The Public Affairs Research Council has released its annual legislative wrap-up, providing a summary of the recent Legislative session and breaking down the biggest plays.
Perhaps the most extraordinary thing about the 2019 regular session, PAR writes, was the lack of any extraordinary sessions. For the first year since the governor and current legislators were elected in 2015, Louisiana had no special session.
The session’s most important characteristic was the more stable budget outlook, based on a sales tax revenue stream established last year after much political wrangling. Legislators embraced the stability, but it did not foster reform.
The 2019 session was the least contentious fiscal debate since the post-Katrina era. There were no mid-year budget cuts to adjust around, no drawdowns on the state rainy day fund and no obvious short-term gimmicks to prop the budget. The main theme was which programs to expand, not which to cut. Read the full wrap-up from PAR.
