NEW ORLEANS — It’s time for cooler heads to prevail in the fight over New Orleans’s current-year deficit. Mayor-elect Moreno and City Council members need state authority to sell $125 million in short-term “revenue bonds” to cover the deficit. In the last five years, the state Bond Commission has approved similar requests, without controversy, more than 50 times for other Louisiana local governments.

Nevertheless, Attorney General Liz Murrill and Governor Jeff Landry blocked New Orleans’s request and sought control of the city's finances.

That’s like letting someone bleed out after a gunshot rather than bandaging the wound before treating internal damage. In response to Murrill and Landry’s concerns, the City Council last week put major constraints on future spending.

Hopefully, Murrill

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