Louisiana session ends

The 2007 Louisiana legislature adjourned sine die on Thursday, and the northwest Louisiana delegation is coming home with the matching funds necessary to build I-49 from Shreveport to the Arkansas line here in Miller County. The $95 million in new state funds for I-49, when matched with $380 million in matching federal funds, will provide all of the estimated funding necessary to complete the project.

This will provide our state with a convenient north-south link to a metropolitan area that is very similar in population to Pulaski County -- Shreveport's population is 200,145 (compared to 183,133 for Little Rock), and Bossier City is 56,461 (compared to 60,433 for North Little Rock). The distance between Loop 245 in Texarkana and the 220 Loop in Shreveport is 63 miles. The Arkansas portion of future I-49, of course, is complete all the way to Doddridge (about 5 miles from the Louisiana border at Ida in Caddo Parish).

The biggest disappointment from the session appears to be the failure to enact the "glass pockets" legislation (a clever title for legislative disclosure requirements and ethics reform). Here are a couple of good links for a summary of the Louisiana session:

Legislature comes to an end without glass pockets [Shreveport Times]
Editorial: Legislative session long on spending [Shreveport Times]
Session provided a law for just about everyone [N.O. Times-Picayune]
2007 Legislative Session Ends [WAFB Baton Rouge]
Legislative session over [Baton Rouge Advocate]
Legislative session effects to extend for decades [Monroe News-Star]
The session: The good and the bad [Bayoubuzz.com]

And here's a KTBS interview with Rep. Roy Burrell (D-Shreveport).