We believe that the best way for government to win back the trust of the people is to shine a little light on how they are spending the people's money... and we hope you do too! You may have recently heard about "LouisianaCheckbook.com" (www.louisianacheckbook.com). This movement is fueled by a growing group of citizens and taxpayers who want to see common-sense transparency and accountability for every tax dollar in Louisiana. The concept is a searchable government watchdog website that allows citizens to track and investigate spending by the state, local governments, school districts, the courts and other public entities.
State and local governments across the country already have or are creating detailed spending websites. It's time for Louisiana to follow suit!
All you need to voice your support for transparency in spending is to click the blue button below.
This link will take you to a website that will give you the opportunity to send a message to your legislator by just filling out a small form. We have already written a draft email template and tweet for you so all you have to do is hit SEND to make it clear you want transparency in government spending!
It has become a new national pastime for folks to spend time bemoaning the rise of "partisanship" and to complain about how divided the country has become. This mantra has been bought hook, line and sinker by both the left and the right. Partisanship and petty politics are often blamed for all that ails us, even though the unsolved societal problems usually referenced as proof have been around for generations. Ironically, the political figures that tend to rail the loudest against partisanship are those that seem to practice it the most.
To begin this week's Capitol Report, I want to take a moment to encourage everyone to join me in praying for the victims of the shooting in Parkland, Florida. As I said a few days ago on the
Ingraham Angle, the power of prayer can never be underestimated. I know I needed your prayers last summer. They helped my family and me through a really difficult time, and I know it will help all of these families.
While some politicians will use this tragic event as another opportunity to promote their own political agenda that divides our nation, now is the time to come together as a country and work hard to understand how we can prevent these types of events in the future. We need to repair breakdowns and loopholes in our nation's mental health system. We also need to ask the tough questions to find out why the shooter slipped through the cracks when the FBI was given his name months before as a likely school shooter.
U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), today questioned higher education officials during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing on making college more affordable, and discussed his bipartisan legislation (S. 1121) to provide students and parents with more information about tuition and higher education outcomes so they can make more informed choices about their futures.
The Chesapeake Group is hired by the Houma-Terrebonne Chamber
of Commerce to lobby in Baton Rouge on behalf of the business community in our region
The special session concluded it's fourth day today and still there hasn't a compromise reached. I am not sure there is anything coming down the line either. Very few bills have been passed from committee and although the legislature is scheduled to be in session over the weekend I am not expecting much.
The links below are a few of the highlights in news from around Louisiana for the week ending February 23, 2018
Your Voice Matters: Tell Federal Regulators You Support Safe Energy Exploration
in the Gulf of Mexico
The Trump Administration ordered the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the agency that oversees the development of oil and natural gas off our coast, to develop a new leasing program that would bring more safe oil exploration to the Gulf of Mexico. SHOW YOUR SUPPORT for this program to bring more jobs, money and businesses to Louisiana.
How to Take Action
Attend the meeting in Baton Rouge to offer input to federal regulators.
Meeting Details:
Tuesday, March 6
3 - 7 p.m. CST
Crown Plaza Executive Center Baton Rouge
4728 Constitution Avenue, Baton Rouge,
LA 70808
(225) 224-7030
Express your support of the oil and natural gas industry by submitting a public comment online by Friday, March 9.
To take action and for tips on how to submit an effective public comment click here.
Exploring New Horizons
Major Oil Discovery By Chevron in Deepwater
Gulf of Mexico
Chevron Corporation recently announced a significant oil discovery at the Ballymore prospect in the deepwater U.S. Gulf of Mexico.
Shell Finds Opportunities for Increased Exploration in Gulf of Mexico
Shell Offshore Inc. recently announced one of its largest U.S. Gulf of Mexico exploration finds in the past decade from the Whale deep-water well. Evaluation of the discovery is ongoing to define development options.
