Latest news with #CameronHenry
American Press
24-06-2025
- Business
- American Press
PAR talks pharmacy bill, possible Medicaid cuts
(Special to the American Press) Prescription costs and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) were a target at the tail end of the 2025 legislative session that ended earlier this month. In the aftermath, three lawmakers joined the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana on a webinar last week to discuss the regular session: Senate President Cameron Henry, House Criminal Justice Vice Chair Vanessa LaFleur and House Appropriations Chairman Jack McFarland. Several bills were discussed, including House Bills 264 and 358. These bills focus on PBMs, the middlemen between drug manufacturers and health insurance providers. HB 264, which was passed by the state senate, places new restrictions on PBMs to ensure transparent practices and increase pharmaceutical savings for customers. The legislation requires PBMs to pass rebates and discounts onto customers and prohibits PBMs from sending customers to their pharmacies. The bill, HB 358, was halted in the state senate in the last hours of the regular legislative session after the state senate opted to not introduce the legislation. HB 358 would have prohibited the Louisiana Board of Pharmacy from renewing or granting permits for pharmacies owned or operated by PBMs, ultimately banning PBMs from owning retail pharmacies in Louisiana. HB 358's provisions would not have taken effect until Jan. 1, 2027. Henry said the long implementation period gave some lawmakers pause, stating the bill died at the state senate primarily because the bill 'didn't go through the normal legislative process.' 'There wasn't committee hearings on the senate side of the house side, no public testimony, the most basic things you need to do when you're doing something of this magnitude that's going to affect literally everyone across the state,' he explained. 'At the end, that late day, being that late in the sessions, having an implementation date that long out, members really feeling uncomfortable … let's study the effect of this.' Proponents of the bill believe the move will lead to lower pharmaceutical drug costs. But those opposed said the closure of pharmacies in Louisiana would disrupt healthcare, worsen health outcomes and increase drug costs for patients, according to a Pharmaceutical Care Management Association release. Gov. Jeff Landry took to social media the day after the legislative session ended to declare his plans for a special session to 'lower your drug prices.' Henry said a special session to address HB 358 is unlikely. The state senate did pass a resolution requiring the Louisiana Department of Health to study the potential impacts of HB 358, which must be completed before the 2026 regular legislative session in March. Federal Medicaid Changes However, Henry said to expect a special session if the over $90 billion cuts to Medicaid included in the 'Big Beautiful Bill' is passed with no implementation period. Nationally, there are particular concerns about the $400 billion cut to provider taxes that fund Medicaid for 49 states. For Louisiana, the loss could total $4 billion, which would have 'devastating' effects on rural hospitals and medical providers, he said. 'We can't handle a huge drop immediately. What we'd do there would not be pleasant, but we have to do it.' House Criminal Justice Vice Chair Vanessa LaFleur echoed Henry, stating that budget cuts would have to be made in special session if the Medicaid funding is immediately pulled. 'As much as I don't like the idea, if it happens the way we anticipate, we'll be back in special, we'll be making cuts because we have to. It's just the unknown.' Henry has been in touch with U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, and U.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise to warn them of the potential negative impact of Medicaid cuts on the state. 'They're aware of it, but they're also aware that the rest of the country wants changes,' he said. 'The idea of waste, fraud and abuse sounds good, but it all depends on how you define it.' A two-to-three-year implementation period with the opportunity for amendment is 'the most realistic thing we can ask our delegation.'
American Press
11-06-2025
- Business
- American Press
Editorial: Senate makes wise budget changes
The Louisiana Senate made some major changes in the state budget that it received from the House for the fiscal year beginning July 1. It decided not to merge two state savings accounts and use one of them for long-delayed one-time projects. Both the House and Senate approved the budget unanimously when it left their chambers. Members of the House will decide today whether they will agree to changes to the state budget bill (House Bill 1) made by the Senate. It's called concurrence. The Advocate reported that the Senate added $1.2 billion in one-time spending for roads and bridges, economic development initiatives and improvements to college campuses. The money comes from the Revenue Stabilization Trust Fund, which holds $3.9 billion. Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, in a statement said, 'What we're doing today changes the overall budget climate in our state in terms of workforce investment, economic development advancement and infrastructure improvements. It sets the stage for a better tomorrow.' Henry said he hoped the House would concur with the changes, adding that the two chambers worked in conjunction in recent days. The Senate amendments set aside $709 million for the Louisiana Transportation Infrastructure Fund, which pays for improvements to roads, bridges and similar work and another $273 million for the Louisiana Economic Development Initiatives Fund, which funds efforts to attract new investments in the state. Another $75 million will go toward local water system improvements which are sorely needed. And $43 million will fund higher education priorities, which have also been delayed too long. The Senate budget, as Henry had forecast earlier, provides only $43.5 million for the LA GATOR school choice program that gives parents money to pay for private schools. Gov. Jeff Landry wanted the $93.5 million approved by the House. Henry said anyone who received voucher funding last year for those same school costs will get it in the new budget. 'We made it crystal clear last year how much we were going to fund, and this year we followed through,' Henry said. 'To make sure we don't grow the government too fast, which Americans for Prosperity does not want us to do, and we want to make sure that we're spending taxpayer money wisely.' The Advocate reported that Henry said total expected spending for the coming fiscal year is $48.2 billion and nearly half of that is paid for by federal funds. Voters in March rejected an amendment that included plans to eliminate the Revenue Stabilization Trust Fund that the Senate used and move its funds to the Budget Stabilization Fund (rainy day fund) for future budget emergencies. A bill filed for the current legislative fiscal session also called for merging those two funds. It passed the House 99-1 but as of Tuesday was pending in the Senate Finance Committee and it is expected to die there. Like Henry, we hope the House goes along with Senate changes to the budget because the funding it provides is going to take care of pressing needs that haven't gotten the attention they deserve.
USA Today
03-06-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Is LIV Golf looking to Louisiana as a future venue? The state appears poised to spend $7M
Is LIV Golf looking to Louisiana as a future venue? The state appears poised to spend $7M Is the Louisiana Legislature looking to lure a LIV Golf event to the Bayou as early as June 2026? It sure appears that way as the state's Legislature is planning to spend at least $7 million in public money to bring the controversial golf league, owned by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to New Orleans next summer. WDSU-TV first reported the possibility of a LIV event in the Big Easy back in March. Now, KPLC 7 reported that the Louisiana Senate Finance Committee inserted the golf tournament spending into the proposed $49 billion state operating budget on Sunday. Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, said the Louisiana Economic Development agency, overseen by Gov. Jeff Landry, requested the money. At least $2 million would be earmarked for upgrading the Bayou Oaks golf course at New Orleans City Park, where the tournament would be held. Another $5 million would be given directly to LIV Golf as a hosting fee, Henry said in an interview with reporters Sunday night. Henry said the money is going to help 'get the course up and running for a LIV quality event.' Henry said the LIV Golf event is expected to generate about $60 million in spending for New Orleans. The tournament would be held in June or July of 2026, at a time of year when city tourism is down and the hospitality industry is typically struggling. 'It'll drive significant economic activity at a time when the city is usually pretty slow,' he said One person close to the situation says the projected economic impact from the event for the region could be between $50-75 million. Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, said the Louisiana Economic Development agency, overseen by Gov. Jeff Landry, requested the money. 'It'll drive significant economic activity at a time when the city is usually pretty slow,' he said. The state's $7 million allocation would be devoted mostly to the first year of expenses in 2026, Henry added. The funds Louisiana is putting toward the LIV golf event come from the state's major events incentive fund, which provides public funding for large tourist attractions. In the past, it has been used to lure the Super Bowl, Essence Festival and NCAA Final Four for men's basketball. Other events getting money from the fund in the proposed state budget for the year that starts July 1 include the U.S. Bowling Congress Tournament ($5 million), an Ultimate Fighting Championship event ($1.5 million), the 2026 Southeastern Conference Gymnastics Championship ($750,000), the U.S. Gymnastics National Championships in New Orleans this August ($750,000), the Barksdale Defenders of Liberty Air Show ($500,000) and the State Fair of Louisiana in Shreveport ($100,000). The report also noted another $250,000 in public funding from a Jefferson Parish tourism promotion account is also going to the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, a PGA Tour event held each spring at the TPC Louisiana golf course in Avondale.
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Louisiana senators trim private education vouchers, expand Medicaid budget
Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, helped lead an effort to reduce funding in the state budget for a new private education voucher program that Gov. Jeff Landry has pushed. (Wes Muller/Louisiana Illuminator) The Republican-led Louisiana Senate Finance Committee has removed public money meant to expand the use of private education vouchers in spite of the initiative being a priority for fellow Republican Gov. Jeff Landry. The committee agreed Sunday to cut $50 million from LA GATOR, Landry's initiative launching in the 2025-26 school year. The reduction will leave $44 million for the program, enough to continue covering private school tuition for 6,000 students who already receive state-funded vouchers. Landry and the Louisiana House wanted to put an additional $50 million into LA GATOR so the state could give out 5,300 new vouchers next school year, for approximately 11,300 overall. The cut was one of the biggest shakeups in the Senate leadership's initial version of the $43 billion state budget unveiled Sunday. The Senate and House must come together to reach a compromise on the spending plan by June 12. Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, has been resolute in his opposition to giving out more vouchers in the coming year. For weeks, he has expressed concern that LA GATOR's cost could grow faster than the state can afford it, and that the state's existing voucher program hasn't resulted in better education outcomes for students enrolled in it. Still, Landry and conservative groups who back LA GATOR have been putting pressure on senators to keep the $50 million in the program. They are running advertisements and recently held a rally next to the Capitol pushing for additional vouchers for the program. Some senators were also reluctant to explain why the money had been removed Sunday. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Glen Womack, R-Harrisonburg, and Sen. Rick Edmonds, who sponsored the bill to set up LA GATOR last year, allowed the state budget bill with the cut to move forward, but they declined to comment after the committee meeting. Louisiana Education Superintendent Cade Brumley, one of LA GATOR's biggest proponents, also refused to comment on the budget change after the committee hearing. Brumley said he had not had a chance to review the adjustment to the program yet. Yet based on the assumption that the number of vouchers offered would grow, Brumley had opened applications for the program across the state earlier this spring. Nearly 40,000 families have applied for the limited slots. At least some of the $50 million taken from LA GATOR is going to be used to restore $30 million to a targeted tutoring program for public elementary school students. Brumley attributed some of Louisiana's success on national math and reading tests to the tutoring program and said he was grateful it had been added back into the budget. Landry, Senate hope for hundreds of millions in federal Medicaid funding The Republican Senate leadership's version of the budget also adds hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding to the state Medicaid budget. The money would be used to pay physicians and hospitals a higher reimbursement rate for treating Medicaid patients. Landry asked the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services earlier this year to allow Louisiana's medical providers to receive a rate for treating Medicaid patients closer to what private insurers provide. The federal government has not agreed pay the new rate yet. But if it does, it will increase Louisiana's federal Medicaid funding by $500 million in the state budget cycle that starts June 1. Hundreds of millions of federal dollars could also be given to Louisiana to retroactively cover payments in the current budget year that ends June 30. Louisiana's request for more Medicaid funding comes at a time when President Donald Trump and U.S. House Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, are pushing for ways to reduce the nation's overall spending on Medicaid. But the reimbursement rates are not expected to be affected by changes Congress is considering. UNO transfer to LSU System comes with debt relief The Senate has added $20 million in its budget proposal for the University of Louisiana System to pay off debt associated with the University of New Orleans, which is likely to move over to the LSU System this summer. The Senate has also included nearly $2 million for the UL System to continue a youth recreation partnership at UNO for another year and $450,000 for LSU to conduct an 'academic and finance' audit of UNO in the next fiscal cycle. Sheriffs will get paid more to hold state inmates The Senate added $11.6 million to the budget in order to give local sheriffs $3 more per day per inmate to house state adult inmates in their local jails. Currently, sheriffs are paid $26.39 per day per inmate to house state prisoners. Louisiana keeps approximately 15,800 inmates in local parish jails instead of state prisons. This includes almost 2,000 state prisoners who are in transitional work programs, where they hold jobs at private businesses in the community while living at the jail. Louisiana DOGE gets money, staff to find efficiencies The Senate has added $1.5 million into the budget to support the so-called 'Louisiana DOGE' initiative Landry set up to search for government efficiencies. The money will support 10 positions in Landry's Division of Administration to perform a financial review of government services statewide.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Q&A with Senate President Cameron Henry on the Louisiana Legislature's session
Louisiana Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, talks about his priorities during the 2025 Louisiana legislative session. (Hilary Scheinuk/The Advocate-Pool) This is an interview with Louisiana Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, that took place earlier this month about his priorities for the state legislative session that started Monday. It has been edited for length and clarity. You can also listen to a version of this interview on our new podcast The Light Switch. O'DONOGHUE: I want to talk about what you think are the big issues during the session. HENRY: One of the big topics, I think, is going to be the transformation of the [Department of Transportation and Development]. I think there's some great people that work over there. I think the system that is set up and has been in place for so long really doesn't afford them the opportunity to be as successful as they want. The governor has looked at different states, specifically Tennessee, as a model to kind of begin that transition. I think we're going to make some good progress on it this year. It's just a multi-year process, but it's something that has to get done, because there's nothing more frustrating for citizens. O'DONOGHUE: When you talk about restructuring DOTD, are you talking about fewer state workers working there? Are we outsourcing more things? HENRY: They want to make sure that the folks that are working over there now have a purpose, have responsibilities, and are doing a good job. The number of employees is really going to be based on the amount of actual work being done. … I believe we have something around maybe 5,000 employees and 500 engineers. If, after we put all this together, if that's how many employees we need, then that's how many employees we will have. If we can trim that down and put more money into actual concrete, I think that's a better purpose for it. O'DONOGHUE: On March 29, there were constitutional amendments on the ballot that didn't pass. Amendment 2 probably has an impact on budget and tax issues. Can you talk about what you think might come back that was Amendment 2? That you all might relook again at again during the session? HENRY: Well I mean, obviously, Amendment 2 would have been pretty significant for our budget, specifically on the recurring dollars part. It didn't pass. We have to move on. I'm sure members are going to look at possibly dissecting that larger amendment into smaller amendments. But you know, you really have to step back and make sure that the next time that's on the ballot, even in a scaled down version, we have the ability to really sell it better, with greater explanation, and not have as many things on the ballot. We are going to come back in the future with a similar amendment, but maybe breaking that down into different sections, maybe picking one or two really hot topics within that. It's something that we have to do in the long run. We have too much recurring dollars going into these funds that we can never get into. … You're putting money into your savings account at a low interest rate, and you're borrowing money at a higher interest rate. It just doesn't make sense. O'DONOGHUE: Do you think you all are going to look at trying to find a way to get some of that money back into the budget for teachers [pay stipends]? HENRY: It's whether or not we want to kind of piecemeal it, or do we want to step back and say there's got to be a better way in the future to give teachers a pay raise instead of a stipend? So maybe we don't give that this year, or that [total stipend] amount this year, and we look forward to further clarifying what we wanted to do in the amendment and bringing that back in the future. O'DONOGHUE: Do you expect there will be a big conversation around civil service? Obviously we're seeing a big conversation at the federal level around public sector workers. HENRY: I want flexibility to give certain people raises who are excelling but also allow them, some of them, to work from home, remote work, more flexibility, and the system in place now with civil service does not give, I guess, supervisors or the governor the flexibility to put people where they need to be. Some of them have a skill set that they work better in the office. Some of them have a skill set to work better from home. Their jobs allow them to do that. So I would like to let every employee excel at their own rate and not be tied to one system that really doesn't afford for that. O'DONOGHUE: What do you expect to see on insurance? HENRY: [E]veryone wants to lower homeowners insurance and car insurance, and we've passed a significant amount of bills dealing with homeowners insurance … and we're still waiting for our homeowners insurance to go down. We're going to continue to work on trying to lower auto insurance. It's a very sensitive subject to a lot of people. … When we're passing a law, it's not only affecting the bad actors. It affects everyone. [W]e're trying to balance that while making sure we make the state friendly to get insurance companies here because, obviously, more insurance companies will ideally lower rates. We don't know when, but you can't cede all of your authority and all of your rights to the insurance company on the off chance that they lower your rates. O'DONOGHUE: [T]here's a lot going on in D.C. right now, sort of a lot of uncertainty about what's being cut and what's not and some of that will affect Louisiana. How are you all trying to prepare for that? HENRY: At the end of the day, the greatest impact is on the [Louisiana Department of Health], which is about 50% of our budget. … I'm having conversations with Congressman Scalise and Senator Cassidy to work through these issues of what adjustments you are going to make and can we see them? Can we have a discussion before you implement them? And can you give us maybe five years to implement them? Because when you make a change that reduces a program, the problem still exists. … If the program was a fraud and a fake, of course, you get rid of it. … But again, not all of them are like that. The legislature and the government have to find a way to fund whatever is cut to make sure we're taking care of the services for the people of Louisiana. So it's going to be difficult, but I mean, it's part of the job. It's why we ran for office. So I'm confident that our delegation, and we have a great delegation across party lines up there, we'll make sure that Louisiana doesn't come up short.
