Silence, then tears at Louviere hearing: Victim makes special request
April 22, 2015
Rhonda DeHart
April 28, 2015
As we begin another legislative session in Baton Rouge, we’re focused on more goals that will continue the growth and opportunity we’ve seen in Louisiana over the past seven years.
This year, we have three priorities: passing a balanced budget that doesn’t raise taxes, putting education back into the hands Df Louisiana parents and teachers by repealing Common Core, and protecting religious iiberty rights granted to us by our founders in the U.S. Constitution.
First, we must balance our budget without raising taxes on our people. When it comes to raising taxes, we know that when government takes more of our people’s hard earned money our economy lags, job growth lags, and we put families in a tight spot. That’s why I’d rather have the government cut its budget, than force families to cut their budgets.
It all comes down to this – do we think that government can spend our citizens’ money better than they can? I do not. I know government provides some vital services, and I want those services protected, provid-3d they are running efficiently and not being wasteful.
That’s why we have laid out a budget proposal that seeks to protect higher education, health care and other important government functions by going after wasteful state spending in our tax structure as a result of corporate welfare.
Our businesses are a great asset, but we can’t stand idly by while companies pay zero in state taxes and then continue getting free taxpayer money from the government on top
Df it.
It would be wrong for us to impose cuts to higher education, in order to protect this corporate welfare. That’s why we have identified over $500 million of corporate welfare spending that we think should be cut to help protect higher education and health care.
Second, we simply must get rid of Common Core.
Now, this is not a debate about high standards. I’m all for high standards; I think we all are. This is about the federal government deciding that they need to set the standards for us because we are not sophisticated snough to do it on our own.
This is a question of federal control of education. We must not allow it.
Opposition to Common Core continues to mount across our state. I have met with parents and teachers, and I’ve read the flood of tetters to the editors of local papers begging the education establishment to listen and slow down to reevaluate Common Core. And [ know this firsthand from sitting down and doing homework with my kids.
Today we are at a crossroad, and we have a choice regarding who will run education in Dur state; Louisiana parents and teachers or the federal government? I will take teachers and parents every chance I get.
I believe we can pass legislation that makes clear that the federal government or third parties do not have control over Louisiana’s schools, and help ensure that Louisiana parents and teachers create Louisiana standards and curriculum.
I believe we can come together on a plan that removes Common Core from Louisiana and replaces it with high-quality Louisiana standards.
Finally, we are fighting for religious liberty this session.
There is a nationwide push by the far Left to weaken the First Amendment to the Constitution, which states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech..
Today, we either believe in religious liberty or we don’t. In Louisiana, I believe we do.
There has been legislation filed this session that aims to protect religious liberty rights in Louisiana, and let me be crystal clear -1 absolutely intend to fight for the passage of this legislation, and any other that seeks to preserve our most fundamental freedoms.
And let me be clear about something else – in Louisiana, we do not support discrimination, and we do support religious liberty, and we believe that we can uphold both of those values simultaneously The truth is, this should not be a conservative vs. liberal debate. Last I checked, we were all in favor of the Bill of Rights.
I think we can all agree that the government should never force someone to participate in a marriage ceremony against their will.
People, charities and family-owned businesses should not be penalized because they believe in the traditional definition of marriage. Regardless of your beliefs about the definition of marriage, we should all respect the right of our neighbors to hold a different view.
There used to be bipartisan support for the principle of religious liberty However, these days, some think diversity of belief is too risky and scary to be tolerated. But that’s wrong.
In America we should celebrate diversity of belief. Diversity of belief and religious liberty are the foundation of our law and Constitution and they should be protected. In the United States, a state should not be able to take adverse action against an individual for holding a sincerely held religious view regarding marriage. That would be true discrimination.
I believe together we can accomplish these goals and build on what we have accomplished over the past seven years. We’ve balanced our budget every year, cut taxes, and have received eight credit upgrades.
Indeed we have come far, but we are not taking our foot off the gas. We have ambitions goals for this session that will continue this progress, and I am confident we can accomplish them and continue to make Louisiana the best place in the nation to get a job and raise a family E3
It all comes down to this – do we think that government can spend our citizens’ money better than they can? I do not.
