Collection:LPB

Genre: News, Public Affairs, Panel

Place Covered: Lake Charles, Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, Lafayette, Lafayette Parish, Louisiana

Copyright Holder: Louisiana Educational Television Authority

Date Issued: 2009-06-26

Duration: 00:17:46

Subjects: Erwin, Barry | COUNCIL FOR A BETTER LOUISIANA | Filmed panel discussions | Louisiana Legislative Session, 2009 | Louisiana. Legislature | State legislators | Politics | Government | STATE BUDGET | State Budget Cuts | Economic stimulus | American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 | Homeowners insurance | Named storm deductibles | COASTAL RESTORATION | Coastal protection | ROADS | Interstate 49 | Retirement | Unemployment insurance | Economy

Contributors:

• Sanford, Shauna Host
• Erwin, Barry Host
• Michot, Mike Panelist
• Champagne, Simone Panelist
• Cortez, Page Panelist
• Mount, Willie Panelist
• Robideaux, Joel Panelist
• Perry, Jonathan Panelist

This segment from the June 26, 2009, episode of the series “Louisiana: The State We’re In” features Shauna Sanford and Barry Erwin of the Council for a Better Louisiana (CABL) leading a round table discussion with state legislators from the Lake Charles and Lafayette areas about the recently completed 2009 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature. The panelists are State Senator Mike Michot, State Representative Simone Champagne, State Representative Page Cortez, State Senator Willie Mount, State Representative Joel Robideaux, and State Representative Jonathan Perry. They discuss: the challenges faced during this legislative session, including dealing with the budget cuts and the money from the federal economic stimulus package, the new membership in the House of Representatives because of term limits, and the geographic divisions when dealing with limited funding; important issues outside of the budget, including limiting the named storm deductibles to one per year for homeowners insurance, funding for coastal protection and restoration, the funding of road projects, like I-49, and dealing with retirement debt; the debate over rejecting the $100 million portion of the federal economic stimulus package for unemployment benefits because it would result in higher taxes to businesses; and the economic and budget challenges facing the state in the next three years.