Republican Leadership in the Legislature Failed to Move Louisiana Forward in 2014
BATON ROUGE — The Louisiana Democratic Party released the following statement from Chair Karen Carter Peterson in response to the close of legislative session today.
“This legislative session has been a disaster for Louisiana’s working families. Even though Louisiana is ranked near the bottom in health care outcomes, Republicans blocked legislation that would have let Louisiana decide if we should accept billions in federal dollars to expand access to affordable health care. Meanwhile, the governor’s hospital privatization schemes were rejected by the federal government, and if the administration fails on appeal, Louisiana taxpayers could be on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars.
“Republicans also blocked attempts to increase the state’s minimum wage — a policy that more than 7 in 10 Louisianians support. Republicans and lobbyists for corporate special interests also advanced a ‘faux’ equal-pay bill that will undo all of the good work we did for Louisiana women last year.
“On the other hand, Democrats stood strong this legislative session and beat back a number of bad bills, including attacks on public-sector workers’ rights and attempts to clog our court system.
“Democrats championed issues with broad-based support, but sadly, the Republican leadership in the Legislature failed to listen to the people of this state. Republicans can keep defending corporate special interests and their well-heeled lobbyists. We’ll fight for fiscal responsibility and policies to help working families.”
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