Louisiana was recently ranked as the worst state in the country to live in, the third straight year the state has held this dubious honor. Today, all residents of the state got another reminder why.
The Louisiana state legislature sunk a bill that would have allowed legalized sports gambling in the state, with the House Committee of Appropriations failing to advance the bill by an overwhelming 14-6 vote against. Instead of catching up with the rest of the country, where most states are quickly adopting laws to take advantage of last year's Supreme Court ruling that struck down a federal law that prohibited most states from authorizing sports gambling. Instead of following suit, lawmakers spent weeks adding poison pill amendments that eventually doomed the bill to failure.
People will say it's just politics as usual in Louisiana. Well, maybe that's the problem. Politics are usual has driven our state into a never-ending financial crisis that these lawmakers can't seem to find a way out of. It's inevitable that these same lawmakers will try to slash funding to major programs or raise taxes somewhere as they plead for our support. Apparently allowing men and women to wager a little bit on their favorite teams and favorite sports was too must to ask.
What a joke. But the joke is on all of us.