Alexander says no help for forestry By James Ronald Skains "I haven't seen any concentrated efforts in Washington to help the plight of the forest industry," Fifth Louisiana District Congressman Rodney Alexander told the Piney Woods Journal. "There was no direct money in the stimulus packages to help the loggers. In fact, the one bright spot that the paper mill industry had last year in tax credits for using black liquor as a fuel source will go away if the Health Care Bill becomes law," Alexander pointed out. "One of the ways that the Health Care Bill will be financed is to eliminate the tax credits to the paper mills that use black liquor as a renewable fuel source," Alexander elaborated. "This will be only one of many tax incentives and credits that will be eliminated to help finance the Health Care bill. I'm very concerned about what will happen in the next three months with the paper industry here in Louisiana," Alexander noted. "We don't need any extended shuts downs or idle time with our mills as occurred last winter." "We have obtained some dollars for a study to determine the feasibility of deepening the Red River by two feet to allow barges with fourteen foot drafts to use the river to haul more coal," Alexander elaborated. "This could turn into some significant savings for the electric power companies. We are hearing a lot of talk about adding wood pellets to the coal in the power plants," said Alexander, who is in his fourth term as Congressman in the 5th District of Louisiana. "I think that pellet mills would be a boon for the forest industry, but we are not seeing a lot of progress in any part of the country with pellet mill actually being built." "I'm working on one aspect of the Farm Bill to help with crop insurance for our farmers," Alexander explained. "Most of our farmers have not recovered from last year. Our farmers pay the highest premiums for crop insurance in the nation," Alexander pointed out. "In most cases, the farmers who do have crop insurance don't have enough and many don't have any because of the cost." "One of the major issues facing Louisiana this next year is redistricting," Alexander, three term former State Representative noted. "I'm not sure if there is any consensus yet on how this will work out. The only thing that is pretty definite is that we will lose a Congressional seat," said Alexander, a former member of the Jackson Parish Police Jury. "With all the loss of population in New Orleans, it will take some shifting of Congressional lines to come up with an acceptable plan. After the Louisiana Legislature finishes its plan, it has to be approved by the Justice Department," said Alexander, initially a Democrat member of Congress who switched parties before the 2006 election. "We know that there will have to be at least one minority district in Louisiana," Alexander said. "Exactly how even that can be accomplished is still debatable. If the Justice Department were to insist on two minority Congressional District, that would create a huge problem in redrawing district lines." "There are two lines of thinking of what will happen here in North Louisiana," Alexander confided to the Journal. "One line of thinking is to have just a north Louisiana district that would put Monroe and Shreveport into the same District." "The other line of thinking is to have two north-south Congressional Districts. If that plan is approved, the fourth district would be pushed south into the Lake Charles area and the Fifth District further south toward Baton Rouge. Under that concept, we might even see some of the Florida parishes come into the 5th District," said Alexander, whose current District reaches from the Arkansas line to the outskirts of Baton Rouge. "Whatever plan is settled on will involve a lot of map making and have major impact on federal monies coming into the state." State Senator Neil Riser of Columbia Senate district now includes parts of East Feliciana which is across the Mississippi River from his home base. Riser's most direct route to visit that part of his Senate district is to go through Mississippi. "Talking about the Heath Care Bill, one of the major financial issues in how it is structured now will put a huge strain on states who already have major budget problems," Alexander pointed out to the Journal. "For every $100 million of Medicare and Medicaid money that comes into Louisiana, the state must match 20% of that amount," said Alexander, who will become a member of the Louisiana Political Hall of Fame in January 2010. "The new Health Care bill will bring millions of new people into these programs for which the States will have to provide their 20% of the funding," Alexander noted. "So under this Health Care bill, the money the states will have to come up with for their match will increase dramatically." "It's a Catch 22 situation,'' Alexander pointed out. "I believe that everyone should have access to good health care, but it must be paid for without putting huge new burdens on other people." "The administration is pushing to get a bill passed through the Senate before the end of the year," Alexander elaborated. "I don't think that it will happen in that time period. It's not a sure thing that 60 votes in the Senate exist to cut off debate." "Then if any bill that passes the Senate is different from the one passed by the House, then the bill will have to go to a Conference Committee," Alexander pointed out. "The process takes time. I think the drop dead date for the Obama administration to get this Health Care Bill passed is before the State of Union address in late January." "On the issue of the bailouts and the proposed new financial regulations, I voted for the first TARP program which was my mistake," Alexander elaborated. "There are a lot of financial regulations on the books but they were not enforced properly which led to much financial abuse. I think that we are over taxed and over legislated, now," Alexander said. "Probably long term, our most serious problem is our national debt," Alexander stated. "The debt is around $12 trillion which makes the interest a huge budget item. Before the end of the year, Congress will have to up the debt limit so that the Government can borrow more money to stay in business," Alexander noted. "We don't have any choice but to approve upping the debt limit. But we have to realize that at some point, China and other foreign governments may stop buying or debt. What will we do then?" |