Support for Louisiana.

The state we're in is provided by.

Every day I go to work for Entergy.

I know customers are counting on me.

So Entergy is investing millions of dollars to keep the lights on and installing new technology to prevent outages before they happen.

Together, together.

Together.

We power life.

Additional support provided by the Fred Bea and Ruth Ziegler Foundation and the Zeigler Art Museum located in Jennings City Hall.

The museum focuses on emerging Louisiana artists and is an historical and cultural center for Southwest Louisiana and the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

With support from viewers like you and this program is made possible in part by Franck's Restaurant, a place known for the gathering of friends, family and colleagues where deals are signed over a handshake and a biscuit.

For information on catering menus and locations, go to Franck's Restaurant L.A. dot com.

And nobody really has a program except for us where we can provide lean protein.

Louisiana sportspeople share their bounties with those in need.

On paper, it does look like there may be a fiscal deficit in some future years.

Will Louisiana hit fiscal cliff?

Inflation is absolutely smothering working families.

That is our biggest crisis.

A coffee chat with gubernatorial candidate Stephen Waguespack on key voter issues.

Hi everyone.

I'm care st's here.

And i'm karen LeBlanc.

Hundreds of wildfires have ignited in rural areas across Louisiana in recent weeks as heat waves shatter temperature records around the world.

That's right.

One of Louisiana's largest wildfires in the past decade is sweeping through Beauregard Parish in southwest Louisiana, putting Maryville under a mandatory evacuation Thursday evening.

As we approach peak hurricane season, the state is instead dealing with a growing wildfire threat.

Louisiana governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness announced earlier this week that there are almost 350 wildfires burning in the state.

Every parish in the state is currently under a red flag warning.

Louisiana's hunters and anglers keep the food chain full circle, controlling wildlife populations and providing nourishment to annual state wide events aimed to give back to the community by donating wild game and fresh fish to food banks and community kitchens.

One event Clean Out Your Freezer Day takes place this Sunday, August 27th, calling on all hunters to donate part of their bounty from sports to sustenance.

This zero waste ethos defines the state's hunting and fishing culture.

Here's more.

So, yeah, so we got some triple tailing there.

A lot of mangrove snapper, some red snapper, amberjack.

These divers are delivering their fresh catch from the Gulf of Mexico to the Second Harvest Food Bank in New Orleans.

A donation from its annual diving for a cause.

Where we're dive in the oil rigs all freediving, breath, hold free dive, spearfishing, just mass snorkel, breath, hold and targeting, you know, certain rigs hold certain fish at certain depths of water.

Zach Morello traveled from New Jersey to Spearfish for diving for a cause.

It's an event he's been participating in since 2019.

But yeah, a nice, plentiful mixed bag harvest of good eating fish.

The event brings together volunteer spear fishers who free dive from around the country to fish for the weekend and donate much of their catch.

So diving for a cause is.

It's a nonprofit that I created in 2010, and the whole premise of it is to bring divers together.

Spear fishermen who are passionate about being in the water and love to free dive and harvest fish.

And they take that and they give that fish back to the local community.

They still hold on to enough for themselves and their family.

But 70% can go back to the local community.

Wherever we are diving.

Food banks across Louisiana are in need of protein donations to provide balanced meals for the communities they serve.

Fresh frozen meat and fish are in demand and often harder to come by than donated nonperishable goods.

A donation of fish of protein is so hard to come by, it means so much to us, and we're just thrilled and privileged to be partnering with this great organization.

Natalie Jarrow is the president and CEO of the Second Harvest Food Bank.

I'll walk through the storage area, reveals a lot of empty shelves.

And percentage wise, how much is our food contributions down here?

Oh, my gosh.

Well donated food stamps, 20%.

The USDA food that comes our way, it's down closer to 50%.

So it's an appreciable it's I mean, you can just look at our warehouse here and see nationwide food banks are struggling with dwindling donations from food vendors, retailers and from supply chain challenges in the USDA.

Food program lingering from COVID.

All of it makes fresh fish and meat in demand commodities.

Hunger in our country is really about good nutrition, and good nutrition is about perishable food and protein, you know, so it's fresh fruits and vegetables, proteins, meat and dairy.

And yet they're harder to come by in terms of donations.

Louisiana hunters are also stepping up with donations of wild game delivered to area food banks during the Clean out your freezer day.

It's an annual event hosted by Hunters for the Hungry.

Participants can donate Frozen Wild game directly to area food banks.

Clean Out your Freezer Day is a way for hunters and fishermen of Louisiana to give the protein that they brought home during their hunting and fishing trips the prior year.

Back to the needy of our state.

Over the past five years, Hunters for the Hungry has collected £99,000 of protein through their clean out your freezer day events, which equates to 396,000 meals for those in need.

Can you literally pull up, drop off your ice, just contents to us?

And then the food bank comes around and takes them all up.

Donations to the food bank require that the protein is packaged, labeled and free of freezer burn.

Donations aren't just limited to fish and game.

Clean out your freezer day accepts any type of protein.

St Vincent de Paul is one of the participating food banks in the capital city.

We're the largest mass feeding facility, providing over 200,000 meals a year.

A That's challenge.

And so these want this wonderful gift and the gift from all the hunters.

It's going to go a long way.

Louisiana calls itself a sportsman's paradise for its abundance of natural resources for hunting and fishing and outdoor recreation.

Many hunters and anglers, they understand that this paradise comes with a responsibility to both Mother Nature and humankind.

To balance out what we take with what we give back.

And it's very easy for a school to do a can good drive or for a grocery store to put out a bin where you can, you know, drop off, you know, boxes of pasta and rice and that sort of thing.

But nobody really has a program except for us where we can provide lean protein.

Those local waters belong to the local people.

So if we are there diving, we have a responsibility to also take the catch and share it with the local people.

To learn more about clean out your freezer day taking place this Sunday, August 27th, go to clean out your freezer.

Recall in 2018, Governor John Bel Edwards implemented a temporary sales tax increase to save the state from a financial deficit.

The tax is set to expire in 2025.

Now, some lawmakers argue that the loss of tax revenue will propel the state toward a fiscal cliff, while others argue that a deficit is unlikely.

And now let's take a look at my deep dive into the fiscal cliff.

In the latest edition to our special series, The Way Forward Election 2023.

What is a fiscal cliff by definition?

A fiscal cliff is a set of financial factors that cause or threaten sudden and severe economic decline.

In our case, a fiscal cliff is a looming financial deficit in a budget, meaning there isn't enough money to cover expenses without it.

State agencies like the police department or the Department of Education wouldn't have enough funding to sustain themselves.

These financial crises are not uncommon.

The government faces them all the time.

Louisiana's fiscal cliff is nothing new.

We've been here before, most recently in 2012 with Governor Bobby Jindal and 2016 with Governor John Bel Edwards.

The 2012 approaches to the cliff were wide ranging cuts to the state's budget, resulting in a $2 billion deficit by the end of the Jindal administration.

The 2012 approach under Governor Edwards was to raise taxes and grow revenue, which the state did, bringing the $2 billion deficit down to the $400 billion deficit we have today.

We face a daunting fiscal crisis.

We can no longer afford to lurch year to year cobbling together temporary fixes and expecting to realize permanent sustainability.

If we don't fix the structural budget deficit.

We can't fix any of our other problems by 2017.

The Edwards administration succeeded in lowering the deficit, most notably with a temporary increase in sales tax.

But by the 2018 session, the state still faced a fiscal cliff.

This time, a $1 billion deficit.

The time for solutions is now.

The citizens of this state have waited long enough and they deserve results to plug the holes in the budget.

The Edwards administration lowered the sales tax increase 2.4 or 5% and extended the tax for seven years.

And that brings us to the present.

The sales tax increase is set to expire in 2025, which will create a $400 million loss.

On top of that, the state is also losing an additional 300 million from the general fund.

So in total, Louisiana is looking at almost $1,000,000,000 loss.

But is this deficit actually a fiscal cliff?

There are differing opinions.

Well, I'm Jamie TARABAY.

I've been with the Pelican Institute for about a year now.

Well, the Pelican is Susan's nonprofit, nonpartisan policy think tank that's focused on solutions for a really big point of contention in this last legislative session was figuring out exactly how we were going to budget everything, all of Louisiana's programs.

And afterward, I mean, there were concerns that we were headed toward a fiscal cliff.

Are there any truth to those claims?

Yes or no?

On paper, it does look like there may be a fiscal deficit in some future years.

It's important to remember that the revenue forecasts are incredibly conservative because you don't want to wind up in a deficit in the middle of the year.

So we do tend to forecast revenues.

On the conservative side, Louisiana's revenue forecasts are predicting $400 million in tax revenue this year.

But with an $800 million deficit, that still leaves about 400 million unaccounted for.

So if we lose about 400 million, where can we pull that money from?

Well, the idea here is not to necessarily replace that money.

The idea here is you should look for opportunities between now and 2025 to grow the economy through more bold tax reform, through regulatory reform.

Getting people back to work and contributing to the society.

That way you don't need that $400 million in that sales tax is being created naturally through the taxes that we already have.

The Pelican Institute released a plan for lawmakers that revolves around lowering taxes and limiting government spending.

It shows how state lawmakers can restrain spending by limiting growth to just what the what reflects the economy in the population growth of the state.

And by doing so, we can save money in the future rather than face future deficits.

But some disagree that lowering taxes and limiting spending is enough to avoid a financial cliff.

Even with the budget that we have.

We know we're not paying enough to recruit teachers to fill all the classrooms in Louisiana.

We can't recruit bus drivers.

The Department of Children and Family Services can't find child caseworkers for abused and neglected children because the salaries are too low.

So even right now, in a pretty good budget year, we don't have enough revenue coming into the state to provide basic services for people who need them.

John Mueller is the executive director of the Louisiana Budget Project.

He says the fiscal cliff can only be avoided by replacing the tax revenue with other sources of income.

Without it, he says, the community will suffer under budget cuts.

And we have politicians and people running for office saying, well, we don't need to raise any more revenue.

In fact, we're going to do make do the same thing with $800 million less.

The math just doesn't add up.

And and if people don't believe us now, then they're going to have to believe us two years from now.

If they decide not to avoid this fiscal cliff.

Given Louisiana's history and where we're at right now, where do you see us going in 2025?

Well, we have an election coming up.

We're going to have a new governor.

We're going to have a lot of new legislators.

And and it's it's impossible to say.

You know, my hope is that when they get in and they look at the budget, they're going to realize that they don't want to go back to the way things were under the previous governor, where for eight years Bobby Jindal tried to cut our way to prosperity.

Now there is a possibility the state could end up with more revenue than what was forecasted.

But that possibility is uncertain.

At least the Public Affairs Research Council.

We have an official forecast and the official forecast says we're going to be down $400 million.

So that's the one we're relying on.

Now, it is it is both true and completely possible.

We might have more money than that.

And if you look what we've had the past couple of years, we had no official forecast, but then we came in better than expected and hopefully that happens.

However, it's also likely that we take in less money either the economy comes down or something else happens.

So we could be even worse off than $400 million down.

So it is in fact possible because no one has a perfect crystal ball.

But party's position is $400 million decrease is what the official projection is.

That's what we ought to make our plans around.

Parker says there are only two viable options cut the budgets or replace the revenue with something else, something reoccurring.

So our recommendations are to get a plan and start working on it as soon as possible.

And so they don't have to wait two years.

They should start next year.

And when they come in, decide and working with the governor.

Are you going to renew any of the sales tax or some portion of taxes?

So suppose you're a voter and you're at home and you're trying to figure out exactly which candidate to choose based off of what your opinions are when it comes to the fiscal cliff, what should you be looking for and what should you be paying attention to?

Well, two things would be, do they have a plan?

Have they actually acknowledged this is a real issue?

And that's not necessarily true for all the candidates and it's not necessarily true for the legislative candidates.

So that's the first most important thing.

Do they even recognize this is an issue?

So that's something make sure that they have a plan and make sure that it aligns, I guess, what your opinions are whenever it comes to the fiscal cliff.

Exactly.

So if you're you know, if you're okay with raising taxes, you think, hey, look, our services are too important, then that's what you want to hear.

Or if you're like, Nope, we're overtaxed too much.

I want to see that you're actually making cuts.

Then that's you.

And so whichever solution you want, that's what you want to hear.

But either way, get an answer from them.

Whether you believe there's a looming fiscal cliff and what should be done about it is up to you, voter.

Listen carefully and choose wisely.

In this week's episode of Coffee with the Candidates.

I met up with gubernatorial candidate Stephen Waguespack to chat over coffee at Frank's Restaurant about where he stands on key voter issues, including the state's income tax insurance crisis and brain drain.

Coffee with the candidates is part of LP's ongoing gubernatorial election coverage.

Stephen Waguespack is running for governor as a Republican.

He lives in Baton Rouge and worked for ten years as the CEO of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry.

He also served in former Governor Bobby Jindal's administration as chief of staff.

Well, hi, Stephen.

Thank you so much for joining me here at Frank's Restaurant, my honor.

Any time.

Well, before we get started with our chat, how about a cup of coffee?

I would love some.

Never a bad time for me for coffee.

Thank you.

You probably need a lot of it on the campaign trail 24/7.

All right, So, viewers, here is how our coffee chat is going to go.

Each of the candidates receive these same five questions ahead of time.

Each candidate has 7 minutes to answer the five questions in total.

I will be keeping track of the time and just reminding the candidates of how much time and how many questions we have left so that we can finish them all in these seven allotted minutes.

So.

Well, when we get started, let's take a step.

All right.

Let's test the French coffee.

Strong.

Delicious.

Heart.

Strong.

Where you want to be.

And here we go.

I'm going to set the timer on start.

And first question it.

Louisiana is experiencing an insurance crisis as auto property and flood insurance rates continue to rise and some insurance companies quit writing policies altogether.

How will you address the affordability and accessibility of insurance elimination?

It's one of the most important issues facing Louisiana today.

Too many families can't afford to live here anymore because of the cost increases coming in their mailbox.

It's several things.

First of all, we have to attract those smaller insurers back to our market.

We have to attract the reinsurance back to the market.

The legislature took some steps to do that.

We have to go much further and make it an easy market for them to come in and operate in.

I guess giving them more flexibility to maneuver throughout the year because right now they have to leave instead of be able to adjust some of their processes.

The second thing is we have to improve our legal climate.

Right now we know that some of these excessive claims are happening, are driving insurers out of the state.

We have a scarlet letter on our chest as a state.

We have to take that letter off, make a welcoming environment so they can come in and we can not scare them away.

The third thing is people are sick and tired of what I call the adjuster shuffle.

People have a storm hit their house.

They go through one, two, three, four, five, six adjusters having to repeat their claim every single time.

It's ridiculous.

I want to work and build some in our higher ed universities, some adjuster colleges, so that we can train people in Louisiana to be adjusters.

So next time there's a storm.

You got Boudreau's interpreters in this area who can be that adjuster, be there for the long haul, help people get their claims done faster so we rebuild the market by attracting smaller insurers, getting reinsurance right, improving our legal climate to take some of that unnecessary cost out and stopping the adjuster shuffle, shuffle training people here to be adjusters.

So you get a clear quick answer and check when you get hit with this stage.

Temporary .45 sales tax set to expire in mid 2025.

Declining gas taxes, people pay at the pump and other changing circumstances affecting our tax structure.

Some say Louisiana is headed toward a fiscal cliff.

What is your plan to create a sustainable tax base and a competitive tax environment?

The biggest issue facing Louisiana is the cost on working families, the cost of driving families out of the state.

Inflation is absolutely smothering working families.

That is our biggest crisis.

So that temporary tax was passed and set to expire in 2025.

It needs to expire.

We cannot keep putting cost after cost on the backs of small business and working families.

So I plan to absolutely let that that expire.

But that means we need to do is and you take it.

When I get in, I'm going to do an external audit of every single agency we have in Louisiana and release those findings to the public.

The programs that are working well, I want to invest in more and fortified the programs that are failing, but not proving to be tax taxpayer responsible.

We're going either reform or get rid of.

So we're going to shrink government in those spots, fund government, those other spots.

But that tax needs to expire.

But that only works if you grow the economy between now and then.

The best way to provide success in Louisiana is grow the economy, create opportunity for all that's improving our workforce development, training kids for the jobs of today, attracting new industries.

Letting that tax roll off.

Getting that cost burden off of the back of working families.

That way we can have a budget that responsible, a budget that's effective, and more importantly, a budget that's lower and lower taxes for working families that are struggling right now to just basically afford basic services in a rising inflation template that they're have right now.

Louisiana has some of the highest incarceration and recidivism rates in the nation.

How are you going to lower crime and improve public safety?

Public safety is a top issue throughout the state.

It's not just an urban area, rural area.

It's everywhere.

And there's several factors on it.

One.

We need more law enforcement on the streets.

We're about 200 down in state police.

We have to train more.

We have to do more training academies.

You have to pay them and back them up.

Too often in the last couple of years, police feel like no one has their back.

I will have their back and I will back them and I will pay them.

So training cops, getting that in the same thing is technology.

People don't want testify anymore because they're scared of retribution.

So body cams, license plate readers, streetside cams in high crime areas or in the main business areas can prove some of those cases without jeopardizing people to have to testify.

The third thing is there's a juvenile violent crime crisis in this state.

Kids, 14 to 19 year old are creating some of these crimes because they know that's a catch and release template in Louisiana right now.

They can't hold them in adult prison.

They get released immediately.

So I want to partner with local areas, find some juvenile facility so we can take these kids off the streets and those that need remediation help them get that training and those that need to be brought to streets do that as well.

Recent studies show that sea levels are rising faster than we can rebuild the coast, a consequence of climate change.

Renewable energy sources such as wind, water, solar power that can help combat climate change.

What is your stance on developing renewable energy sources in Louisiana?

I'm in all of the above energy guy.

I love traditional oil and gas and gas.

I love the new technology, green technology.

I love it all.

I think Louisiana needs to be epicenter of all of it.

If the federal government would get off the back of Louisiana and allow us to produce natural gas in the Gulf of Mexico right now, we could fuel clean natural gas for the whole world.

We could distribute that out to the entire international economy.

We could be creating Louisiana jobs.

Right now, it's the federal government that's our problem.

But I will tell you, a lot of the traditional oil and gas companies right now, they're the ones putting major investment dollars in R&D for sun, for solar, for geothermal, for carbon capture, etc.. We need to embrace those next generation technologies also.

And the people in Louisiana who know how to inject a hole and build a pipeline today can do the same thing for renewable resources in the future.

I want to be all of the above and support existing and the next generation.

So our last question Statistics show that young people are moving out of Louisiana for better educational and business opportunities and quality of life.

How do you intend to stop the so-called brain drain and make Louisiana more attractive to younger generations?

And you have a minute, 20 left.

This is why I'm running for governor.

The brain drain has been killing us for years.

We have lost one family after another for decades in Louisiana, and we've shrug their shoulders like there's nothing we can do about it.

That is a lie.

The truth is, we need new leadership in the capital who are focused on creating an environment that has jobs for every single person in this state.

Not everyone has to go to a four year school.

We have to revamp our high schools.

And if you want to go to a four year or straight to the workforce or anywhere in between, create pathways for each of those kids, We've got a high poverty population that we have to put into this workforce.

It starts with workforce training and I will focus on that.

The last thing is young people leave not just for jobs, but also entrepreneurs, activity, bike trails and fun things to do.

No litter on the highways.

We have to focus on that quality of life piece along with a strong job market that is fueled by a workforce.

Develop a program that works.

All of that works hand in glove.

I'm going to get that done when I'm as governor and I'm going to stop the brain drain once and for all.

Lovely.

And guess what?

You did this in 6 minutes.

35 seconds.

See, I thought I was running late.

Oh, well done.

That's a lot of information to pack in 7 minutes.

Now, before we go, I have one last question.

All right.

Biscuits, Auburn.

Yes, I love them both, but I'm a go Biscuits.

Biscuits.

It is.

Oh, yes, indeed.

Yes, indeed.

And now, just a reminder, we will be hosting a televised gubernatorial debate on September 28th with all of the leading candidates.

And that's our show for this week.

Remember, you can watch anything LP any time.

Wherever you are with our LP app, you can catch LP news and public affairs shows as well as other Louisiana programs you've come to enjoy over the years.

And please like us on Facebook and Instagram for everyone at Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

I'm kerosene sear and I'm on the block.

Until next time.

That's the state we're in.

Every day I go to work for Entergy.

I know customers are counting on me.

So Entergy is investing millions of dollars to keep the lights on and installing new technology to prevent outages before they happen.

Together, together.

Together.

We power life.

Additional support provided by the Fred Bea and Ruth Ziegler Foundation and the Zeigler Art Museum located in Jennings City Hall.

The museum focuses on emerging Louisiana artists and is an historical and cultural center for Southwest Louisiana and the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

With support from viewers like you.