Gov. Kathleen Blanco announced a special session of the state legislature, scheduled to begin Nov. 6, to address urgent problems related to the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Many state legislators said they are already deciding which issues need to be dealt with during the 12-day session.
In an Oct. 7 news release, Blanco said the session will focus on legislative matters that need to be addressed as soon as possible.
“The governor’s goals for the session are still coming together, but we are going to be dealing with the things that need to be addressed sooner rather than later,” said Roderick Hawkins, Blanco’s spokesman.
Hawkins said the session will not address the estimated $1 billion budget shortfall, but he expects the budget to be the subject of another special session in January 2006.
Senate President David Hines told The Daily Reveille in a phone interview he thinks legal issues will be the “primary thrust” of the session.
“For example, people have asked questions like, ‘If my apartment is inhabitable, can I still be forced to pay rent by my landlord?'” the democrat said. “We are going to be looking at those kinds of issues.”
Republican Sen. Art Lentini said the state has laws to deal with rent when a property has been destroyed, but not for property that is still standing and impossible to inhabit.
“There is nothing in the law that deals with these types of situations,” Lentini said. “And that’s what this session is for – to straighten out issues like these.”
Hines said another issue the session will address is elementary and secondary eduction funding.
He said the state may have to re-examine the Minimum Foundation Program’s formula to ensure teachers hired to teach students who evacuated the Gulf Coast are compensated correctly. The Minimum Foundation Program is designed to provide financial resources on an equitable basis to public school students throughout the state.
“There were a lot of kids displaced, some for as long as a month,” Hines said. “We may have to adjust the formula to accommodate everyone.”
Lentini said legislators will address unforeseen problems with criminal procedure which have risen following the hurricanes’ aftermath.
“In the criminal field, we’re going to see questions about where to try people charged with a crime in New Orleans, since the courts in the city aren’t hearing cases,” Lentini said.
Lentini said there are also questions about how to handle child custody problems.
“Child custody laws don’t allow a parent to leave the jurisdiction of a court with their child without notifying the court,” he said. “But these are people who were forced to evacuate. What are they going to do?”
Speaker of the House Joe Salter said Blanco will announce the final decision on which issues will be addressed during the session closer to Nov. 6.
“Governor Blanco will dictate what will actually be discussed, but you can count on legal issues being the focus because I have heard a lot of concern from members about these issues – these emergency-type issues,” Salter said.
Contact Jeff Jeffrey at [email protected]