Unease Over Tapping Louisiana’s Rainy-Day Fund; D.C. Mayor vs. Bill O’Reilly
Louisiana's Senate chamber Shutterstock
Connecting state and local government leaders
Also in our State and Local Daily Digest: Philly’s rat stats; Arkansas mayor resigns amid scandal; and Nevada governor’s education proposal.
STATE BUDGETS | Republican state lawmakers in Louisiana are voicing uneasiness about tapping the state’s rainy day fund to address a projected $313 million budget shortfall. “Members are concerned that every time we have hard issues come up, we look to the rainy day fund,” state Rep. Lance Harris, a Republican, said. “Over the years, we have depleted the rainy day fund and not put money back into it.” The state’s fund’s balance is $359 million currently, down from a peak of $853 million in 2009. Most of the reduction took place under former Gov. Bobby Jindal, when money was siphoned from the fund to avoid tax hikes. [ The Advocate ]
INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS | District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser made a video to correct inaccurate statements made on a recent episode of Fox News ’ “The O’Reilly Factor” regarding how tax money is spent in the nation’s capital. Bill O’Reilly’s inaccurate statement : “Tax money in Washington is federal tax dollars because the federal government runs it." While the federal government has some oversight of the D.C. government, residents in the nation’s capital do in fact pay local taxes to help fund local services. The facts: “In 2014, D.C. residents paid the federal government $26.4 billion in taxes in 2014, while receiving $3.5 billion in return (not including matching funds that all states receive), or about 30 percent of the city budget.” [ DCist ]
PUBLIC HEALTH | According to new Census data, the Philadelphia metro area has more rats and mice than any other urban region in the U.S. The American Housing Survey found that 18 percent of households in the greater Philadelphia area reported having seen a rodent within the past year. The City of Brotherly Love was followed by Boston, New York and Washington, D.C. Philadelphia, however, ranked much better in terms of cockroach sightings. New Orleans ranked first in that category. [ Philly.com ]
ENVIRONMENT | A portion of an underground natural gas storage field in southern California would be safe to reopen, state regulators said Tuesday, even though it is still unclear what caused a massive leak there in 2015. [ Los Angeles Times ]
POLICE | Defending a lawsuit that charges the King County Sheriff’s Office with bias among other allegations has cost county taxpayers nearly $1 million in lawyers fees and expenses. That makes this among the most expensive recent cases of its kind . [ The Seattle Times ]
PUBLIC EDUCATION | In his State of the State address on Tuesday, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval announced plans to use $60 million to restart the state’s controversial Education Savings Accoun t program. [ The Nevada Independent ]
INFRASTRUCTURE | Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam on Wednesday released a transportation funding proposal that would increase gas and diesel taxes while cutting taxes elsewhere. [ Times Free Press ]
CITY HALLS | Boston Mayor Marty Walsh delivered his State of the City address on Tuesday: “We don’t wait for a better future, we create it.” [ WBUR ]
The mayor of Monticello, Arkansas , resigned on Tuesday amid charges of abuse of office and tampering with public records . [ KATV ]
The city hall in Beverly, Massachusetts , was evacuated on Tuesday due to high carbon monoxide levels . [ The Salem News ]
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