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Feds indict former La. wildlife official
Montoucet charged in corruption probe out of Lafayette BY CLAIRE TAYLOR and SAM KARLIN Staff writers
Jack Montoucet, a former secretary of the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, was indicted Wednesday on charges that he participated in a lucrative kickback scheme involving a state con-
tract for online courses to resolve wildlife citations, an arrangement that unfolded over several years before unraveling in 2023. The charges, filed in Louisiana’s Western District, had been expected for months. Montoucet, along with Assistant District Attorney and Lafayette city prosecutor Gary Haynes, was described —
but not identified by name — in the March 23, 2023, guilty plea of Dusty Guidry, who handled pretrial diversion programs for the district attorneys in Lafayette and Baton Rouge. Guidry was also a gubernatorial appointee to the Wildlife and Fisheries Commission, a volunteer board that helps set state policy on some outdoors
Don Cazayoux, an attorney repissues. resenting Montoucet, did not imThe grand jury, mediately return a message seekwhich met in Laing comment Wednesday. fayette federal Haynes, 66, of Lafayette, was court Wednesday, indicted by a federal grand jury returned an inin September and charged with dictment charging conspiracy to commit bribery, Montoucet with Montoucet bribery, using his cellphone in furone count of conspiracy to commit bribery and therance of bribery, conspiracy wire fraud, three counts of wire to commit money laundering and fraud and one count of conspiracy ä See INDICT, page 5A to commit money laundering.
State revenue on the rise
FAIR TIME
Economists increase forecast by $139M for next year’s budget
BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer
STAFF PHOTOS By LESLIE WESTBROOK
Setup is underway for the Cajun Heartland State Fair outside the Cajundome in Lafayette. The fair features rides, entertainment, food, free attractions and family oriented games. It opens Friday and runs through June 1. ABOVE: Workers battle the rainy weather on Wednesday to assemble a ride. RIGHT: Sophia Vasquez sets up a lemonade stand on Wednesday.
Louisiana lawmakers learned Wednesday that they will have $139 million more to spend on next year’s budget after economists said the state’s revenue outlook is in a bit better shape than previously forecast. The state will also have an additional $130 million to spend during the current fiscal year that ends June 30, under a new official forecast approved by the Revenue Estimating Conference, a group of state leaders that approves official revenue projections which form the basis of spending plans built by lawmakers. The additional funding could be spent on next year’s budget in any number of ways, potentially including economic development initiatives, criminal justice system improvements, infrastructure, or restoring a statewide tutoring program that was recently removed from the latest version of the budget. Greg Albrecht, the state economist who compiled the projections approved Wednesday, said the underlying base of the economy — which includes factors like income and employment — “is just a little bit stronger than expected.” Discussions about economic uncertainty occurring at the broader national and global levels, however, didn’t factor into the current analysis, he said. “We haven’t seen it in the hard numbers,” Albrecht said of a possible recession. “Nobody’s actually
ä See REVENUE, page 5A
Federal spending bill could mean more coastal funds for La. BY MIKE SMITH
Staff writer
The “big, beautiful bill” making its way through the U.S. House of Representatives has further fueled the nation’s divisions, but one little-known aspect of it has managed to unite Louisianans from across the political spectrum. The federal spending bill as it stands now includes a provision
WEATHER HIGH 87 LOW 70 PAGE 6A
that could increase the amount of money Louisiana receives from offshore oil and gas production — revenue that must be used for coastal protection and restoration. Estimates show Louisiana could see up to around $50 million per year extra over a decade — not exactly a gold rush, but nothing to sneeze at either. It’s a change long-sought by Louisiana political leaders, pushed for
years by former Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu and taken up by the state’s current, mainly Republican congressional delegation. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, was instrumental in including the measure in the bill. It has been among the topics discussed at this week’s State of the Coast conference in New Orleans, a large gathering of political leaders, policymakers and scientists
organized every two years by the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana nonprofit. Landrieu, in particular, used her appearance to argue that the state was being shortchanged and must be given the resources to protect residents that work in the industries that have long benefited the nation. State officials are reasonably confident the measure could remain in the House version of the
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bill given its backing by Scalise and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton, though there are no guarantees. The measure would then have to survive the U.S. Senate, where the outcome is cloudier. One advantage the state has is that the change is so obscure when compared to other parts of the bill being angrily debated that it may
ä See COASTAL, page 5A
100TH yEAR, NO. 326