NEW ORLEANS — Louisiana’s State Bond Commission voted to delay action on funding for several projects in New Orleans, including renovations to the Superdome.
Commission members, including Attorney General Jeff Landry, were explicit about what they wanted to see before they would issue funds for the Superdome: Refunds for Saints season ticket holders who would not comply with the new COVID safety protocols as well as an option for them to hold their tickets until next season.
Landry even suggested the option of automatically approving the funds after the Saints adjusted their refund policy to meet that criteria.
Matthew Block, executive counsel for Gov. John Bel Edwards, objected to the motion, noting that the delay could throw the project off schedule.
“It was much discussed in the legislative session, it’s in the overall capital budget to make sure that this ongoing project can stay on target,” Block said. “What is the end goal of trying to remove these funds? To what end? I think the Saints clarified today what their position is.”
But State Board Commission members said they wanted another 30 days to not only see if the Saints changed their policy, but if they did it in a way they considered fair.
The motion passed 12-2.
Millions of dollars in funding for several other New Orleans projects was also delayed, but commission members would not give a clear reason for why they delayed them. However, the motion came on the same week a city-wide vaccine mandate for several businesses went into effect in New Orleans, something the Louisiana GOP has condemned.
“It didn’t take long to figure out what’s going on here and why those had been taken out,” Block said. “It’d be nice to have some articulation about why those projects were taken out.”
The other members of the commission stayed silent and did not answer Block’s question before voting again, passing the motion 12-2.
Houma Rep. Jerome “Zee” Zeringue told the Associated Press after the meeting that the vaccine mandate was just one of several reasons why he voted to stall the funding.
“It’s not entirely about the vaccine mandate,” Zeringue said in an interview with The Associated Press. “There are many issues, of which that’s a concern that’s been expressed by legislators and folks in the region. But that’s not the only reason."
He and other GOP leaders on the commission did not say what any of those other “issues” are. Lawmakers had already reviewed and approved the projects earlier this year.
The State Board Commission’s motion keeps money from going to several projects at New Orleans City Park, LSU’s dental school, Children’s Hospital, disability access projects at Southern University-New Orleans and different projects at local high schools. Millions of dollars meant for the expansion of the port of New Orleans were also delayed.
All these projects will be back up for debate in September.
