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Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill to create St. George Community School System passes House
BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — The bill to create a school system for the City of St. George has passed the House on Wednesday. SB 25 and SB 234, both authored by Sen. Rick Edmonds, are aimed at creating the St. George Community School System and treating it as a parish school district. SB 25 would allow the created school system the ability to participate in the Minimum Foundation Program (MFP) state funding formula, get free teaching materials from the state and levy local taxes for school funding. If the bill becomes a law, the school system would begin operating schools on July 1, 2027. SB 234 is the implementation plan, showing a breakdown of how the school system would operate. The school board will be made up of seven appointed interim members and one appointed interim superintendent. A more permanent board will be elected and can serve four-year concurrent terms. All public school property, including buses, within the City of St. George border would be transferred from the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board by June 30, 2027. Students will have the option to remain at their current schools after the split, depending on the student's grade level. East Baton Rouge must cooperate in transferring records, assets, and access to facilities. Until June 30, 2027, East Baton Rouge Parish will collect all sales, use, and property taxes before the City of St. George takes over on July 1, 2027. Louisiana bill on Baton Rouge blight moves forward More people speak out against Clinton tax preparer accused of fraud AI may cut drug discovery time, says scientific software leader Keeping pets safe in the summer heat: Local experts share tips May Street closures in effect, Baton Rouge residents concerned with traffic congestion Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Louisiana Senate committee approves bills for St. George school district; EBR warns of $140M hit
BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — A Louisiana Senate committee approved two bills Wednesday that would pave the way for the creation of an independent school district and board in the newly incorporated city of St. George. Sen. Rick Edmonds (R-Baton Rouge) authored the legislation, Senate Bill 234 and its companion measure, Senate Bill 25—both of which cleared the Senate Committee on Education. SB 234 outlines the structure and transition for the proposed St. George Community School System, while SB 25 is a constitutional amendment that must be approved by voters statewide to grant the district full authority. St. George Mayor Dustin Yates told the committee the proposal fulfills one of the city's core promises: providing stronger educational options for families. 'This has always been about putting our kids first,' he said. SB 234 would create the legal framework for a new school system and school board within the city limits of St. George, which became Louisiana's fifth-largest city after winning a 2024 Louisiana Supreme Court decision to incorporate. If passed, the school system would begin operations on July 1, 2027, following a multi-year transition process. The bill proposes the governor appoint an interim superintendent and a seven-member interim school board, drawn from local nominations by legislators. That board would draft district maps and establish governance plans before the first election of board members. Louisiana released school scores. Did your local schools make the grade? SB 234 also outlines how students, buildings, school buses, funding, and other resources would be transferred from the East Baton Rouge Parish School System to the St. George system. The two systems would be required to enter agreements allowing continued access to magnet and charter programs and ensuring state and local education funding follows the student. SB 25, the constitutional amendment, would appear on the Nov. 15, 2025 statewide ballot. If approved by voters, it would give the St. George district the same constitutional authority granted to parish school systems, including the ability to collect property taxes and receive state education funding through the Minimum Foundation Program. But not everyone supports the move. Dadrius Lanus, who represents District 2 on the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board, warned of the potential financial blow to EBR Schools. He said the system could lose $140 million in local revenue to St. George. 'We have done everything possible to fix a lot of concerns and the problems that you've heard today for the very reason why St. George wants to break away,' Lanus said, pointing to the district's ongoing realignment plan that includes school closures and consolidations affecting over 10,000 students. The plan is scheduled to go before the school board in May for final approval. The St. George school system proposal has been years in the making. A similar plan was proposed more than a decade ago but failed to move forward due to challenges with funding and the inability to pass a constitutional amendment. The latest proposal resolves many of those past concerns, according to Edmonds, including issues with district boundaries. Trump signals shift in tone on China tariffs Trump signs executive orders on school discipline, education reform Louisiana Senate committee approves bills for St. George school district; EBR warns of $140M hit How will RFK Jr.'s autism data collection work? Trump adding two 'beautiful' flagpoles to White House grounds as part of his 'touches' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
American Press
22-04-2025
- Business
- American Press
Louisiana lawmakers file bill to cap growth of government
Louisiana lawmakers file bill to cap growth of government Published 1:49 pm Tuesday, April 22, 2025 By Nolan McKendry | The Center Square The Louisiana Legislature has introduced a bill to limit the growth of the government, an increasingly popular move among states. In November, the House of Representatives passed an identical bill, but once it arrived to the Senate it was amended significantly, which included various exceptions to the expenditure limit such as funds from the federal government or statutorily dedicated funds. Email newsletter signup The one currently before the Legislature removes those exceptions and more. 'What the bill does is it limits the amount of recurring general fund… that can be appropriated for recurring expenses and restricts the use of the revenues above that limit,' Rep. Phillip Tarver, R-Calcasieu, explained. 'We'll create a government growth limit.' Louisiana's state spending has increased by over $22 billion since 2016, largely driven by health care and educational spending. Those two spending categories have increased in large part due to the state's expansion of Medicaid. Enrollment in Medicaid has increased to 44% of the population and ballooning healthcare spending to 40% of the state budget, according to the Pelican Institute. Spending on education has risen. Through the Minimum Foundation Program, spending on education has grown even as student enrollment declines, bringing the state's spending on education to over $11 billion. 'Louisiana's budget is highly constrained by a variety of constitutional and statutory requirements that earmark significant portions of state revenue for specific purposes. This limits lawmakers' discretion in allocating funds to address current priorities or fiscal emergencies,' the Pelican Institute wrote. 'Nearly one-quarter of the state's tax revenues are automatically set aside for specific purposes before lawmakers even begin drafting the budget.' The growth limit would be calculated using the previous year's general fund appropriation as a base, multiplied by a growth factor that reflects population changes and inflation — specifically, the Consumer Price Index and medical care inflation. If revenues exceed the cap, they could only be used for non-recurring expenses, such as infrastructure or paying down debt. 'The growth limit cannot exceed the expenditure limit,' Tarver said. 'And if the revenues exceed the growth limit, but are under the expenditure limit, the revenues can only be appropriated for non-recurring expenditures.' The new rule wouldn't apply to one-time or emergency spending, and certain expenditures would be excluded from the cap. But any recurring revenue collected above the new growth limit would be off-limits for ongoing expenses and could only be used for nonrecurring purposes like infrastructure projects or paying down debt. The proposal also includes a mechanism for lawmakers to change the growth limit through a two-thirds vote. The bill advanced out of committee without objection and without any major amendment. Featured Local Savings
