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State Rep. Phillip Tarver already had concerns about how much money the Legislature directs to nongovernmental organizations. But news out of Washington, D.C., about the questionable federal grant spending being highlighted by the Trump administration’s Department of Governmental Efficiency, or DOGE, really caught his attention, and that of his constituents.
He doesn’t expect to find that Louisiana has been spending money on things that he finds as egregious as what he’s heard about on the federal level. “But you never know, you could get to that point,” he says.
Given how dependent Louisiana is on federal dollars, state lawmakers always need to keep an eye on D.C. In this year’s session, they also will consider several bills that are inspired by, or at least aligned with, the federal administration.
Tarver’s House Concurrent Resolution 15 and House Bill 309 call for pulling NGO funding out of the other big spending bills and into a single supplemental bill. He argues that approach would provide greater transparency regarding the amount, and purpose, of that spending.
During his session-opening speech, Gov. Jeff Landry touted his own version of DOGE. He calls it La. DOGE, or DOGÉ with an accent for a little Cajun French flavor.
“Working with [legislators], our La. DOGE project focuses on eliminating wasteful spending, and ensuring expenditures serve meaningful, prudent and legislatively mandated purposes,” he said.
For example, he said, the DOGE team got the state Department of Health and the Office of Motor Vehicles to share data to verify Medicaid users live in the state, potentially saving $50 million.
Landry also took time in his speech to champion the “Make America Healthy Again” movement, which promotes the agenda of U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a liberal Democrat serving in Trump’s administration. State Senate Health and Welfare Chair Patrick McMath is carrying Senate Bill 14, a wide-ranging MAHA bill that Kennedy himself is expected to visit Baton Rouge to promote. [Read more about McMath’s bill in LaPolitics.]
McMath also is co-sponsoring with Sens. Mike Fesi and Heather Cloud SB2, to ban fluoridation of public water systems, another tenet of Kennedy’s MAHA agenda. Sen. Blake Miguez has authored a more limited MAHA bill (SB117) to prohibit serving “ultra-processed” foods in public schools.
Miguez also sponsors SB100, which directs state agencies to tally the number of “illegal aliens” who are benefiting from state services, and how much those services cost. While illegal immigration is hardly a new concern for conservatives, the bill certainly aligns with the goals and rhetoric of the current administration.
Sen. Jay Morris’ SB15 directly supports the administration’s immigration crackdown. Under his proposal, any public official who tries to “hinder, delay, prevent, or otherwise interfere, ignore, or thwart federal immigration enforcement efforts” could face a charge of malfeasance in office.
Last year, Rep. Emily Chenevert passed legislation to require Louisiana’s K-12 schools, colleges and universities to report how much they are spending on diversity, equity and inclusion programs. The main goal, she says, was making sure state dollars are laser focused on improving educational outcomes.
This year, her HB421 would require the heads of all state agencies to “abolish all DEI programs, offices, and positions and all DEI performance requirements for employees.”
She says the goal is ensuring that the state government complies with federal law and the federal administration’s directives.
“We see what the federal level is requiring,” Chenevert says. “We see what President Trump has announced within his own executive order.”
Legislators represent the people of the state, so it’s only natural that some of their proposals would reflect concerns that the national government has raised in the public consciousness, Chenevert notes. For example, when the federal DOGE raises questions about federal spending, people will have questions about what’s happening at the state level.
As always, state leaders will lean on federal dollars to fill out the state’s budget. So talk of big federal spending cuts, including possible overhauls at FEMA and in the Medicaid program, will raise concerns.
For now, there’s not much legislators can do other than work with the numbers that are in front of them, and hope against hope that the Revenue Estimating Conference will identify more available dollars when the REC meets in May.
But as state House Speaker Pro Tem Mike Johnson notes, Gov. Landry is a staunch ally of the president, and the top two leaders in the U.S. House hail from Louisiana, which might help to shield the state from the full brunt of major cuts if they do come.
“At this point, I don’t think there are any fire alarms going off,” he says. “But we’re very cautious, and we’re certainly monitoring it closely.”
