Hear update on session

By Patrick FLANAGAN
The Daily Iberian
The local delegation described the recent
legislative session as a mixed bag.

In light of the BP oil spill, the federal
government’s two moratoriums against
deepwater exploration — the first being
overturned by U.S. district and appellate
courts and the second ordered Monday — the
state’s budget deficit, and an anticipated
deficit for next year, state Rep. Taylor
Barras, D-New Iberia, said, “We find
ourselves ... in an unprecedented time for
Louisiana.”

Barras, along with state Sen. Troy Hebert,
I-Jeanerette, and state Rep. Simone
Champagne, R-Jeanerette, met this morning for
the Eggs and Issues roundtable discussion,
held by the Greater Iberia Chamber of
Commerce.

Champagne said while Louisianans know the
impact the moratorium will have on the
state’s economy, the rest of the nation’s
view of deepwater drilling has been tarnished
by the national news media’s coverage of
the BP oil spill.

“We need to continue making the rest of the
nation understand the importance of the
petroleum industry,” Champagne said.

As a member of the Energy Task Force,
comprised of women legislators throughout the
county, Champagne said she recently led a
delegation that spent six hours at Port
Fourchon in Lafourche Parish. She said she
was able to convince one legislator from the
non-drilling state of Vermont of the
importance drilling in the Gulf of Mexico
holds for the rest of the nation.

“She went back to Vermont and adopted a
resolution asking the president to relieve
the moratorium,” Champagne said. “At
first, she didn’t understand what it
(moratorium) means to Vermont. We don’t
just produce oil and gas for them, but we
also store it.”

Hebert said although the administration
thinks the moratorium is the right move in
helping prevent future incidents like the BP
spill, he added, “Their help is about to
kill us.”

Although the rest of the nation views the oil
spill as evidence for necessitating the
moratorium, Hebert said the oil industry
cannot be turned on and off quickly.

“One cold winter day, we should just turn
the valve off and let them see how important
Louisiana is to them,” Hebert said.

Barras said although the courts ruled against
the administration’s deepwater drilling
ban, he described the ban issued Monday by
the administration as “laying a blanket
over all drilling” — in shallow and deep
waters.

“Right now, today, BP may be the only
friend we have,” Barras said. “Our issue
is with the federal government now.”

Regarding the state’s budget deficit and
the anticipated deficit for next year,
neither of which take into account the
potential impact the moratorium will have on
the state’s economy, Champagne said the
effect will first be felt through decreased
tax revenues.

For Hebert, the state’s budget problems
mean less money for parish and city
government projects. As a result, he said,
local governments will have to start tapping
into their own “rain day funds.”

“The state can no longer afford to
subsidize local projects,” he said. “You
can’t expect us in Baton Rouge to go
broke.”