Louisiana
Candidates for governor pitch ideas to members of Louisiana’s oil and gas industry
![Candidates for governor pitch ideas to members of Louisiana’s oil and gas industry Candidates for governor pitch ideas to members of Louisiana’s oil and gas industry](https://gray-wafb-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/hyPWJFGKLIwywvn2PlsiH6OWuXc=/1200x600/smart/filters:quality(85)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gray/RQGL4FZXMNCXXLJD4CKUEWDXQQ.jpg)
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – We are just five months away from the primary election in the race for Louisiana governor.
A few candidates running for the top job in the state, made their pitch to folks in the oil and gas industry. Many of them are unhappy with some of the energy policies coming out of the White House.
Grow Louisiana Coalition hosted a forum about energy. Candidates also answered questions about jobs, education, the economy, energy cost and independence during the panel.
Five candidates showed up, including Republicans State Senator Sharon Hewitt, State Representative Richard Nelson, Stephen Waguespack, along with Democrat Dr. Shawn Wilson and Independent Hunter Lundy.
The first topic centered around what steps the candidates would take to get rid of coastal lawsuits facing the industry.
“Let’s end the coastal lawsuits, tell the industry and those that had left our state, that our state’s open for business and we want you back,” said Sen. Sharon Hewitt.
“If we look at what our government has done and not done in the Jindal years, in which my opponent over here (Waguespack) was chief and staff for part of it, they did not enforce compliance,” said Lundy, an attorney from Lake Charles.
Candidates also answered questions about policies they would create or endorse to take advantage of emerging energy investments in the state.
“I’m not running for the next four years, I’m looking at 40 years down the road. How are we going to be successful, because I’m going to be here, my kids are going to be here, and I care about it. So, I really think that from an energy perspective, how is it going to be sustainable,” said State Rep. Nelson.
“We know 30 years from now, this industry will look tremendously different from now. What we put in our cars, and in our homes, will look tremendously different. But what we also know is, it’ll probably be a Boudreaux and a Thibodeaux that is servicing that, and piping that, and trucking that, because our guys know how to do it better than anyone else,” said Waguespack, the former head of Louisiana Association of Business and Industry.
“You’ve got all of the conditions here to leverage the market, the most important thing we have is the tenacity of our people to lead and deliver in the spaces where we have not gone before,” said Dr. Wilson, the former DOTD Secretary.
Another topic was about adding more jobs for the next generation and prioritizing STEM education.
“Our high schools need to do a better job of opening up their doors and bringing in industry, bringing in the local two-year school, bringing in the local four-year school,” said Waguespack.
“My nickname around the state is ‘STEM Queen,’ because I have done so much work in the area of STEM since being elected.
“It’s going to take our ability to take something that’s very complicated and make it fun, make it exciting, throughout the educational career from K-12,” said Dr. Wilson.
“We give millions of dollars to the coach, but at the end of the day, we scrounge for those pennies for advanced research,” said Nelson.
With Treasurer John Schroder and Attorney General Jeff Landry absent, there were a few swipes at the presumed Republican front-runner in the race.
“We’ve got to get rid of corruption in Louisiana, and yes our top cop in Louisiana’s not here today. He will not be the governor, he hasn’t done a good job other than criticize,” said Lundy.
“We are driving them out of our state with the coastal lawsuits, and Lawsuit Landry isn’t helping anything by being part of that,” said Sen. Hewitt.
“And you did say earlier, that one of these people will be the next governor, I do appreciate you saying that, because that does make all of our odds better,” said Waguespack.
Candidates also discussed Louisiana’s Industrial Tax Exemption Program and why they should be the next governor.
Some of the candidates running for governor of Louisiana appeared at a forum for a discussion about the state’s energy industry.
“I’m an action-oriented person, and if you want the state to continue to be mediocre there are other people that you can vote for, but if you really want to change the direction of this state, then I need your help. And I’m asking for your vote because I want to give our kids and our grandkids a reason to stay in Louisiana and not a reason to leave,” said Sen. Hewitt.
“The truth means that I speak the truth. And the truth often offends people. So, I’ve always been that person. I’ve always been an advocate, I’ve represented some of the richest people in the world, and the poorest people in the world. So, I have the most world experience. and I’ve done everything, you just read my bio, you’ll understand I’ll be the best governor you’ve ever had,” said Lundy.
“I will change the tax code, one of the fundamental things that we inherited from Huey Long was this broken tax doe, that puts the state in charge of everything. I’ll let the local governments solve their own problems, I’ll get rid of the income tax, I’ll restructure it so that it can be competitive like our neighboring states so that people will stay here, people will come here. The second thing is education, I will focus every day on education,” said Rep. Nelson.
“I’m in this race for one simple reason. I am sick and tired of the brain drain. I am sick and tired of Louisiana watching other states around us grow and prosper, and us scratch our head wondering why things don’t change if we don’t make big chances. Guys, this has to be our wake-up moment. I’m sorry, but if you want someone to come in here and hold Louisiana’s hand quietly while it drifts off to sleep, I’m not your guy,” said Waguespack.
“I understand this process of government, I know how to work with people, I know how to listen more than I do talk, and at the end of the day, I will be committed to putting Louisiana first. I have done several things in life that I was not expected to do, and being governor was not what I had planned to run for. But I know what it takes, I’ve lived that life, and I’ve been beside several governors in that process. Particularly when we are at our most vulnerable, particularly in disasters. You need a leader who is going to be present, who is going to be there, who is going to be with you, and always, always, put all of Louisiana first,” said Dr. Wilson.
The qualifying period for candidates for governor is August 8 – 10. The primary is set for October 14.
To watch the full gubernatorial forum click here.
Click here to report a typo.
Copyright 2022 WAFB. All rights reserved.
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Louisiana
New hires at Louisiana Bar Foundation, Pennington Biomedical Research Center
![New hires at Louisiana Bar Foundation, Pennington Biomedical Research Center New hires at Louisiana Bar Foundation, Pennington Biomedical Research Center](https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/nola.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/6/bd/6bd06606-6641-11ef-9476-5fdcaf6f67fb/66d0d37fe840c.image.jpg?crop=1270%2C667%2C0%2C481&resize=1200%2C630&order=crop%2Cresize)
New Orleans
Franziska Wagner has been hired as chief financial officer of the Louisiana Bar Foundation.
Wagner has worked as an accountant and auditor for clients in the government, nonprofit and construction sectors.
She earned a bachelor’s in accounting from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and a master’s in accounting from the University of New Orleans.
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Terrance Payne has been named director of building trades training at the New Orleans Career Center.
Payne was one of the inaugural trainers in the building trades program.
The Career Center recently hired 14 new staffers, a move that brings the number of employees to 42, double what the organization had two years ago. There are now more than 600 trainees in the program’s five industry sectors: health care, building trades, digital media/IT, engineering/manufacturing and culinary arts.
The new hires are: Shanitra Charles, instructor, pre-nursing; Myles Ford, instructor, pharmacy technician; Diana Kennedy, instructor, pre-nursing; Wynn Martin, success coach; Tony McKarry, instructor, building trades; Bria Hays-Mackey, bookkeeper; MacKenzie Rosenberg, success coach; Maria Schneider, program coordinator; Cedric Singleton, instructor, building trades; Taralyn Stephens, instructor, culinary; Lee Stevenson, instructor, building trades; Aaron Washington, trainee support coordinator; and Anastasia Williams-Smith, program coordinator.
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Darian Shorts and Justin Vlosich have joined the staff of Gambel Communications.
Shorts is a communications strategist. Previously, she worked for The PR Alliance.
She earned a bachelor’s in political communication and a master’s in mass communication, both from LSU.
Vlosich is a communications coordinator. He previously worked for the New Orleans Pelicans, Louisiana SPCA and the New Orleans Saints.
He earned a bachelor’s in marketing from the University of New Orleans.
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Joe DiTommaso has been promoted to vice president of commercial lending for OnPath Credit Union.
DiTommaso joined OnPath in 2022 as northshore market president. Before that, he worked for Gulf Coast Bank, Chase and Hibernia National Bank/Capital One.
He served as a Marine for five years and received awards for his involvement in the support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Baton Rouge
Bailey Richard has been hired as director of marketing, communication and compliance for Off The Hook Restaurants.
Richard has held senior marketing positions for other businesses and has a track record of strategic planning and grassroots marketing.
Off the Hook, which was founded in 2012, has five quick-service seafood restaurants in Baton Rouge, Gonzales, Hammond, Thibodaux and Houma.
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Reis Alsberry has been hired as director of intellectual property and commercialization for Pennington Biomedical Research Center.
Alsberry was commercialization manager for Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Before that, he held patent management positions at Florida State University, Florida A&M University and Old Dominion University.
He earned a bachelor’s in electrical engineering from Old Dominion, a bachelor’s in civil engineering from the University of Virginia and a law degree from the University of Richmond School of Law.
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Amos Davis has been named chief operating officer for Emergent Method.
Davis has nearly two decades of policy, legal and operational experience. He spent the past several years as global senior counsel for Uber; before that, he was a lead adviser for several Coca-Cola Co. brands, including Minute Maid.
He earned a bachelor’s from the University of Virginia, a master’s from Emory University and a law degree from Emory University School of Law.
Louisiana
Louisiana man dies in motorcycle crash in Boone County, Ark.
BOONE COUNTY, Ark. — A man from Carencro, Louisiana has died after a crash between a motorcycle and a pickup truck in Burlington, Arkansas on Tuesday, August 27.
At 2:15 p.m., 62-year-old Richard Zaunbrecher was driving a 2002 Yamaha Road Star motorcycle north on U.S. Highway 65 in Burlington behind a 2020 Ford F-150 in the inside lane.
Springfield man sentenced to 28 years for murdering his wife in 2022
According to the Arkansas State Police, the motorcycle did not obey flashing traffic control signals and change lanes, causing the motorcycle to rear-end the Ford. The crash forced Zaunbrecher off the vehicle and he landed in the inside lane of U.S. 65.
Zaunbrecher was transported to the North Arkansas Regional Medical Center in Harrison, Arkansas, where he later died from his injuries.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOLR – OzarksFirst.com.
Louisiana
Services for people with disabilities could be eliminated under Landry budget plan • Louisiana Illuminator
![Services for people with disabilities could be eliminated under Landry budget plan • Louisiana Illuminator Services for people with disabilities could be eliminated under Landry budget plan • Louisiana Illuminator](https://lailluminator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/ICU-COVID.jpg)
Programs for medically vulnerable children, seniors and people with disabilities could be eliminated next year as a result of Louisiana’s looming budget deficit, officials with Gov. Jeff Landry’s administration said Friday.
Louisiana Health Secretary Michael Harrington laid out services he might be forced to cut if the governor and lawmakers reduce the state health care budget by $105.1 million to deal with a financial gap in the next fiscal year. He’s been told to expect a large cut as the state tries to figure out how it will cope with an automatic tax reductions scheduled for mid-2025.
Harrington said that $105.1 million cut to state health care services would balloon to an overall loss of $332.4 million with resulting federal funding reductions. The state would no longer be able to put up the money needed to draw down more dollars from the federal government for health care services.
Given the size of the cut the state health department anticipates, Harrington said there are few options for absorbing the budget reduction that don’t involve eliminating programs considered crucial for seniors, children or people with disabilities.
“Any of these kinds of cuts is going to naturally impact the most vulnerable,” Harrington said at a Louisiana House budget hearing Friday. “That’s what we [the health department] do. We take care of seniors and children.”
More than 90% of Louisiana’s $19.9 billion health care budget is spent on Medicaid programs, which pays for health care for people who are pregnant, low-income or disabled, according to Harrington. The bulk of that money, 71%, comes from the federal government, but the state is required to contribute funds in order to receive the federal support.
If forced to make a $105.1 million reduction, Harrington said the Landry administration would eliminate pediatric day care centers ($26.4 million) for families with medically fragile children. Money for a program that helps children with behavioral challenges, called the coordinated system of care, would also be reduced by $5.9 million.
The state would also scrap its Program for All Inclusive Care for the Elderly ($20.4 million), known as PACE, that assists older people so they can continue to live at home instead of going into nursing homes. Money for daytime supervision for seniors and adults with disabilities who cannot take care of themselves would also be lost ($9.1 million).
Transportation reimbursements for people with disabilities would also be scrapped ($1.8 million). Funding for medical residents who train to be doctors in Louisiana would also be reduced ($23.1 million).
Caregivers who help adults with disabilities and intellectual challenges would also see their reimbursement rates lowered again. Most of these rates have only been raised in the past couple of years after program directors long complained they weren’t able to hire staff at the low wages the state previously provided.
The state budget deficit plan also calls for reducing supplemental payments to hospitals for treating Medicaid patients by $69.4 million and eliminating an expected increase in funding for nursing homes that would have cost $67.8 million.
Republicans and Democratic lawmakers on the House Appropriations Committee said they would be unwilling to make such cuts.
Rep. Jason Hughes, D-New Orleans, described the plan as inhumane, and Rep. Larry Bagley, R-Stonewall, said families would be unable to care for their loved ones without these programs.
“These are people that depend on us for their life,” Bagley said.
Other legislators questioned whether health officials under Landry, a Republican, had looked deep enough at its nearly $20 billion budget to find alternative ways to save money. Many of the programs put on the chopping block were also proposed for elimination when Landry’s predecessor, Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards, faced a budget deficit eight years ago.
Rep. Tony Bacala, R-Prairieville, said the health department has never fully accounted for the hundreds of thousands of people removed from Medicaid following the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Given that the program has significantly fewer people in it, the health agency should have some spare money in its budget that could be used to keep these programs whole, he said.
Bacala also alleged the health department ended fiscal year 2023-24 in June with $75 million in leftover state funding, which means some of that money should be available to cover the $105.1 million cut.
“You continue to say we need more money to cover 300,000 less people [in the Medicaid program],” Bacala said.
Louisiana is facing a budget deficit of $587 million next year largely because of a planned cut to the state sales tax from 4.45% to 4%. State lawmakers could avoid major budget reductions if they voted to keep the sales tax rate at the current level, but legislative leaders have said the conservative anti-tax Louisiana House of Representatives is unlikely to do so.
Lawmakers are more likely to look at expanding the sales tax to new items and services as well as eliminating other tax exemptions to make up some of the revenue. Louisiana Revenue Secretary Richard Nelson has proposed a tax on streaming services such as Netflix as well as services like auto detailing for the first time.
If the Legislature chooses to keep a 2% tax on business utilities that is supposed to expire July 1, 2025, it would also generate $220 million and lessen the deficit. Moving $320 million the state generates through a vehicle sales tax from transportation projects into health care services, higher education and other programs could also help close the budget gap.
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