Support for Louisiana, the state we're in is provided by.

Every day I go to work for Entergy.

I know customers are counting on me.

So Entergy is investing millions of dollars to keep the lights on and.

Installing new technology to prevent outages before they happen.

Together, together, together.

We power life.

Additional support provided by the Fred B and Ruth B Zigler Foundation and the Zigler Art Museum located in Jennings City Hall.

The museum focuses on emerging Louisiana artists and is an historical and cultural center for Southwest Louisiana and the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

With support from viewers like you and some senators recently said that they felt the legislature was tricked into approving these products that make you had the hemp saga orchestrated by the legislature.

The quality of life amenities, the walkability of the lakefront, it's going to be an absolute game changer.

The recovery of Lake Charles, four months shy of its darkest day.

You got to find the money from somewhere.

And you can't just keep doing tax cuts and expect to find prosperity.

At some point, there has to be a balance.

Tax talks swirls at the state Capitol.

Non-verbal kids are a lot more at risk because they can't communicate these things with other kids.

This week's young hero hails from Shreveport.

Good evening.

I'm Kara St.Cyr.

Andre has the night off, but we'll be airing two of his interviews throughout this broadcast tonight, A hauntingly familiar worry many New Orleanians thought was behind them.

Are there kinks in the city's nearly $15 billion flood protection system?

Army Corps engineers found severe corrosion to one major pump and significant corrosion to another.

Pumps meant to keep a Hurricane Katrina scenario from ever happening again.

What they're seeing would be normal after 35 years, but not five.

That's the age of the Great Wall.

Engineers have seen enough damage to trigger an inspection of the entire system.

And it does raise the question, could there be design flaws throughout?

And here's a look at some other news making headlines from around the state.

Solar energy is one step closer to becoming a reality in south Louisiana.

Next era energy brought about 1600 acres of land in Saint Landry Parish for a solar farm.

The project is expected to cost $200 million and bring in about 100 construction jobs and 30 to 40 corps management jobs.

The plan is to begin construction late summer or early fall.

It should be finished after 18 months.

A German company will reduce their emissions to lower pollution in the Saint John the Baptist area.

The Evan IT Corporation, which is an L calculated alcohol production company, will limit the amount of ethylene oxide, among other things, by 5.6 tons a year.

The EPA monitoring emissions in the reserve area and confirmed the plant was releasing elevated amounts of the carcinogen.

The legislature is currently pushing for higher punishments for crime.

The majority of the crime bill is focused on imposing larger fines and longer jail times for things like simple burglary and fentanyl related infractions.

This week, the Senate passed a bill that would beef up penalties for people who produce fentanyl.

It passed 3 to 2.

We've been closely following the legislative session at the Capitol.

I spoke with Jim Inkster earlier this week on the latest developments.

Take a look.

We're in week three of the legislative session.

This year is a fiscal year, which means most of the bills will be focused on taxes and economics, things like that.

But there are some proposals that focus on social issues.

Here to discuss the current hot topics this week is political commentator Jim Inkster.

Thanks for joining us.

So like I said, this is a fiscal year.

That's mainly what we're going to be talking about today.

So we're going to start with this one, Bill.

And it focuses on repealing the franchise tax by 2025.

So Louisiana's already done some work with the franchise tax.

We've reduced it to to 75 for every $1,000 made.

But this new bill would want to phase it out altogether.

So do you think this bill is likely to pass?

What are the pros and cons?

I'm not sure.

I think some bills will pass.

It could be this.

This state has money and lawmakers tend to do things they otherwise would not do when the state has some cash and they never miss an opportunity to cut taxes if they can.

But of course, every cut means at some point down the line, perhaps up here a tax increase and nobody wants that.

And we saw that happen once before when the stealthy plan was shut down in 2008 and then immediately the state didn't have as much money coming in.

And Bobby Jindal's administration ran into a problem and had to make significant cuts to balance the budget.

So whether they want to repeat that process, I don't know.

But any tax cut always has a chance with a conservative legislature.

So for this particular bill, it's estimated to lose about $1.57 billion.

I mean, you've just explained that we could see a possible tax increase.

Is that the only downside to this?

Yeah, I think that any cut of that magnitude has to be met with some sort of revenue enhancement elsewhere because the state right now has money, residual money from COVID and that will not always be the case.

So what happens when that money goes away?

There has to be a way to recoup those funds.

And so lawmakers have to be careful.

But this is an election year and lawmakers generally don't want to vote for taxes.

They like to vote against taxes, especially during an election year when their names on the ballot.

Are there any benefits to this bill.

If the state can do it and balance the budget and not only balance it this year, but in future years?

Sure.

But there may be other ways to massage the budget, and we'll find out because there are other bills that address tax cuts as well.

And there are some that would actually increase taxes.

So you got to find the money from somewhere.

And you can't just keep tucks doing tax cuts and expect to find prosperity at some point.

There has to be a balance.

Right.

I was just about to say that a balance so earlier you were talking about finding a way to offset some of the loss that this bill would would give us.

But this was a companion bill.

It came with another one that would eliminate the quality jobs tax credit, which for those who don't know, it's kind of like a partial refund for corporate businesses.

And it's supposed to offset, I think, about 40%.

Is that enough to keep us afloat and keep us from having to raise taxes?

Well, that it covers $4 for every ten.

But also that money is used to stimulate jobs and to give people work.

And right now, we have historically high employment.

So we feel that we've got the opportunity to eliminate something that encourages employment.

But will that always be the case?

We know that there ebbs and flows and cycles, and this may not be the same situation five years from now or three years from now.

So lawmakers, I think, have to be careful about how they pull out their knives and cut the budget and massage it, because every year is an adventure and every year is different from the preceding year and next year even 2024 could be significantly different than 2023.

All right.

So let's move on from this lawmakers cuts.

This was Senator Brett Lane that wants to impose these cuts.

So let's move on to another one.

On Monday, the House voted for an annual $9.2 million cut by 2025.

And this would be for the energy industry and an annual $72 million cut.

That's what it would grow to by 2032.

So what are the pros and cons of this particular bill?

And well, I want you to answer this.

I have a good follow up.

Well, the energy industry is still significant in Louisiana as far as dollars and cents.

It's the biggest one in our state.

And so obviously, we want the energy industry to do well.

But at the same time, cuts may mean more of a burden for ratepayers.

And in people who do not benefit as much as the industry itself, at least not in a tangible way based on a significant cut.

So there has to be some concern about what is this going to do to the average person and the industry industry.

The energy industry, as we know, already gets substantial tax breaks in Louisiana and it gets more tax breaks in any other industry as well.

So it's not like we have closed our back to turned our back to the energy and energy industry because we do a lot to keep it afloat and to make it successful.

So you were talking about how this is going to affect the average person.

I mean, Entergy and Dimka and places like this, these energy companies have been in the news for a while now because people have been complaining about their rates going up.

We've had all these hurricanes.

If they get these tax cuts, is it likely that we could see people's bills lower?

Not likely, because there is some significant infrastructure cost.

And the statement from the industry is that we need these funds to be able to keep us modern and safe.

And we have to do this to be in compliance and make sure that we aren't having the lights go out at wrong times and the grid not working as it should.

So as a result, I think we have to take that into account.

But the average ratepayer is not going to see a decrease in their bills.

That's just very unlikely to happen.

All right.

So these are pretty much all my question is, is there anything else you think the people should know about what's going on in session this week?

Well, I think that they may tinker with the sales tax as well.

And we have the highest sales tax in America, and that is something that would help consumers if it were to go down.

And it may it's already in the statute to go down in a few years, but it may be done incrementally, which would mean some some tax cuts that would benefit everybody and particularly those at lower income.

And as we know, we have as a comparison to other states, one of the poorest states in America.

So that's something lawmakers will look at.

But whether a highly conservative legislature will side with low income people over industry is suspect, shall we say.

All right.

So it's always fun to talk about taxes, tax cuts, all of these things.

So thank you so much for joining us.

Thank you.

Care.

It's been written about Louisiana politics, that corruption is a way of life.

Now, I think you'd be hard pressed present day to find any politician who would agree with that.

But you could not say that maybe it's not at least colorful.

Greg Hilburn is with USA Today Network.

And you have been doing stories on something that would be considered colorful, the hemp story and how this has evolved.

Who knew about hemp that it would become the top of mind for everybody in the state?

It's so I don't know if people are aware, but I know that they've seen these CBD hemp stores jump up all over the place.

There's about 3000 outlets.

And the deal here is that this was.

Hemp that was not.

Attempting to make you high.

It was that was how it was, you know, that's what people believe.

But it turns out it certainly can.

It contains these consumable hemp products, everything from gummies to slushies to chocolates, all contain THC.

This was passed last year in the legislature.

This was passed last year.

It's part of a four year four years of bills that ushered in the hemp industry.

Once the federal government made it legal in 2018.

So now we've got all kinds stores on every corner.

You've seen them all kind of edible, cheap products and as well as vape pens that they're.

And what did they say?

Vape pens that say vape pens say on the side.

These are not meant for inhalation purposes.

What else would they be for?

Right?

You've seen these stores and about 3000 or more pop up across Louisiana.

They're really easy to pick out.

They stand out.

And because they sell things that didn't exist before, it's an exploding industry.

It's created a lot of jobs.

A lot of entrepreneurs have invested money into it.

It's a booming industry and they're making a lot of money on this, especially because they got the THC that gets you high.

Exactly.

And but that was not the point.

That was not the intention of bringing this industry in.

But it has been an unintended consequence.

In fact, some senators recently said that they felt the legislature, you know, was tricked into approving the you know, this these products that make you high.

That definitely puts you in the in the ranks of a colorful story.

It does.

And so now there's there's legislation that would try to roll it back back some would roll it back and some would just put, you know, tighten up the law, put current limits on it, and serving sizes because you don't want to be able to put they want to you know, they are stacked serving sizes and you sure can eat as many gummies as you want.

Some states where marijuana is legal, Louisiana, absolutely no.

Absolutely no to recreational marijuana.

But the senators even said in committee what we've inadvertent done is legalize recreational marijuana.

It's not marijuana, but THC is the chemical that makes you gives you that euphoric feeling.

And it has a lot of benefits.

And people believe in.

Sure.

For for sleeping, for pain, for other things.

So that's one story that maybe was not expected to become so big this legislature.

But it has and also has the fact that Louisiana is flush with money, which is a rarity really, for our state.

But right now, flush with money.

And that brings up another issue.

When you have that much money, it's flush with money mostly coming from the COVID crisis, the pandemic, all the relief and that we got from the federal government for other places.

It's so now we've got about $1.6 billion in surplus or excess.

Yeah, that's a lot of money.

And of course, having too much money are not too much, But having that much money creates some of the same problems as have having not enough because everybody lost their piece of it.

So, look, the debate now is whether to break the expenditure cap.

There's a limit when you have so much money, you can only go there's a legal limit of how much you can increase your your cap.

And so to be able to spend this money in ways that the governor would like on some some in some ways in salaries, teacher raises, perhaps the legislature has to vote to break this limit and other increase the limit.

And some of those would be recurring money also.

Is that correct?

Some of it the the controversy, the debate is whether to use any of this money that we got in excess for recurring expenses.

Got it.

Got it.

Okay.

The Republicans, which control both chambers and and some caucuses, the conservative caucus in the House, they don't want to break the limit.

They don't want to extend the limit.

But comparing it a little bit to what's happened in Washington with the debt ceiling ceiling, yes, it's different, but the same philosophy and philosophical argument because we have to have a balanced budget and the federal government does it.

Right.

So that's that's going to be a big issue moving forward.

There are some plans just to just this week, two lawmakers in the House, Brett Gavin, a fiscal hawk, Larry Freeman and some others have a plan where they want to spend the excess money.

But only on non-recurring items and they don't want to bust the cap.

Of course, that's not going to happen immediately.

This will take the entire session.

We will take it to if we get it, we'll take the entire session to play out and it'll be interesting to see what happens.

It's interesting to see what's happening right now so far.

Greg, great to see you.

Great to see you.

Thanks for the input.

Thanks for inviting me.

All right.

Appreciate it.

Man.

August 27th will mark three years since Category four.

Laura paid Lake Charles a visit.

Libby has been there to document the hardship.

But now there's tremendous hope.

The recovery plan is evident and much more.

Major lakefront development with a place called Port Wonder as a centerpiece.

Here's Andre's conversation with Mayor Nic Hunter.

You know, Nic, this is not 2020 or 2021 or even 2022.

It's a much better year than the last time we talked.

I want to just hear about the lakefront development, and I'll ask you first.

I know that the bank tower is in a state of flux, but there are decisions about it.

It's for sale.

And so what's what's happening with that?

Well, you know, when we went through the hurricanes and the aftermath, one of the biggest esthetic issues and biggest sore thumbs taking up from this community was that Capital One tower.

And we actually use the Plaza Tower in New Orleans as a case study for what we would not allow to have happen here in Lake Charles.

So we were very concerned about the future of that building.

And so everything I'm saying is public, public knowledge.

The city actually inserted ourselves into the lawsuit between the owner of that structure and the insurer.

And there was a settlement between the city and the owner.

And the terms of that settlement were that $7 million was set aside in escrow.

The city would very much like to see that building rehabilitated and saved.

We think it's iconic.

However, we don't own it.

But we did want to protect the interests of the city because certainly that building sitting in its current shape for an extended period of time would not be a good thing for the city of Lake Charles.

I want to hear about Port Wonder, the Children's Museum, the Wildlife and Fisheries Science Center, which I don't know that they have their name brand on any science center or anywhere in Louisiana.

So tell me about those things.

And I do have one quick question.

Art, that's not like when you're downtown Lake Charles.

What I consider part of downtown.

This development is more closer to where the I-10 is.

Is that correct?

That's correct.

Okay.

Okay.

So let me hear about it.

I'm thrilled about it.

Well, we're so excited about Fort Wonder.

And this project was something that started pre-COVID pre hurricanes and there were a lot of sleepless nights when we were going through COVID and the storms.

Wondering, is this project and all the work we put into it just going to fall apart?

Well, it didn't.

And it's fully funded and it's underway right now.

So Port Wonder is a beautiful structure.

It's an iconic piece of architecture that will be on our lakefront.

And it has two tourists and a brand new state of the art children's museum and a science and nature center, which will be administered by Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

We own the city of Lake Charles, owns over 120 acres on the lakefront, so we've been talking about lakefront development for a long time.

Unfortunately, some people laugh when we talk about lakefront development because we've just been mentioning it for so long.

So there's still a few naysayers out there that won't really believe it until they see it.

But we'll have a ribbon cutting in May or April of next year.

So hopefully when people are there and, you know, physically in the building, they will believe it.

And it's happening.

What will this development for Calcasieu Parish and Lake Charles.

What will it also do for Cameron Parish in Cameron?

Well, Calcasieu and Cameron have a very symbiotic relationship.

You know, Cameron is the front yard of Calcasieu Parish to the Gulf of Mexico as as difficult a time as we have had in Lake Charles.

I know that Cameron has had it even worse.

I admire you and the work you've done.

I know you're a businessman also.

And so a development like this on the lakefront can only, as it becomes successful, only attract more.

And I know that's what the long range plan is.

So it's got to be really exciting for you.

Yeah.

There's there's been moments in our history here in Lake Charles, if I'm being very blunt, where sometimes we might say, Well, those are awesome, great, amazing things.

Those are things that are done in other cities, not in Lake Charles.

And we are completely erasing that stigma.

When you see what we're building on the lake lakefront, what's it once it's complete, the architecture, the quality of life amenities, the walkability of the lakefront, it's going to be an absolute game changer.

It's fantastic.

And so glad to talk to you.

So glad to catch up and find out where Lake Charles is today.

So the entire state knows what is happening in your city.

It's a city that people can visit, enjoy right now.

Absolutely.

Lake Charles is open, come visit.

It's the battered former Capital One tower is for sale and could be restored.

If not, there's a year and a half left on a deal that allows the city to raise it.

And switching gears to our young hero, Vivian Webb is an active member with Louisiana Developmental Disability Council's Advocacy Network as a disability rights advocate herself.

She's a strong representative for her region and she herself has autism, anxiety and epilepsy.

I am pleased to introduce you to this week's young hero, Fearless and amazing.

Those are the words Mimi Webb used to describe her daughter, Vivian.

But when asked how she sees herself, the answer was much different.

I'm not fearless at all.

But when you think about the challenges stacked against her, it's hard to see her as anything else.

They were 34 white triplets, and she's the youngest of the three of them.

And her brother was diagnosed when he was almost six.

Took about a year and everybody ended up having autism.

So that's when we first found out.

Now, she and her brother or or Ashby's or they have Asperger's and of things, for lack of a better way to put it.

Most people don't acknowledge that part of it is all autism now under the DSM.

But that's when they find out.

It was right around the time, the very first day when they lost their exceptionality in school.

Asperger's is a developmental disability on the autism spectrum.

It causes difficulty with communication and understanding social cues, nonverbal kids are a lot more at risk because they can't communicate these things with other kids or with their parents.

And so I think that parents just wanted cameras in the classroom to make sure these things weren't happening to their kids.

And if that was that, they could put a stop to it.

Vivian also has epilepsy, which contributes to her anxiety.

Her mom says all of her limitations are intertwined.

The anxiety is probably always been there, but she didn't have a name for it or know that's what it was or how to describe it.

Because when you have autism, you don't necessarily.

You have emotions.

You have lots of emotions.

You don't necessarily understand how to identify the emotions.

So you have no way to convey what you're feeling or what's happening to you.

It's kind of tough because because of my autism, I get overstimulated more easily and more overwhelmed easily.

But if I get overwhelmed, I get more anxious because I want to stop feeling overwhelmed.

But then that makes me more anxious.

If I can't calm down on my own because I don't want to be a burden to others or face more problems with reaching out.

Because like I was saying earlier, it's people are hard.

But don't be fooled by Vivian's limitations.

I only tell you these things so you can understand how truly amazing she is.

She's proven that her disabilities aren't a barrier.

In fact, they're a driver for her advocacy.

She's always sticking up for the little guy because she knows what it's like to be one or she's there with them.

Brother.

Vivian is a member of the Louisiana Developmental Disability Council's Advocacy Network.

Where we can for short.

She has gone to the capital to advocate and helped fund $2 million for the human Services district.

She's also helped enact policy that would put cameras in special education classrooms.

This issue is particularly personal.

When I was in second grade, there was a boy who had behavioral problems.

He once threw chairs like a chair across a classroom, and it almost hit my brother in the head every day.

He would come in like doing this with his hands.

And my brother seriously thought he was going to shoot him another time.

And like kindergarten, there was a kid who would use my brother's a busy box and like, just annoy him to annoy him and set him off.

And the teacher was perfectly okay with this and would get mad at my brother and punish my brother instead, leaving the kid to do whatever.

And any time I went, Hey, can you do something about this?

The teacher instead would punish me for speaking up.

Vivian was awarded the Billy Michael Award in 2021 for her volunteerism and advocacy.

In the future, Vivian plans to continue her work as an advocate for people with disabilities.

She plans to finish out high school.

Then it's off to a seminary college for a degree in Fine Arts, and she is thought to be here for that from the very beginning, quite literally since conception.

So she fights her way through life and she does a bang up job of it.

I'm very proud of that.

OPB Louisiana Young Heroes program is presented this year with the generous support of a major health care catalyst.

Louisiana Community Coffee, the East Baton Rouge Parish Library, the US Army.

Baton Rouge Recruiting Battalion.

Demko McDonald's and Hotel Indigo.

And that's our show this week.

Remember to check our YouTube page for all the videos that you want to watch.

Remember, you can also watch anything any time, wherever you are with our LPB PBS app.

You can catch LPB news and public affairs shows as well as other Louisiana programs you've come to enjoy over the years.

And please like us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

For everyone at Louisiana Public Broadcasting, I'm crossing to here.

Until next time.

That's the state we're in.

Every day I go to work for Entergy.

I know customers are counting on me.

So Entergy.

Is investing.

Millions of dollars to keep the lights on and installing.

New technology to prevent outages before they happen.

Together, together.

Together.

We power life.

Additional support provided by the Fred B and Ruth B Zigler Foundation and the Zigler Art Museum, located in Jennings City Hall.

The museum focuses on emerging Louisiana artists and is an historical and cultural center for Southwest Louisiana and the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

With support from viewers like you.