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Who Controls the Louisiana Government?

FAT CAT LA LEGISLATORS THREATEN TO EVICT 37,000 SENIORS, DISABLED FROM NURSING HOMES WHILE BIG CORPORATIONS WITHHELD  $15 BILLION IN TAXES SINCE 2011!

Pay Them $7.25 an hour, Cancel Sales Tax

Take Away Legislators’ Health Care, Pensions

4,760 Corporate Lobbyists,  Right Wing Groups in Louisiana Bankrolling Candidates & Writing Legislation.

A People’s Budget Commission Should Investigate Campaign “donations” (bribes) from these corporations

All we hear is that there is a whopping budget deficit and the only thing that can be done is to take away medical care, education, housing. In truth, it is only the working class and poor people paying all the taxes. According to a state study, the budget is being defrauded of $2 billion a year due to corporate exemptions, loopholes, and rebates. See this on who’s not paying taxes and which right wing billionaires are funding state legislators.

The majority of state legislators belong to:

ALEC: American Legislative Council.

This is made up of the biggest oil  companies, banks, military industries, and pharmaceutical companies. They give ALEC millions. They host lavish meetings with state legislators to tell them what laws to propose and how to vote. They write the legislation and word for word their puppets introduce it. Louisiana legislators are hosting the national ALEC Conference in New Orleans in August.

If you have $30,000, you can have dinner with them. Koch brothers: ultra-right wingers, major players in ALEC and other right-wing organizations. Made billions from oil and gas.

State Policy Network – similar to ALEC

What is their legislative agenda: To oppose equality for women, raising the minimum wage, environmental laws, and workers’ rights. They are anti-immigrant, homophobic, defend police killings and are rabidly pro-war. They are against Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, Food Stamps and Housing Assistance. They are for mass incarceration in for profit jails. They believe only the very rich count.

GOVERNOR’S OFFICE REVEALS 7,000 CORPORATE TAX EXEMPTIONS COSTING BILLIONS OF DOLLARS YEARLY

A few companies that get tax breaks are:

Exxon Mobil: $263 million
Valero Oil: $315 million
Cleco Oil: $180 million
Fracking companies: $1.2 billion
Walmart: $700,000 to build stores in prosperous neighborhoods fraudulently obtained money slated for poor neighborhoods
Cheniere Energy: $117 million

Property Tax Refund to Corporations: $427 million

The state paid out, in one year, $210 million more in tax credits and rebates than it has collected from corporate taxes. Former Secretary of Revenue,
Barfield, admitted that of 87 largest companies, only l/4 paid any taxes
while 96% were profitable.

Sources: The Advocate, Office of the Governor, Good Jobs First This does not include the millions in tax abatements given locally in New Orleans, especially to hotels, casinos, private medical facilities and more

UNITY IS NEEDED TO FIGHT BACK TOGETHER FOR ALL THE NEEDS OF LOUISIANA’S HARD-WORKING PEOPLE.

The legislature is supposed to protect the well being of the people of Louisiana. However, they are only looking out for their own bank accounts and the corporations who fund their campaigns. In exchange for campaign money (while “legal”, Workers Voice calls it bribes) they make sure the super wealthy and big corporations are piling up profit at the expense of the people. These greedy politicians are creating misery, suffering and death, while enjoying their mansions. There is not a shred of democracy in this. Just like the U.S. Congress, another millionaires club, they have declared war on the working-class people of this state by cutting the wealthy’s taxes and taking away money from food stamps, Medicare, Medicaid, social security, housing assistance and more.

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Louisiana House of Representatives Moves to Criminalize Water-Protectors

By Meg Maloney

The fight against the Bayou Bridge Pipeline intensifies in Louisiana. The Indigenous-led L’eau Est La Vie (Water Is Life) camp, located in the swamps of Houma, Chitimacha, and Chata Territory, have been peacefully protesting the Bayou Bridge Pipeline for several months now. Community leaders have been organizing to spread awareness on the high-risk project, which puts 700 bodies of water in danger, including our precious Atchafalaya basin, the last growing delta in the state.

Big Oil is trembling in fear of the people organizing to fight back against companies who continue to make messes in our communities. From this fear has stemmed the bill HB727, which passed the Louisiana House of Representatives in April Next it will go to the Senate. Then it will land on our governor’s desk. If passed this bill could land water-protectors in jail for up to 25 years, and a year for even “conspiring” to protest pipelines.

Knowing how quickly our elected officials fall in line behind corporate sponsors, this bill is very worrying. The HB727 bill is meant to hyper-criminalize water-protectors, fisherfolk, environmentalists, journalists, justice organizers & anyone who wishes to exercise their First Amendment rights in relation to defending their lands and waters.

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is the organization guilty of writing the HB727 bill. ALEC is an organization that has over 300 corporate sponsors, including Walmart, the Koch brothers, AT&T, and Exxon Mobil. ALEC uses their corporate contributions to draft legislation that legislators across the country take back to their states and introduce as their own “reform” ideas. ALEC is known for promoting privatization and corporate interests in every sphere, including education, healthcare, the environment, voting rights, etc.

If the HB727 bill is passed our tax dollars will be used to protect private companies who are destroying our waterways, wetlands, and crawfish habitats. Our wetlands are vital in protecting us from storm waters, and we’re losing a football field worth of land every hour. Protecting waterways and wetlands should go without saying in South Louisiana. We should be focused on restoring them, because our culture and livelihood depends on it. Both Democrats and Republicans have supported the HB727 bill. It is not an issue of party; it’s an issue of whose pockets are getting filled by big oil.

Cherri Foytlin, an indigenous community organizer at the L’eau Est La Vie camp, says they’re not backing down. That if the people can’t put their bodies on the line to protect the water, on the route of the pipeline, they will bring the fight to the offices of all our corrupt politicians. Our officials can stand on the opposing side of the people, but when organized & united the peoples power will always win. The question is how far our corrupt politicians are willing to take it.

If you wish to support the work against the Bayou Bridge Pipeline, visit nobbp.org. Donate, sign up for camp, and help spread awareness in your community. Call your representatives and say no to bill HB727.