OUR VIEW: Prepare NOW for hurricane season
June 14, 2017
A statesman and a dear friend III
June 14, 2017
It is ironic that as Louisiana’s congressional delegation is perfectly content to parrot the party line – because in Louisiana there is now just one party that anyone seems to listen to, the elephant one – when it comes to taking health care benefits away from old people and others who are just simply poor.
Delighted to have a Republican in the White House they say they are united. But they are not. And now things just got worse.
President Trump’s new budget eliminates GOMESA, or at least it does right now.
That’s making the oil and gas folks restless and with good reason.
GOMESA is the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act, signed into law by President George W. Bush. Pushed hard by Bill Cassidy’s predecessor, GOMESA allowed revenue sharing in the Gulf of Mexico between Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas for the use of coastal and hurricane protection projects, among other important initiatives. Republicans as well as Democrats not from the Gulf states could probably care less about it, and they have their own sacred cows to save. But the Louisiana delegation, who helped make the Trump presidency happen, are facing a shaft of monumental proportions. More importantly, so are the people of Louisiana.
The delegation is making noises about how they are going to save it.
“I was actually with Mick Mulvaney yesterday, the President’s Director of Office of Management and Budget who puts the budget together and I just made it real clear to him, you know, I’m not going to let a dime of our GOMESA money be taken, and he recognizes that,” said House Majority Whip Steve Scalise during a radio interview earlier this week. “He knows it’s not going to pass the House. Look, we fought for this hard because this is the money that allows us to restore our coast. It’s too critical for Louisiana.”
Just how effective Scalise can be for his home state, and what leverage he might have, will be interesting to see.
The oil and gas industry, which helped send all these guys to Washington, is finally waking up.
The Louisiana Oil and Gas Association (LOGA) and the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association took matters into their own hands this week and sent a letter to President Trump urging inclusion of GOMESA in the budget.
“Revenues that are shared through GOMESA are vital to the health of Louisiana’s working coast,” said Don Briggs, LOGA’s president. “The oil and gas industry worked hand-in-hand with the Congressional Delegation to ensure that these shared revenues were made permanent in order to protect Louisiana’s coastal communities. We will continue fighting to ensure that Louisiana and our oil and gas sector remain open for business.”
“The passage of GOMESA was a long road, which took many years to pass, that spanned over several administrations,” said Chris John, President of the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association. “These dedicated funds should be used for coastal restoration and protection as intended by the Congress. Louisiana expects these funds to be used as a steady and predictable funding stream. Even hinting at diverting these funds from its original dedication puts meaningful dollars for coastal restoration at risk. We urge the administration to take this into account and confirm the sanctity of this agreement by continuing the funding stream to gulf states.”
It’s too early to tell if these entreaties are going to result in good things yet. And for the sake of all of us let’s hope the irony is short-lived. In any event, it’s proof that just because you brought someone to the dance, there’s no guarantee that you’ll get a kiss afterward. You might just end up getting the stinging slap of a lifetime. •
