The Louisiana Legislature returns Monday. Here’s what state leaders are focused on.

When the Louisiana Legislature gathers Monday in the State Capitol, it will begin debate on contentious issues ranging from improving roads and bridges to embracing the “Make America Healthy Again” movement to reducing the cost of car insurance.

State lawmakers are also trying to find a way to revive key pieces of a recently failed constitutional amendment that was aimed at rewriting an entire section of the state constitution governing state finances.

And they will have to craft a state budget amid unpredictable federal spending cuts and the specter of potential slashes to Medicaid.

Here are what state leaders say are among their top priorities.

Overhauling DOTD

Gov. Jeff Landry and legislative leaders in both the House and Senate are throwing their support behind an effort to restructure the Department of Transportation and Development.

“We’re hoping to see projects done faster — still the same quality work, still all the safety measures in place,” said Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie.

Henry emphasized the effort is not centered on firing DOTD employees but is instead focused on speeding up project timelines and streamlining procedures.

“The goal is to improve DOTD and its current situation as it relates to project delivery, communication with stakeholders and accountability,” said House transportation committee Chair Rep. Ryan Bourriaque, R-Abbeville.

Bourriaque, a key player in plans for the transportation department overhaul, said stronger accountability measures are aimed at keeping project timelines on track and reducing permitting delays.

Kate Kelly, communications director for Landry, said “DOTD reform” also is among the governor’s top priorities this session.

Just months into his administration last year, Landry ordered his transportation secretary, Joe Donahue, to put together a plan to “rehabilitate” the oft-maligned department.

That resulted in a review of the agency by a private consultant as well as a 44-page Strategic Improvement Plan issued by DOTD, which conceded inefficient and inconsistent project delivery is a pressing problem.

House Speaker Phillip DeVillier, R-Eunice, said the root of DOTD’s problems lies in an old system where “if you want something in your district, you have to vote a certain way.”

“Infrastructure has always been done through politics,” he said. “That’s what you see DOTD is built upon. What we’re trying to do now is shift it and actually take care of our infrastructure for a change and make it a priority of the state.”

‘Make America Healthy Again’

Landry has voiced support on social media for “MAHA” — a slogan promoted by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that echoes President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” catchphrase.

The governor recently posted that he looks forward to working with Trump and Kennedy, who has drawn criticism for his skepticism of vaccines, “to bring the MAHA movement to the forefront in Louisiana.”

Sen. Patrick McMath, R-Covington, champions the MAHA cause.

He is sponsoring a sweeping nutrition bill that would ban the purchase of soft drinks using federal food aid payments, prohibit the use of ultra-processed ingredients in public schools and require restaurants to tell customers if they cook with seed oils like canola or corn oil.

The plan would take time and money to implement, McMath has acknowledged. But it also is part of a campaign to pressure food companies to change ingredients in ultra-processed products.

DeVillier said he is “excited” to learn more about McMath’s plan.

Henry said he expects “good things to come” from the nutrition legislation and called McMath’s proposed timeline for changes “very realistic.”

Taxes and spending

During a tax-focused special session in November, lawmakers approved major changes, including reducing individual and corporate income tax rates and increasing the state sales tax rate.

They also proposed Amendment 2, a sweeping revision to the Louisiana Constitution’s tax and finance provisions. But voters rejected the plan by wide margins on March 29.

Lawmakers hoped to implement dozens of policy changes through Amendment 2. But now they have narrowed their focus and say they want to put at least a few of those before voters again.

One would free up money for more immediate spending needs by combining two state trust funds: the Budget Stabilization Fund, with a balance of $1.07 billion, and the Revenue Stabilization Trust Fund, with $2.73 billion.

The money funneled into those accounts can be spent in only certain cases, such as when the state is facing a budget shortfall or other emergency circumstances.

“We have more money in savings now than we’ve ever had,” DeVillier said. And the only way to accomplish certain goals “is by taking the resources that we have today and putting them to work,” he said.

DeVillier said some of that money could be used on road construction, water sector improvements, long-delayed maintenance projects at universities and lowering sales and income taxes.

Henry also backs combining the two accounts to free up more money.

Aside from the trust fund plan, Henry, DeVillier and Rep. Julie Emerson, a Carencro Republican who chairs the House tax-writing committee, all signaled that an effort to phase out a property tax on business inventory will also resurface during the session.

Education

A high-profile element in the failed Amendment 2 was a plan to permanently increase the salaries of teachers by $2,000 and support staff by $1,000.

During the past two budget years, lawmakers twice approved that pay as a temporary stipend. But this year, the latest revenue projections show that lawmakers need to account for an expected $194 million shortfall.

With that budget hole looming, state leaders say aren’t sure they can come up with the roughly $200 million needed to make the raises permanent.

“That’s a part of the conversation that we’re having,” said DeVillier, a sentiment echoed by Henry.

Landry this month sent a letter to teachers, writing “no existing alternative recurring resources exist to fund the permanent salary increase you deserve.”

But, Landry said, “my door is open to finding a solution.”

Rep. Jack McFarland, R-Jonesboro, chair of the House Budget Committee, said he’s “encouraged by members and the public that the teacher stipend is a priority.”

“Our education system is on the rise in Louisiana,” he said. “Teachers are playing a large role in that.”

Another issue stirring controversy for this session is funding for Landry’s signature education initiative, the LA GATOR Scholarship program, new taxpayer-funded school vouchers families can use to for private schools or other education expenses.

Landry wants $93.5 million for GATOR scholarships for the next budget year, up from current-year funding of about $44 million for the state’s existing school voucher program.

Henry said he was “not remotely” expecting the $93.5 million ask and only supports spending up to $50 million.

Budget worries

Dramatic federal funding cuts and fears that Congress will slash Medicaid spending have sparked worry in Louisiana.

Some, like McFarland, say they are remaining calm, proceeding with the facts available to them at any given time — and keeping an eye on what is happening in Washington.

“I can’t budget for something that I don’t know yet that the federal government’s gonna do,” he said.

McFarland said he has spoken with some members of Louisiana’s congressional delegation.

“I think everyone’s fully aware in D.C. that Louisiana has a significant population that depends on Medicaid,” he said.

Last week McFarland said that despite widespread talk about cuts to health care and education, “I haven’t seen those yet.”

State health officials this month said they anticipate losing $86 million from eight federal grants eliminated by the Trump administration.

At a budget meeting last week, then interim state health Secretary Drew Maranto spoke to legislators about the possibility of federal funding cuts.

“If the feds make changes, we obviously would have to implement them,” he said. “The program as it is currently designed is unchanged.”

Asked if he has spoken with Louisiana’s congressional delegation, Maranto — whose last day in that position was Friday — would only say that he has “engaged with the federal delegation over the last few weeks and will continue to do so.”

Henry has said he has discussed the issue with U.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, with whom he is close.

Henry said he told Scalise that if federal funding is cut for a given program, the problem it is designed to address still exists — and states must then come up with the funding.

Auto insurance rates

Ahead of the session, Landry and DeVillier have both made lowering auto insurances rates a key priority — albeit in distinct ways.

Landry this week unveiled the types of legislation he believes will achieve that goal — something he said would require accountability on the part of both insurance companies and trial lawyers who represent accident victims.

DeVillier last summer directed some House legislative leaders to convene months’ worth of meetings aimed at determining why Louisiana’s auto insurance rates are so high.

“My committee chairs have done a very good job digging into this, and I’m hopeful that the insurance crisis that we have in Louisiana is going to be addressed this session,” he said.

Henry emphasized the “tough” balancing act that state lawmakers are forced to make in debates over insurance rates.

While lawmakers are wary of insurance companies that want policyholders to cede their power to challenge the fairness of claims payments, Henry said, they also want to avoid over-regulating insurers and driving them away, reducing competition.

“We’re just trying to find a happy medium in all of this,” he said.

Staff writers Patrick Wall and Emily Woodruff contributed to this report.