A capacity crowd was on hand for Wednesday morning’s Legislative Breakfast to hear area legislators explain their plans and expectations for the upcoming session.
State Sen. Mark Abraham of Lake Charles and Rep. John Stefanski of Crowley, both Republicans, agreed that education will be a top priority but a full agenda is on tap.
Abraham, who will sit on the Senate Education Committee, said education “is a personal issue for all of us because we all have children or grandchildren inschools,” but first he touted a recently formed regional coalition of legislators.
Abraham said a meeting was held recently of legislators from Lafayette to Lake Charles who all agreed to “think regionally.”
He said the new coalition will “help to galvanize our power in the legislature to get things done for this region.”
As an example of the power of regionalization, Abraham pointed to last year’s efforts of area solons to secure funding for a new stationary bridge to replace the pontoon bridge at Estherwood.
Though actual work on that project is probably still years away, he said the funding would not have been earmarked without a joint effort of legislators from the surrounding area.
Turning back to education, Abraham said his main priority in that are during the upcoming session, which begins Monday, March 9, will be workforce development.
“An educated workforce is the only way to lift Louisiana up from the bottom,” he said. “We have gaps, we have a lot of jobs out there but we don’t have the people to fill them because they’re not trained properly.”
He said the state’s community college system provides the perfect avenue to “target job skills” for the future.
Cyber security will be another priority for Abraham during the session.
“Louisiana is kinda leading a little bit in this area with our Air Force base,” he said. “I believe we can employ a lot of people if they’re trained in cyber security.”
Stefanski said he is excited for the next four years.
“We know who our governor is going to be and I have a good working relationship with Governor Edwards,” he said. “We don’t always think alike or have the same vision for the state, but I can work well with him.”
Besides that, he added, “There are a lot of ‘new’ legislators coming in this year and that’s energizing our efforts.”
Stefanski, who was just recently elected to his first full term in the State House, said he has introduced 12 bills for the coming session, including four constitutional amendments.
One amendment directly impacting the city of Crowley would allow the city to raise the Hotel Occupancy Tax on local hotels, motels and other boarding venues.
“I’m usually against tax increases, but this is a tax that is usually paid by visitors staying in our hotels,” he explained.
If the bill is passed by both the House and the Senate, it will appear as a constitutional amendment on the November ballot.
A bill that drew a round of applause from the 100 or so in attendance would address attorney advertising in the state.
“I’m an attorney, but I’ve seen a significant rise in advertising in our state and surrounding states,” he said. “And I find a lot of it upprofessional and I don’t like the way it reflects on my practice.”
Currently, attorney advertising is regulated by the Judiciary and the state Bar Association. Stefanski’s bill would move that regulatory authority to the legislature.
Another of Stefanski’s bills that would require passage of a constitutional amendment would, over a four-year-period, remove the salaries and benefits employees of the Department of Transportation and Development from the state Transportation Trust Fund.
He said that would add more than $400 million for state infrastructure plus it would give the legislature more oversight over the DOTD.
Another bill would allow truckstop casinos in the state to shut down amenities — restaurants, convenience stores, etc — for up to 30 days for repairs or renovations without having to suspend gaming.
Stefanski said current law mandates that all gaming must cease while the amenities are closed, causing owners to hesitate in making upgrades because of the loss of revenue.
Both Abraham and Stefanski urged constituents to “stay in contact. Sometimes all it takes is one phone call to sway a vote.”
Both also agreed that Edwards’ push for a raise in the state minimum wage will be in vain.
“I think it has zero chance of getting out of committee in the House,” Stefanski said.
Abraham echoed that sentiment for the Senate side.
Neither think a constitutional convention, even a limited one, would be called during the 2020 Session.
“I’ve always been in favor of a constitutional convention, but I don’t see an appetite for it with the new legislators coming in,” said Stefanski.
Sen. Bob Hensgens, R-Gueydan, and Rep. Phillip DeVillier, R-Eunice, were scheduled to participate in Wednesday morning’s breakfast event, but both had prior engagements.
