Editor’s Note: A guest post by Louisiana state senator Jay Morris (R-Monroe).

Professor Robert Collins of Dillard University asserts in a recent opinion piece in Verite News that the legislature started an “uncivil war” against the City of New Orleans.  Nothing could be further from the truth although such rhetoric gets attention and intensifies what is already a polarized situation.

The backdrop of what is occurring is an overreaction to a long overdue reset based on the reality that New Orleans is no longer the largest city in the state by population, has more public employees than it needs and has had serious governance issues for over 50 years.  The indictment of the last mayor, mismanagement at high ranks of nearly every city department, and a judiciary which often treats violent criminals like jaywalkers is simply a continuation of these problems that seems to escalate by the year.

It doesn’t help that the piece written by Professor Collins is riddled with misstatements about the law, taxes, and the state support that underpins New Orleans’ fiscal status. Clearly New Orleans is vital to Louisiana and its unique culture which showcases its amazing music, food, architecture, history and people is unmatched in America. However, if we are to have an honest debate about the city’s relationship with the state, the citizens and taxpayers deserve a full and accurate picture.

Let’s start with the clerk of court chaos.

Every parish in Louisiana has one clerk of court except Orleans which had two.

During all the outcry over the elimination of one of these clerks not one supporter of Calvin Duncan has ever made a rational argument as to why Orleans Parish needs two clerks.  Moreover, every other clerk in the state is self funded by fees – except the Orleans Criminal Clerk.  Thus, the state and the city must pick up the tab for this waste of tax dollars.  It only makes sense to eliminate one of the clerk positions.

But contrary to Professor Collins’ letter, city leaders did not simply write “statements supporting Duncan” but rather they purported to call a special election after declaring a “vacancy” in the clerk’s office – a position that did not exist after the legislature eliminated it by passing Act 15. This was clearly a political stunt and served no purpose except a political one. Rather than waiting for the Louisiana Supreme Court to hear and decide the case, the City moved ahead by pandering to the public, raising the heat and further by ignoring the legally required presumption of constitutionality of the new law.

As expected, the Supreme Court upheld Act 15 declaring no vacancy existed.

Again, contrary to Collins’ assertion that Duncan lost the case, the truth is he wasn’t even a party to the case which is Crockett v. State (consolidated with Napoleon v. City of New Orleans) Regardless, the law was clear and everyone knew that the lawsuit was futile and operated only to increase tensions.  And rather than accept this loss the New Orleans judicial system initiated political lawfare by indicting the Attorney General for sending a letter which correctly outlined the usurper statutes which city leaders were on the verge of violating.

It’s like arresting a police officer for giving someone a warning to prevent a violation of the law.

Not only did city leaders orchestrate the political indictment against Attorney General Murrill for simply doing her job, they managed to toss out of the courtroom members of the press who were trying to report on the debacle.  The judiciary in New Orleans, by engaging in these shenanigans, is making the case for judicial reform much better than any politician could by making a speech.

Then there is the central fiscal claim: the erroneous assertion that New Orleans sent $467M in direct state taxes to the state’s general fund while Baton Rouge only sent $122M. The figure in the Explore Louisiana study reflects estimates of the entire region including Jefferson Parish. The figures do not represent city or parish remittances, revenue department collections, or actual deposits in the general fund.

The truth is this: for fiscal year 2025, the La. Dept of Revenue collected $298M in state gross sales tax due from Orleans business locations and $309M from East Baton Rouge. Even with New Orleans’ significant tourism industry East Baton Rouge Parish still generates more sales taxes for the state.  Collins erroneously claims that the state “takes” half of the city’s 10% sales tax.  The truth is that 5% is a state tax and that tax rate is the same whether one is buying something in Orleans Parish or Ouachita Parish and the rest is locally imposed sales taxes.  And when it comes to income taxes the numbers are similar: East Baton Rouge generates 11% of all personal income taxes collected by the state, Jefferson is at 9.3% while Orleans is at 8.4% which is barely ahead of St. Tammany.  Thus, the state is clearly more dependent on East Baton Rouge and Jefferson than Orleans Parish.

Now let’s take a look at the spending in New Orleans.

Medicaid payments to Orleans Parish citizens alone total $1.24 billion of which the state pays $300 million which is more than the state collects in sales taxes from New Orleans.

The legislature funded more than $108 million in appropriations to non-governmental organizations in New Orleans over the last three years.

The state funds the salaries of New Orleans judges (unlike the rest of the state where locals pay more of the burden), it provides millions of dollars to the Superdome and Smoothie King Center’s Stadium & Exposition District, provides $21 million for debt service tied to Hurricane Katrina, provides millions to the Sewerage & Water Board (also mismanaged), millions to Convention Center and $34 million of state hotel sales taxes are directed back to New Orleans contrary to Collins’ implication that the state is taking New Orleans’ tourism tax money and giving it to other areas of the state.

Between UNO, SUNO and Delgado the state provides well over $100 million per year despite serious flaws in some of those institutions.

And then there are the millions of dollars in capital projects in Orleans Parish and subsidies of everything from the Super Bowl to the Essence Festival which are events that should pay for themselves.

Even after the legislature eliminated some judgeships, New Orleans still has more judges per capita and more relative to cases than any other judicial district…by a wide margin and the state has to fund the majority of it.

The state has even had to create at its expense a special division of the state police, Troop Nola, to combat violent crime because New Orleans was unable to police itself.

And it doesn’t help when the district attorney and a few judges combine to release hundreds of convicted felons while engaging in “fake” trials whereby the district attorney puts on zero evidence in a criminal trial.  The justice system in Orleans Parish should put their effort toward the serious issues they face rather than engaging in the political theater created by the ridiculous indictment of Attorney General Murrill.

Collins asserts this “state of war is destructive to tourism.”  Professor Collins needs to look elsewhere for that destruction.

What about the innocent tourists gunned down in the streets by repeat offenders who are out on the street because incompetent judges ignore alerts provided by ankle monitors?  I suggest that tourists are more concerned about being able to walk a few blocks without being carjacked or shot than a public spat among politicians.

Maybe it would be a good idea to urge the city to get someone with some sense to run the Decatur street project the mismanagement of which is ruining businesses and hurting tourism.  The inability to physically get to tourist attractions is hurting tourism more than silly political indictments.

Perhaps making sure the SWB pumps are working to prevent flooding would give tourists a better experience visiting New Orleans. If tourists were truly closely following the media in New Orleans they well might not visit, but it wouldn’t be because politicians are attacking each other.

If the citizens of New Orleans want to work with the state to better itself and have an honest debate about the state’s role in its improvement, its leaders, advocates and citizens shouldn’t mischaracterize the facts, fail to admit that the state already does a lot for the City, stop engaging in political theater, or as Professor Collins put it,  engaging in “unconventional warfare” through “civil litigation and criminal indictments” and other similar self-destructive activities.  Although New Orleans is a relatively large city, the rest of the state is larger and until it changes its ways in addition to its rhetoric the war of words will continue.

Those of us who represent other parts of the state want nothing more than a safe, prosperous and fiscally healthy New Orleans.  But our constituents demand we advocate for our area and don’t waste their money for a city that seems unwilling to help itself while demanding help from the state.

For the sake of Louisiana and its cultural icon, New Orleans, I hope and pray a change comes sooner rather than later. The Reset is long overdue.