan Bourriaque. They also want to know what they can do to help.
“I get constant contact from members across the state with issues, with concerns, and with a spirit of trying to make things better,” Bourriaque says. “I think that February 26 meeting will allow us to see where the department feels they stand, and what they ask of us right now.”
The executive order from Landry that kicked off the DOTD reorg stated that one of the goals for the process is to figure out ways to increase funding for transportation infrastructure. But asked whether members are ready to seriously consider adjusting the gas tax, Connick and Bourriaque were skeptical.
While any member could propose changing the gas tax, Bourriaque would prefer to get through a full fiscal year to see how the department does with a set of pavement preservation projects it’s currently tasked with.
“In my mind, the grade is incomplete,” he says.
Streamlining DOTD is the first priority, Connick says.
“I think once we do that and we see some results in the money that’s being spent now, then we can go back and ask for more,” he says.
