Gov. Jeff Landry is urging lawmakers to reject the City of New Orleans’ request for a $125 million loan from the state.
The city’s deepening financial crisis has raised the possibility that officials may go unpaid. Last week, Chief Administrative Officer Joe Threat alerted city leaders that the cash flow problem could prevent payroll from being met for the rest of the year. In turn, city council unanimously passed a resolution to apply for a $125 million state bond – a temporary solution.
In a post to X Tuesday morning though, Landry said “It’s imperative that the [city] address its financial matter promptly. I urge [Louisiana House Republican Legislative Delegation] and [Louisiana Senate Republicans] to deny the city’s request to accumulate debt o the backs of its citizens.”
Landry says he and the legislature have worked “diligently” to establish financial stability for the state. Landry is also calling for an emergency meeting of the Fiscal Review Committee and if necessary, the appointment of a fiscal administrator. Attorney General Liz Murrill confirmed the meeting will take place at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Murrill released a statement last week, saying her office has authority to step into a municipality’s finances if they’re unable to manage their own affairs.
“We have some authority to kind of impose a fiscal administration on municipalities that can’t manage their financial affairs,” Murrill said.
WWL Louisiana has not confirmed whether or not she is considering taking the action.
Should the bond request be denied, it’s unclear how the city will be able to make payroll.
Thanks for the feedback and sources. I don’t want the city to be shut down but jumping right to a loan isn’t a good look. There’s obviously lots of corruption in New Orleans and I suspect that a lot of the money in the loan will vanish. That said, certain groups will suffer the most. I’m hoping both that they get the money and that they don’t squander it.
There’s no more corruption in New Orleans than in the rest of Louisiana; fascist right-wing politicians are themselves corrupt for denying funding to liberal cities, just as Trump is doing by weaponizing FEMA.
I do think that there is more corruption in New Orleans just by the size and more opportunities. I completely agree with the second part of your statement. The Republican party is more corrupt than New Orleans by a long shot.