There’s certainty and there’s uncertainty. Many times, they’re on the opposite sides of the same coin. And when the House adjourned yesterday without fighting for a compromise that would solve the deficit and continue to bring life sustaining services to the people of Louisiana, it became certain that, in the short term, life will be uncertain.
Life will be uncertain for those who depend on rural hospitals.
Life will be uncertain for students struggling to pay for college.
Life will be uncertain for all Louisianans, because all of us want to be in good health with a secure future for our families. But now, the only tools we have to move forward are steeped in uncertainty, the only information we have to make life decisions is incomplete because we are still facing a billion-dollar deficit that will not simply disappear. That gap has to be closed, and it will be closed at the expense of our people, our hospitals, and our colleges. Unless we act.
We were at a fork in the road and we lost our way. But life doesn’t stop for our constituents. Students still need to go to school. Sick people still need to get care. The people who I represent have spent their lives trying to avoid uncertainty and insecurity by working hard every single day to protect themselves and their families. I will not let their efforts go in vain because of something as trivial as politics.
Politics has no place here. It has no place in the hospital rooms of our loved ones. It has no place in the classrooms of our children. Politics only takes away from the things that are important, it gives nothing back
So, when we come back together next week for the Regular Session, and eventually for a second Special Session, I will continue to focus on the things that matter-a strong health care system, smart investment in higher education and workforce training, thriving families-because although they are vulnerable now, I am certain they hold the key to flipping the coin.