LA POLITICAL FAX WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS
by JOHN MAGINNIS - LAPolitics (excerpt)

Showdown Vote Next Week

The unprecedented standoff over spending between Democrats and the Blanco administration on one side and Republicans on the other enters its third week, with the GOP trading hostages from a construction borrowing bill to a surplus spending bill as time runs down on the session.

"If your whole game is to have a train wreck, I'm sure you will find that easy to do," Appropriations Committee Chairman John Alario told House members before returning a $1.9 billion surplus spending bill to the calendar with plans to bring it up for a vote next week.

"We're saying we can wait six months," said Rep. Jim Tucker, R-Terrytown, chairman of the House GOP caucus, who sees little harm in delaying some of the spending until a new administration and Legislature can revisit both the operating budget and the surplus spending plan in January.

Former Judge Running For Bajoie's Seat

The post-Katrina demographic shift in New Orleans is giving an opening for a white candidate to enter the race for Sen. Bajoie's Senate seat.

"I am running for the state Senate," said David Williams, a Democrat who served ten years on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal before losing a re-election bid.

Rep. Jalila Jefferson is planning to run for the seat, and state Rep. Cherly Gray is considering it.

The district that covers the Central Business District and large parts of Uptown and Mid-City was 60 percent black and 34 percent white before Katrina, but recent demographic analyses show it to be slightly majority white.

Vitter Wants Feds to Reject Hospital Plan

LSU's business plan to replace Charity Hospital in downtown New Orleans with a 484-bed, $1.2 billion facility has passed both houses of the Legislature, but a major roadblock lies ahead in Washington.

To draw down $300 million in federal block grants, the state's application must be approved by HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson. But Sen. David Vitter remains on record opposing approval until the state fundamentally redesigns its healthcare system.

"I've laid out my objections clearly to Secretary Jackson," said Vitter, adding, "He has expressed his commitment to get away from the charity hospital model."