As Louisiana’s budget debate rolls on, Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards is facing some key problems on a couple of different fronts.
February 16, 2017
Gov. Edwards Under Fire On Multiple Fronts
As Louisiana’s budget debate rolls on, Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards’ faces problems on two fronts.
First, this morning as reported by National Journal, America Rising is ramping up its criticism of Edwards’ decision to appoint trial lawyers who donated to his campaign to official government posts:
Conservative opposition research firm America Rising is taking early shots at Edwards, accusing him of putting campaign donors on government commissions. Edwards is up for reelection in 2019.
On top of this potential pay-to-play scheme, Gov. Edwards seems to be backtracking on his promise to not take from the state’s rainy-day fund to pay for his budget.
“Edwards is proposing to balance a $304 million deficit by cutting $63 million from state agencies, using $44 million in higher-than-expected tobacco tax revenue and taking the other $197 million from various reserve funds or by delaying spending projects – money that likely won’t be available next year.”
In the past, Edwards bemoaned when the state’s chief executive “relied on gimmicks and one-time money to close funding gaps,” but now seems to favor that approach as Governor.