Better Choices launches petition drive

The Better Choices for a Better Louisiana coalition was created with a simple guiding principle: that a prosperous future for Louisiana requires a transparent and balanced approach to budgeting that includes responsible revenue measures alongside common-sense savings.

Governor Bobby Jindal has launched an aggressive attempt to privatize state services such as health care, prisons and schools, shift cost and financial risk to state workers and give even more tax breaks to large corporations. But there are better choices available, and we need your help to remind legislators of his by signing the attached online petition.

The BCBL coalition is urging legislators to not make wholesale commitments, sight unseen, to the governor's agenda. Legislators should instead demand transparency, accountability, and detailed, measurable outcomes.

There are better choices for creating jobs, improving health care and public safety, building better schools and infrastructure to create a more prosperous future for Louisiana. And it starts by letting your voice be heard.

Please sign the online petition today in support of Louisiana’s future.

Change.orgStart an Online Petition »

Advocate, LFT agree on "Haynesville Bust"

In a recent editorial, The Advocate in Baton Rouge pointed out that the state is losing hundreds of millions of dollars because a loophole in our tax law gives petroleum producers a tax break on the boom in natural gas drilling.

The newspaper called it"the great Haynesville bust" because most of the action is in North Louisiana's Haynesville play, where landowners have become millionaires and oil companies are reaping vast profits.

Left our of the bonanza is the State of Louisiana: "In the 1990s," said the editorial, "when horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing were new methods, the state passed at the behest of the powerful oil industry a 100 percent tax exemption for the cost of drilling wells."

In this letter to the editor, LFT President Steve Monaghan wrote of the practical impact of the loophole. "While education, health care, the transportation infrastructure and other vital public services starve," Monaghan wrote, "vast fortunes are being made by the energy corporations."

It was not unexpected, said Monaghan:

Nearly two years ago, the Louisiana Federation of Teachers and the
Louisiana Budget Project were partners in creating the Better Choices for a
Better Louisiana coalition. The coalition’s main goal was a balanced approach to
our budget crisis and to ensure that Louisiana had the resources required to
provide the services our people need and deserve.
Early on, Better Choices was critical of the state tax loophole granted for horizontal drilling. As new discoveries in the Tuscaloosa Trend come into play, Louisiana stands to lose even more millions.

The LFT President ended his letter by urging Gov. Jindal and the legislature "to examine and reconsider the tax breaks for horizontal drilling and each of the more than 400 tax breaks on the books."

Coalition calls legislature on bad choices

The state is facing a $1.6 billion shortfall (raise that to $1.8 billion after lawmakers subtracted Gov. Jindal's imaginary dollars from the budget). Lawmakers are turning down every effort to raise new revenues at the same time that they advance new tax cuts.

What could make things worse in Baton Rouge? Slashing over $3 billion a year from the state's general fund, for starters.

That would be the ultimate impact of three bills making their way through the process. HB 633 and HB 634 by Rep. Hunter Greene, and SB 259 by Sen. Rob Marionneaux, would abolish all personal and corporate income taxes in the state.

That, of course, would make it impossible to provide even the most basic services to the people of the state.

Then there's House Resolution 27 by Rep. Brett Geymann, which would require a two-thirds vote of the legislature before any non-recurring funds could be used to plug budget holes.

Taken together, these pieces of legislation reveal a dangerous game of chicken underway at the capitol.

The Better Choices for a Better Louisiana coalition has called out lawmakers on what it calls "political theater" in this news release:

According to the Better Choices coalition, this radical and ill-timed
political maneuvering risks driving Louisiana’s budget over the cliff. At
a time of unprecedented state deficits, Louisiana needs a balanced approach to
resolving its fiscal problems. That includes additional sources of revenues as
well as prudent cuts in spending, spokespersons said.

Citizen lobbyists say they want better choices

LFT President Steve Monaghan speaks to hundreds of citizen lobbyists at the Better Choices for a Better Louisiana day at the legislature on May 4.

Hundreds of citizen lobbyists, representing the diverse Better Choices for a Better Louisiana coalition, met at the capitol on May 4.The coalition is urging lawmakers and Gov. Jindal to pass a budget that does not rely solely on cuts to important services to achieve balance.

The coalition wants lawmakers to look at the state's $7.1 billion in various tax loopholes and incentives, as well as new revenues from "sin taxes" such as tobacco, alcohol and gaming.

Hammond Daily Star reporter Heidi Rogers Kinchen covered the lobby day for this story.

Please click here to view LFT's Facebook photo album of the rally; to read the BCBL legislative agenda, please click here.

Better Choices for a Better Louisiana lobby day

Better Choices coalition and LFT announce legislative agenda and lobby day

In a series of press conferences around the state, the Better Choices for a Better Louisiana coalition made a powerful case for raising new revenues for the state, and announced that the coalition will have a lobby day on Wednesday, May 4.

With Louisiana facing a $1.6 billion budget shortfall, coalition spokespersons said that Governor Bobby Jindal’s plan for more cuts without any new revenue cannot solve the state’s problems.

“Doing more with less” is a hollow promise,” Louisiana Federation of Teachers President Steve Monaghan told reporters. “The state is not doing ‘more with less’; it’s doing less with less. The current budget proposal sacrifices education, health care and the quality of life issues that could provide a better future for the families of Louisiana.”

To read more, please click here.

Advocate reporter Will Sentell covered a Better Choices press conference for this article.

More school districts announce layoffs

The East Baton Rouge School Board has now announced that there will be a reduction in force (story here by Advocate reporter Charles Lussiere), and so has the St. Martin Parish School Board (reported here on Lafayette's KLFY-TV).

Three other school systems - Webster Parish, Tangipahoa Parish and Livingston Parish - have declared financial emergencies, and may lay off teachers and school employees. (Click here for more information on declarations of exigency or crisis).

These job losses make a mockery of Gov. Jindal's glib assertion that he has protected K-12 funding. Truth is, we've lost millions, and now people will lose their jobs. That will ripple through local economies when teachers and school employees lose their ability to spend.

This is not an economic crisis that can be solved by cuts alone. Revenues must be part of the solution. More information is available on the LFT Web site here, and from Better Choices for a Better Louisiana.

Getting it wrong on LFT and tax breaks

This report from the Associated Press is cropping up in newspapers and on TV stations all around the state. It boldly states that LFT and others "are opposing Gov. Bobby Jindal's plans to seek extensions of several business tax breaks."

The article helpfully explains that Gov. Jindal says the tax breaks "help Louisiana compete for jobs."

To be clear, as was stated in the LFT press release and on our Web page explaining why we believe in Better Choices for a Better Louisiana, we simply want balance and transparency when these tax breaks are considered.

The governor can claim that his tax incentives are luring jobs to the state and are good for the economy. But while Louisiana faces a $1.6 billion budget shortfall, the 441 tax breaks now in existence cost the state $7.1 billion a year in lost revenue.

And who is checking to make sure the tax breaks do indeed bring jobs and enhance our economy? No one. Most tax incentives for businesses have no sunset clause, and are never reexamined once they are created. That's why the legislature passed bills last year requiring hearings to determine how effective these tax incentives are.

Thus far, no hearings have been held. And until they are, we stick to our main point: no further tax exemptions should be granted until we know whether they serve their purpose, or if they are in fact hurting the state's economic development.

Radio show to feature Better Choices for a Better Louisiana

LFT President Steve Monaghan and Louisiana Budget Project Director Eddie Ashworth will be guests on the Jim Engster Show on WRKF-FM, 89.3 on the dial, on Tuesday, Feb. 22, at 9:00 A.M. Steve and Eddie will be talking about the Better Choices for a Better Louisiana Coalition, and Louisiana’s need for a fairer, more transparent fiscal base.

If you’re not in WRKF’s range, you can listen online at http://wrkf.org and click on “Listen Live.” If you’re busy in the classroom at 9:00 A.M., you can listen whenever you wish to a WRKF podcast. On their Web site, scroll down to “programs” and click on “podcasts.”

While you’re on the WRKF Web site, please click on “Save Your Station” and send a message to Congress, asking members to fund public radio – the new Republican majority has plans to defund public radio, and we could lose valuable news sources like the Jim Engster show.

Connecting the tax loophole dots

On Tuesday, Gov. Bobby Jindal announced that he will freeze spending for K-12 education for a third straight year.

On Wednesday, Gov. Jindal announced yet more tax breaks for big business in the state.

Also this week, it was reported that teacher layoffs are "imminent" in Livingston Parish. They're not alone. School districts around the state considering layoffs reportedly include Jefferson, Tangipahoa, East Baton Rouge, Webster, St. Martin and others.

Connecting the dots, it's easy to see where our leaders' priorities lie and where their choices are taking us.

Better choices can be made. We don't have to provide even more tax loopholes without, as the governor admits, even knowing how much they will cost the state.

Federal government could also make some better choices

Louisiana apparently is not the only place suffering from the bad choices politicians can make.

According to this Education Week article by Alyson Klein, the Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives is poised to adopt a budget that would strip $5 billion from education in the current fiscal year.

That's billion with a "B." Fortunately, President Obama is prepared to veto the bill.

Looks like we need to expand the Better Choices for a Better Louisiana campaign to Better Choices for a Better USA.

LFT President promotes Better Choices in Advocate letter

This has been a great week for the Better Choices for a Better Louisiana campaign. Check out Steve Monaghan’s letter to the editor in The Advocate.

Monaghan's letter cites two articles recently mentioned in EdLog, one by Marsha Shuler and one by Ted Griggs:

Reporter Marsha Shuler’s interview with House Speaker Jim Tucker revealed
this fact: The amount we allow as tax exemptions is almost equal to our general
fund revenue.

Speaker Tucker’s acknowledgement that lawmakers may have to look at tax
loopholes as part of the solution was a welcome, honest contribution to a very
necessary public dialogue.

On Saturday, Ted Griggs’ report on the absence of severance taxes from
the Haynesville shale wells reinforced our strong belief that Louisiana’s tax
exemption policies must be more thoroughly examined.

The Advocate articles addressed issues that Better Choices has been discussing for months.

This week, the Better Choices coalition began a series of round table discussions with community leaders. Wednesday in New Orleans, and Tuesday in Baton Rouge. Coming in the next few weeks are meetings in Alexandria, Lake Charles, Lafayette, Shreveport and Monroe.

Haynesville shale: Louisiana can make better choices!

It's a story that was predicted by the Better Choices for a Better Louisiana Coalition: our state is missing out on many millions of dollars because of ill-conceived tax breaks granted to drillers profiting from the Haynesville shale bonanza.

In today's Advocate, reporter Ted Griggs exposes the near-scandalous fact that one of the richest gas finds in history will contribute almost nothing to a state that is facing a $1.6 billion shortfall in the coming legislative session.

Health care is going to suffer. Higher education will continue to lose professors, degree programs and research facilities. Roads and bridges will keep on crumbling. K-12 funding will suffer, and teachers will be fired (St. Martin Parish just announced that it is losing one teacher in each of its schools).

As Griggs reports, there are more than 800 wells in production in North Louisiana's Haynesville find, and most of them will contribute not one penny of severance taxes to the state.

Why? Because they are subject to a tax exemption for two years, and most of these short-lived wells play out within 18 months. There are huge profits for energy companies, but nothing for the state which is surrendering its mineral wealth.

Haynesville is just one example of hundreds of tax loopholes that cost the state more than $7 billion a year - almost as much as is collected for the state's general fund. While some tax breaks may benefit the people of Louisiana, others, like Haynesville, cost us dearly.

The Louisiana Federation of Teachers has been involved in this issue for months. In November, we participated with other Better Choices Coalition members in a press conference on the steps of the capitol, asking lawmakers to take a hard look at tax exemptions.

Later that month, at a convention themed Better Choices for a Better Louisiana, experts from the Louisiana Budget Project and LSU's Manship School of Mass Communication explained how Louisiana got into this mess, and what can be done about it.

We know we can do better. We know we can make better choices. Please visit the Better Choices for a Better Louisiana Coalition Web site to learn more.

House speaker considering better choices

The message of the Better Choices for a Better Louisiana campaign seems to be sinking in. Speaker of the House Jim Tucker is acknowledging that the $7.1 billion the state surrenders in the form of various tax breaks will be looked at in the upcoming legislative session.

According to this story by Advocate reporter Marsha Shuler, Tucker told the Louisiana Hospital Association that the state grants nearly as much in various exemptions as is actually collected for the general fund.

Unless the list of more than 440 exemptions is put into play, it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to fill the expected $1.6 billion budget hole this spring.

That's old news to followers of the Better Choices campaign - it was last November 18 when the coalition held its press conference on the capitol steps. At that time, the coalition asked lawmakers to declare a moratorium on new tax exemptions and to take a close look at existing loopholes.

A lot more information about Better Choices is available. The Louisiana Federation of Teachers has set up a Better Choices for a Better Louisiana resource page, and the coalition has established its own Web site.

Your LFT Connection: February 2011

Dear colleague,

Just before Thanksgiving, delegates to the LFT’s annual convention heard news that offered some hope in a year that thus far had been dominated by gloomy reports about budget cuts that threaten our colleges, universities and K-12 schools.

Presentations from two experts gave us a new outlook on Louisiana’s budget crisis. They explained the root causes of the mess we are in, and offered suggestions for restoring fiscal sanity to the state.

Read more of the new Your LFT Connection from LFT President Steve Monaghan- please click here.

Monaghan tells convention: "Better choices for a Better Louisiana!"

Addressing some 200 delegates to the 46th annual Louisiana Federation of Teachers convention in Lake Charles on November 22, LFT President Steve Monaghan called upon Gov. Bobby Jindal and the state legislature to make “better choices for a better Louisiana.”

In his State of the Union address, Monaghan said that much of the financial crisis facing the state was caused by decisions made over the past few years. Unless better choices are made, he said, the state faces a bleak future.

“If we don’t stand up and demand other choices, the governor is telling you that the future is less,” Monaghan said. “It is not sustainable. Your retirement is not sustainable. Your way of life is not sustainable. And if yours isn’t, then those who are coming behind you have no chance.

“You owe it to them to provide the same quality of life,” he said. You have a civil, moral and cosmic responsibility to do that.”

To read more, please click here.

Coalition touts better choices

Visit the Better Choices for a Better Louisiana Web site. Please click here.

Baton Rouge – November 18, 2010) A new coalition of concerned organizations today urged Governor Bobby Jindal and the legislature to take a balanced approach to meeting Louisiana’s short-term and long-term needs, rather than continuing a cuts-only strategy that will cost jobs and hurt the economy.

The Better Choices for a Better Louisiana coalition comprises a growing number of business, faith, labor, health, education, community, and consumer groups throughout the state that favor a balanced approach that includes revenue to maintain crucial services and invest in Louisiana’s future.

At a press conference prior to tomorrow’s meeting of the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget, Coalition members said the cuts-only approach that Louisiana’s elected officials have taken to the economic crisis is seriously compromising services that Louisianans rely on, and is leading toward a decline in the state’s quality of life. That in turn hurts state efforts to attract new industry and residents.

To read more, please click here.

Your LFT Connection: Better Choices for a Better Louisiana

Dear Colleague,

As I began this letter, word came out that the state budget is $100 million in the red because last year’s revenues came in less than projected. To make up for the loss, this year’s budget will reportedly have to be cut at mid-year.

I also learned that if a court decides the legislature was wrong to use the state’s “rainy day fund” to plug holes in this year’s budget, the administration will have to trim another $200 million before next June.

That’s $300 million, on top of the hundreds of millions already cut from the budget. And next year, experts predict a shortfall of as much as $2 billion. No one can seriously argue that Louisiana can absorb those kinds of cuts without crippling education, health care, transportation, and other vital services.

Already, higher education officials are talking about closing as many as eight institutions. And while Gov. Jindal says that K-12 education has been spared budget cuts, we know that state funding was slashed for national certification stipends and student transportation, shifting those costs to local school boards. Educators have been laid off in some districts. In others, teachers must give up planning periods because their systems cannot afford substitutes.

Read the rest of LFT President Steve Monaghan's letter: please click here.