Louisiana DOGE Secret Meetings May Have Involved Plans to Cut Medicaid-Updated
Louisiana DOGE taskforce secretly met with director of Guidehouse consulting, and former Executive Director of Medicaid at LA Department of Health. LeBlanc ran a program recently audited by LA DOGE and accused of inappropriate spending. LeBlanc served as director for 4 of the 5-year audit period.
Update
3/29/25
When I first published this, Governor Landry had announced his proposed 2026 fiscal budget had discovered efficiencies such as $11M in savings from the Louisiana Department of Health.
One week after the governor's budget announcement, Landry announced LA DOGE would be partnering with the Louisiana Legislative Auditor (LLA) to eliminate unnecessary spending. A little under two weeks after this announcement, LDH was accused of misspending medicaid money between 2019-2024 by the LLA.
Following this accusation, one of the largest hospital systems in Louisiana (LCMC), which includes several hospitals mentioned in the article discussing the LLA audit, abruptly lose several physicians.
I did not include this piece of information in my original post because there has been no official reporting regarding this information. However, the sudden loss of my own provider as well as learning several others in Louisiana also abruptly lost established providers after being given the vague information that their doctors were either just no longer practicing at LCMC, or no longer accepting Medicaid, is a large part of what motivated me to write this post in the first place. I still do not know why so many physicians have suddenly left LCMC, but I mention that information here for a reason.
The same week the LDH audit was announced, Louisiana think tank, the Pelican institute, praised Landry's DOGE program. An article released from the think tank claimed the move was necessary to prevent millions of dollars wasted on inefficient Medicaid payments and bloated administrative costs.
It might be worth noting that the Pelican Institute is an affiliate of the State Policy Network (SPN), a network of think tanks across the United States that promote conservative policy at the state level. SPN was founded by an early funder of the Heritage Foundation, who served on the Heritage board of directors for two decades. SPN has previously been accused of influencing state legislation to benefit powerful corporations and groups such as the Heritage Foundation, while disguising that influence as representative of indigenous state level policy.
After I published my original post, someone pointed out to me on March 25th that the LDH budget was actually increasing by $1.5B, mostly due to federal money, and that the $11M Landry found in savings was being offset by that $1.5B increase.
I was unable to find any sources that mentioned that $1.5B increase, but then on March 26th, this article was released.
Landry’s $1.5 billion jump comes at a time when Republicans in Congress and Trump may force unprecedented cuts to Medicaid spending.
Louisiana is also running approximately $100 million over its Medicaid budget for the current budget cycle that ends June 30, according to a letter Louisiana’s interim health secretary Drew Maranto sent to legislators. As a conservative, Landry was expected to take a more skeptical approach to public health care spending when he came into office last year, especially compared with his predecessor, Democrat John Bel Edwards. Yet Landry’s $1.5 billion growth proposal would be the second largest increase in Louisiana health care spending since 2017, the year after Medicaid expansion took place. It’s greater than most years Edwards was in office, from 2016-24. The only larger jump in state health care funding took place in 2021, when the federal government plowed money into Louisiana for the COVID-19 pandemic. The Landry administration attributes much of his proposed health care increase to costs it can’t control.
I actually mentioned Secretary Maranto in my original post. This is because one week after the announcement of the LDH audit, the Secretary of the LDH announced he was retiring. Landry then named Maranto as interim secretary.
During the announcement, Landry said that Secretary, Michael Harrington had always planned to step down from the position by Spring. Harrington took over the position of secretary after Landry created the position of surgeon general this past June.
This newly created position, shifted the previous secretary, Ralph Abraham to Louisiana Surgeon General. As Surgeon General, Abraham is responsible for state health policy and public health, while the Secretary would handle financial duties.
Before joining the LDH, Abraham had served as a Louisiana state Representative and publicly opposed Medicaid expansion. Maranto formerly served as a deputy chief of staff for Abraham before being promoted to LDH undersecretary when Harrington was hired in June.
As Surgeon General, Abraham made national news for announcing that the state of Louisiana would no longer support mass vaccinations shortly after RFK Jr. was confirmed by the Senate as secretary of Health and Human Services.
The article released on the 26th, lists several explanations provided by Maranto and Abraham for the increased Medicaid budget. These reasons include worse than expected health of Louisiana patients which requires more expensive care, increasing cost of prescriptions, increasing Physician compensation from Medicaid to incentivise more physicians to accept Medicaid patients, and the general increase of Medicaid costs experienced by most states across the country.
While these points are fairly common explanations heard across the country regarding rising Mediciad costs, the article also mentions a required cost that is unique to Louisiana which is driving increased Mediciad prices. A constitutional amendment approved 11 years ago, requires nursing homes to receive a Medicaid rate increase at least every other year, and as the article points out, nursing home owners in Louisiana are also large political donors.
The article also mentions that the governor increased Medicaid reimbursement rates by $22 million per year for hospitals in rural areas. According to the article, four of the seven hospitals that received funding were owned by Rock Bordelon, a Landry campaign donor and hunting buddy of Donald Trump Jr, while Landry increased similar rates by over $40 million per year to University Medical Center in New Orleans.
These all seem to be making strong arguments that actually favor Republican wishes to cut Medicaid funding.
While these points certainly may be something to re-evaluate, when determining Medicaid spending and questions about how that money is actually being spent, it does seem important to keep in mind a few things before throwing the baby out with the bathwater:
- An increase every other year going towards nursing homes may be a legitimate necessity that reflects an increasing population of Louisiana residents aging and requiring nursing home care.
- Rural hospitals in Louisiana provide care to some of the most medically underserved populations in the United States.
- University Medical Center in New Orleans, despite not being a rural environment, also serves a large population that fits the definition of a medically underserved population.
Keeping all of these points in mind, should we be making sure Mediciad funds are actually being spent as intended? Without a doubt. However, simply eliminating that spending through slash and burn policies is a guarantee of harm to some of the most vulnerable citizens of Louisiana.
Increased costs for medical care may certainly be making public support of those programs unsustainable. However, one point that is not addressed in this article, or typically addresses by most politicians regardless of political party, is sort of the elephant in the room when it comes to medical costs in the United States.
What is one thing that most Americans agree is out of control and needs to be addressed when it comes to the cost of healthcare? The astoundingly large salaries of many hospital administrators across the country. So why is nobody touching it with a ten foot pole?
The article provides some explanation of Landry's claim that he found $11M in savings at LDH. Landry allegedly eliminated $11 million worth of contracts and almost 60 of the health department’s 7,700 employment positions in an effort to reduce spending. A representative of the Louisiana Department of Administration is quoted in the article as saying this was done to get a handle on spending, but does not to provide any information about what those contracts and positions were.
The governor’s administration has also allegedly asked the federal government for permission to raise another physician payment to incentivise doctors to take on Medicaid payments, but as the article points out this would add millions more to Landry's existing Medicaid spending.
As I mentioned, several physicians, including my own, were suddenly no longer with LCMC right around the time the news was released of an audit into LDH Medicaid spending by a group of Louisiana hospitals.
There seems to be no information about why these physicians are no longer with LCMC, but the timing seems especially odd. I cannot speak regarding how many physicians were actually lost, but I do personally know that at least 3 were well known for providing excellent care to Medicaid patients in Louisiana.
Given that there are allegedly so few doctors willing to take on Medicaid patients at the current pay rate, eliminating the few physicians that do, would seem to be an odd decision to make. So could we maybe address that elephant in the room now?
I'll just leave this here for anyone who is interested:
As the article also mentions, Republicans at the federal level have been looking for opportunities to reduce federal funding and Medicaid has been in their crosshairs.
Slashing federal spending is necessary for Republicans to offer a planned tax cut to corporations and wealthy individuals. However, it's important to note that as much as 80% of the $880 billion Medicaid program is funded by federal taxpayers.
While the rising cost of Mediciad is being blamed on poor people, sicker patients, and having to pay doctors more money, perhaps we could ask politicians to put on their thinking caps and consider what other possible ways we could be lowering healthcare costs. Perhaps there's a bipartisan elephant in the room that needs to be addressed.
The day after the article on the alleged $1.5B increase to LDH was released, a different article reported that as of 3 p.m. Thursday, March 27, 2025, the Federal DOGE website run by Elon Musk shows $55M in cuts to Louisiana Department of Health.
The cuts target mental health and substance use programs, including crisis services, according to Louisiana health officials.
"The apparent cuts range from more than $18 million slashed from one grant to $333,011 sliced from another. In total, a WWNO/WRKF review of the DOGE website found $55,844,936 in cuts across 11 federal grants to Louisiana’s health department, though the site has previously posted inaccurate and inflated data."
An assistant secretary at the LDH indicated the full impacts were still being determined, and said that notification of the cuts was received on Monday in a "series of emails that were slightly difficult to interpret.”
A Louisiana Senate Finance Committee hearing was scheduled to go over the health department's overall finances and budget for 2026. During the committee hearing, Deputy Secretary Dr. Pete Croughan estimated that the cuts were around $10 million.
It is unclear if these cuts are related to or in addition to Landry's own claimed savings of $11 million eliminated from jobs and contracts. It is also unclear if the $1.5B coming from the federal government to offset Landry's cuts, also somehow offsets their own cuts.
Regardless, one cannot help but question who's best interests our state and federal politicians are really looking out for.
Interestingly, on Friday, LDH Surgeon General made headline news again. In contrast to the national headline recognition he received following RFK Jr.'s confirmation, Friday's news seemed to only reach locals.
On Thursday, LDH confirmed that amid an ongoing state outbreak of whooping cough, two infants have died in the last six months. The two infants are the first Louisiana whooping cough deaths reported since 2018.
Abraham, who is also a physician, seemed to reverse his previous stance on vaccine promotion, stating:
“Anyone who is up-to-date with their pertussis vaccine is well-protected against the virus... Vaccines are the best way to protect against the disease, especially for babies."
I'm glad to see the Louisiana Surgeon General apparently coming around to the idea of vaccines. All it took to change his mind were the completely unnecessary deaths of two infants who were robbed of a future, along with their families.
So, I will just be frank and ask, who's interests are being looked out for?
If you're in Louisiana don't forget to vote today:
, The Times
LA DOGE Secret Meetings with FBI Contracted Guidehouse Consulting
Several DOGE decisions at the federal level are likely to have serious consequences for Louisiana, but many residents are unaware that the state has also created it's own DOGE inspired taskforce under an Executive Order signed by Governor Jeff Landry.
Louisiana became one of the earliest states to launch a DOGE inspired taskforce on December 12, 2024, when Landry's executive order set the stage for DOGE's influence to reach deep into the lives of Louisiana residents via the "Fiscal Responsibility Program."
There are currently at least 16 state level DOGE inspired task forces. While these state level task forces are often advertised as "pro-small government," there seems to be a considerable amount of overlap between the policies being created at state and federal levels.
Further, there appear to be well connected groups with an interest in state taskforce operations. For example, a Louisiana think tank recently published an article praising Landry and Louisiana DOGE. However, that think tank is itself part of a larger network of institutes directly tied to the Heritage Foundation, suggesting interests in the "small government" program may extend far beyond state borders.
The same policy is being supported all throughout the United States under individual think tanks within the same large network. The network was created by an individual who served on the Heritage Foundation's board of trustees for two decades.
In the interest of transparency and keeping all Louisiana citizens informed, this post gathers information about Louisiana's DOGE into one place. Sources for this information can be found by scrolling to the references list at the bottom of this page.
Landry's signed order can be viewed here: https://www.doa.louisiana.gov/media/30optldt/jml-24-176-fiscal-responsibility-program.pdf
I have also created a list of all state level DOGE taskforces that I will continue to update as I find out more information. If you're interested, you can follow updates here
In a statement released the day the order was signed, Governor Landry seemed to emphasize his dedication to creating a government that serves the people of the state:
"In Louisiana, we always strive to have a government that is of, by, and for the people... A government that runs efficiently and effectively is a government that best serves her people."
However, less than four months since the creation of the task force, several statements by Landry seem to completely contradict this dedication. This post will be divided into 3 sections including the current introduction.
1. Introduction
2. Louisiana DOGE members and transparency law violations
3. Timeline of events following Louisiana DOGE meetings and Medicaid Program Audit
Louisiana DOGE
Members and Transparency Law Violations
Landry's executive order states that the Louisiana Fiscal Responsibility Program should be comprised of a minimum of nine members.
Four members of the Louisiana State Senate:
•Gerald Boudreaux- District 24 •Valarie Hodges- District 13 •Blake Miguez- District 22 •Jeremy Stine- District 27
Four members of the Louisiana House of Representatives:
•Stephanie Berault- District 76 •Adrian Fischer - District 16 •Jack McFarland- District 13 •Philip Tarver- District 36
•Chair: Steve Orlando
•Support staff, facilities, and resources provided by the Office of the Governor and other departments of the executive branch of the state government.
The taskforce chair, Steve Orlando, is a neighbor and fishing buddy of Governor Landry, who previously owned a very successful offshore oil supply company. Orlando was granted fairly broad power to lead the taskforce, which will examine Louisiana state contracts, purchases, and even individual employees in order to eliminate what they believe qualifies as wasteful spending.
Section 9 of Landry's executive order also directs all state departments, agencies, boards and employees to cooperate with his task force.
*Given what is currently happening with DOGE at the federal level, I feel obligated to warn any state employees that may read this: If you are asked to carry out orders you suspect may violate any laws or codes of conduct, it is in your best interest to consult with an attorney. Your cooperation on behalf of this executive order does not guarantee legal protection for any individual, and you can still be subject to penalties, fines, and even incarceration if your "cooperation" aids in violation of any existing laws and codes of conduct.*
Governor Landry has quite a complicated history regarding ethics violations claims (so much so that it requires its own dedicated post). The Governor's DOGE taskforce has already been accused of violating Louisiana transparency laws by several legal experts including the president of the Baton Rouge nonprofit, Public Affairs Research Council, and the senior attorney for three Louisiana governors (Buddy Roemer, Mike Foster and Kathleen Blanco).
The taskforce is subject to public records law, and is legally required to hold open meetings. However, the taskforce has already held at least two secret meetings on state property in 2025.
One of these secret meetings was only discovered after Senator Blake Miguez posted a picture of the group to Facebook on January 28th. The picture, which is captioned, "It’s time to cut wasteful spending,” confirmed the taskforce met in the main dining room of the Governor's mansion, while the other meeting took place in the governor's suite of offices at the state Capitol.
The taskforce is required by law to:
- Advertise when and where it will meet
- Allow the public a chance to speak at meeting
- Record meeting minutes that will become publicly available
Landry and members of the taskforce claim these group sessions, held on state property, did not qualify as "meetings," and therefore did not require adherence to the laws which would be required of anyone else.
As Senator Valarie Hodges attempted to explain in an interview, "We’re just talking to people about who we’re going to hire... We’re trying to decide what we’re going to do. They’re not meetings.”
The New Orleans Advocate reported that Governor Landry has also claimed he doesn’t "believe the group is a public body subject to the state public meetings law, even though eight of its nine members are state legislators, it is planning to spend tax dollars to hire outside consultants and is meeting in government buildings."
Landry believes the public should wait to learn what is being discussed in meetings until December of 2025, when the task force will generate a final report of recommendations for budget cuts.
Melia Cerrato, a First Amendment expert at Tulane Law School, disagrees with Landry's belief, stating that a body advising the government must be transparent. "This specific task force is going to provide recommendations on crucial issues, including cutting government services and jobs. Citizens have a right to know the deliberations of this group.”
When asked why the group was not meeting publicly, Governor Landry is quoted as saying "We have regulated ourselves in this country to the point of dysfunction. Law after law after law hinders the ability of government actually to act.”
When told that independent law experts believe he is legally required to hold open meetings, Landry replied, “I don’t like to worry about what I’m telling people. I like to show people. At the end of the day, the citizens of this state are demanding more out of their government for less. This government, the federal government, the things (President) Trump is doing, all we want to do is make sure our tax dollars are spent better and more wisely.”
As Cerrato also pointed out, Landry’s own executive order calls for public input, and the taskforce is making decisions about how our tax dollars should be spent.
Given that he seems to have no intention of making these meetings public, Landry's definition of a government "for the people" may differ from the one commonly used term of a government representative of its voters. It seems important then to clarify who exactly "the people," Landry is actually representing might be.
Regardless, these are my tax dollars, and your tax dollars, and programs that our friends, family, and neighbors are relying on.
The task force announced in February they would be pausing all activities following criticisms for violations of public transparency laws. However, this was followed by Landry announcing the task force would be partnering with a legislative auditor in it's mission to eliminate unnecessary spending.
Meanwhile, Landry has invited citizens to share their suggestions on how they would like to see the state saving money by emailing: ladoge@lla.la.gov
It is unclear how and when the taskforce would partner with the auditor while meetings are allegedly paused, but what is clear is that the recommendations of the taskforce are not proposed to take effect until after the final report has been generated and reviewed. However, a timeline of recent events in Louisiana may suggest that recommended cuts from the taskforce meetings have already been set into motion.
The New Orleans Advocate also reported that previous attempts to reach Chair Orlando, Senate President Cameron Henry of Metairie, House Speaker Phillip DeVillier of Eunice, and Landry’s office regarding the meetings have not always been successful.
Orlando indicated via text message that the taskforce would always follow meeting law requirements, but so far there has not been a clear acknowledgement of how the group plans to do that.
However, these are all public officials. They claim to want accountability yet refuse to be held accountable. I encourage all citizens that have any questions or concerns about the meetings or any of the information provided here to call and email the Louisiana Governor, Senate President Henry, House Speaker DeVillier, Chair Orlando, and all of the Senators and Representatives involved in the taskforce. Feel free to ask them to explain the timeline of events in the next section.
Timeline of Events Following Meetings
During the meetings that weren't meetings, the taskforce heard pitches from different consulting firms, and then discussed potentially hiring the firms to do "a deep dive," into state entities and employees to aid taskforce investigations.
One of the consulting companies the group met with was Guidehouse, a firm from the D.C. area, and one of the top consulting groups contracted by both federal and state governments.
A webpage for Guidehouse states "Delivering meaningful business results across geographies calls for a local “boots on the ground” approach with a global understanding of where our work has impact. Our worldwide reach spans over 50 offices across four continents."
The Guidehouse team the task force met with included at least one individual with ties to Louisiana. That team member was Tara LeBlanc, a former senior official at the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH), and according to her LinkedIn page, current "director," at Guidehouse as of October 2023.
A Guidehouse LinkedIn article welcomes Ms. LeBlanc as she joins the firm, and says that as the former Medicaid Executive Director for the LA Department of Health, she previously "designed and implemented plans to elevate Louisiana’s pioneering public health emergency unwinding strategy and enhance outcomes for Medicaid beneficiaries."
LeBlanc served as Medicaid Executive Director for LDH from June 2022 to October 2023, Interim Executive Director from October 2020 to July 2021, and Deputy Director from December 2019 to October 2020. Prior to being named Deputy Director, LeBlanc served as Assistant Secretary for the Office of Aging and Adult Services.
In addition to LeBlanc, another former LDH employee is currently employed as a director for Guidehouse.
Mark Thomas served as the Deputy Secretary of LDH from June 2018-July 2022 before becoming a director for Guidehouse in July of 2022. A June 2018 article featuring Thomas states that as deputy secretary, Thomas supervised the offices of Behavioral Health, Aging, and Adult services.
It is unclear if the Louisiana Fiscal Responsibility Program hired Guidehouse following LeBlanc's pitch at the meeting that wasn't a meeting, but a series of events that have occured since the meeting was held, suggests that a public record of what was discussed would be quite useful to have.
•Between Jan. 28 and Feb 4th, 2025 the Fiscal Responsibility Committee holds two secret meetings. During one of those meetings, Guidehouse director and former Medicaid Executive Director for LDH proposes a pitch for a deep dive into Louisiana state spending.
•2/21/25: Gov Landry proposes his budget for the 2026 Fiscal Year with flat funding and continued reductions in government spending, decreasing from $45.39 billion in 2025 to $44.96 billion in 2026. The largest amount of savings would be coming from cuts to LDH.
Proposed cuts include:
$11 million in savings in the Louisiana Department of Health
$1 million in savings in the Department of Energy and Natural Resources
$2.3 million in savings in the Division of Administration
•2/26/25 Taskforce partners with Louisiana legislative auditor The taskforce paused its work in February after it was accused of failing to adhere to transparency laws.
Following the announcement of the task force partnership with auditors, the governor did not comment on whether or not taskforce meetings will continue and if they will be made public.
Legislative auditor Mike Waguespack, shared his excitement to join the task force in a media interview, and used an oddly familiar phrase to describe the task force's effort:
"We do a lot of audits on state agencies that get put on a shelf... we have a group that will potentially look at our audits and take action. We’ll be the boots on the ground. I’m super excited about this.”
•3/11/25 Louisiana Department of Health Medicaid program targeted by Louisiana Legislative Auditor report.
The report claims the Louisiana Department of Health failed to properly oversee some $2.4 billion in Medicaid spending over five years.
Louisiana's Managed Care Incentive Program (MCIP), is aimed at improving the health of the state's neediest patients. The program was run by multiple Louisiana hospitals who are now accused of spending more than half of the program's money on administrative expenses and "other costs" that allegedly did not have a measurable impact on patient health outcomes.
Louisiana DOGE partner and Legislative Auditor Mike Waguespack was quoted as saying “The sole focus of this program was to improve the health outcomes of Medicaid beneficiaries but that’s not happening... The funds are not making it all the way down to the hospitals that are doing the work.”
The MCIP was established by the legislature in 2018 and went into effect one year later. The recent audit claims that more than 18% of the program expenditures between 2019 and 2024 (~$437 million) went to non-milestone activities such as submitting reports and holding meetings.
•3/13/25 Following Medicaid audit, Louisiana think tank with Heritage Foundation ties calls Louisiana DOGE "a model for fiscal responsibility."
The Pelican institute praised Gov. Landry for initiating the program, claiming the move is necessary to prevent millions wasted on "inefficient Medicaid payments, misallocated education funds, and bloated administrative costs." The article specifically cites $100 million flagged by Louisiana's Legislative Auditor in 2022 for improper Medicaid payments.
The pelican institute was founded in 2008, and is an affiliate member of the State Policy Network (SPN), a nonprofit organization that serves as a central network for conservative and libertarian think tanks in the U.S. focusing on state level policy.
SPN was itself founded in 1992 by South Carolina businessman Thomas Roe, who served on the Heritage Foundation's board of trustees for two decades. Roe allegedly founded SPN at the urging of Ronald Reagan, and by 2011, it had grown to include 59 "freedom centers," or think tanks in all 50 states.
•3/20/25 LDH Secretary Retires One week after the Pelican Institute praised Landry and Louisiana DOGE for partnering with a state auditor and targeting Medicaid's wasteful spending, the leader in charge of the largest budget in state government, LDH Secretary Michael Harrington announced his retirement.
Landry named Drew Maranto, as interim secretary. Maranto joined the LDH in January 2024 as chief of staff and was promoted to undersecretary in June. Maranto formerly worked as deputy chief of staff for Senator Bill Cassidy and Surgeon General Ralph Abraham before being promoted to LDH undersecretary when Harrington was hired.
Landry claims that Harrington always planned to step down from the position by spring, after being named Secretary in June of 2024. Harrington took over the position of secretary after Landry and and Louisiana Legislature shifted secretary Ralph Abraham to the newly created position of surgeon general. This shift put Abraham in charge of state health policy and public health while leaving administrative and financial duties for Harrington.
Abraham made national news when he released a memo announcing that the state of Louisiana would no longer support mass vaccinations. The memo was released shortly after the Senate confirmation of RFK Jr for secretary of health and Human Services. Abraham believes the affordable care act should be appealed and has opposed the expansion of Medicaid as far back as 2014.
Prior to Abraham, Courtney Phillips was secretary of health from April 2020-2024, and was preceded by Rebecca Ghee, who served as secretary from 2016-2020 and led the expansion of Medicaid in Louisiana.
Mark Thomas, the former LDH employee who is currently employed as a director for Guidehouse consulting agency alongside Tara LeBlanc, served as deputy secretary under both Ghee and Philips from June 2018-July 2022.
Thomas supervised LeBlanc's office when MCIP was established by the legislature in 2018 until LeBlanc was promoted to Deputy Medicaid Director in December of 2019, the same year the legislation went into effect. LeBlanc would serve as Interim Executive Director from October 2020 to July 2021 before being promoted to Executive Director in June 2022 until October 2023, when she left LDH and joined her former supervisor, becoming a director at Guidehouse consulting.
This means that LeBlanc was involved in designing and implementing plans to improve outcomes for Medicaid beneficiaries during 4 of the 5 years (2019-2024) that the Louisiana Legislative Auditor claims MCIP funds were misspent on administrative costs such as submitting reports and meetings.
Speaking of meetings, it sure would be helpful to have some recorded minutes from the meeting that wasn't a meeting that Landry's taskforce held with LeBlanc prior to Landry announcing plans to slash $11 million dollars from LDH and partner with the Louisiana legislative auditor.
If we had those meeting minutes, we would know if there was any discussion regarding MCIP spending in the pitch given by LeBlanc.
However, since the taskforce was just trying to decide what they were going to do, and the meeting wasn't really a meeting, they didn't have to follow the law, and no public records exists. Darn. Isn't that just really inconvenient for everyone except for Landry and DOGE?
References:
State Level DOGE task forces pop up across United States: •https://pimento-mori.ghost.io/state-level-doge-inspired-task-forces-pop-up-across-u-s-promoted-by-republican-governors-love-of-small-government/
Landry announces DOGE like task force: •https://lailluminator.com/2024/12/13/louisiana-gov-jeff-landry-launches-doge-like-government-savings-initiative/ •https://www.wdsu.com/article/louisiana-governor-creates-own-doge/63941808
DOGE executive order •https://www.doa.louisiana.gov/media/30optldt/jml-24-176-fiscal-responsibility-program.pdf
Louisiana DOGE violation of transparency laws •https://www.nola.com/news/politics/jeff-landry-created-group-meets-in-secret-to-cut-spending/article_920e929c-e32e-11ef-915a-dbb1b1826804.html •https://www.nola.com/news/politics/jeff-landry-wants-spending-task-force-to-meet-in-secret/article_ce25f6b0-e4cf-11ef-bc96-cbd91739186b.html
Guidehouse Consulting •https://guidehouse.com/industries/state-local-government •https://guidehouse.com/locations/ •https://guidehouse.com/government-contract-vehicles •https://guidehouse.com/news/advanced-solutions/2024/guidehouse-accelerates-digital-transformation-with-google-public-sector
LDH 2018 Newsletter
•https://laddc.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/LaDDC_News_Leadership_Changes_at_OCDD_and_LDH.pdf
Landry Proposed 2026 Budget Cuts •https://www.klfy.com/louisiana/gov-jeff-landry-unveils-standstill-budget-emphasizing-fiscal-responsibility/
Landry partners with legislative auditor •https://www.nola.com/news/politics/jeff-landrys-louisiana-doge-to-work-with-auditors/article_9fae9dc4-f478-11ef-8d56-332511026662.html
Legislative Auditor claims LDH failed to oversee Medicaid claims https://www.nola.com/news/healthcare_hospitals/louisiana-health-department-failed-to-oversee-parts-of-state-medicaid-program-audit-says/article_c59da822-fdfb-11ef-8015-9f4118cb1f63.html
Pelican institute praises Louisiana DOGE https://pelicanpolicy.org/tax-budget/louisianas-doge-a-model-for-fiscal-responsibility/
Pelican Institute and the Heritage Foundation: •https://spn.org/organization/pelican-institute-for-public-policy/ •https://spn.org/organization/heritage-foundation/ •https://spn.org/history/ •https://web.archive.org/web/20150626172710/http://www.spn.org/about/ •https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/04/state-policy-network-union-bargaining/
LA Dept of Health Secretary Retires •https://neworleanscitybusiness.com/blog/2025/03/21/louisiana-health-secretary-retires-gov-landry-names-interim-replacement/ •https://www.nola.com/news/healthcare_hospitals/interim-secretary-ldh/article_7722f299-210e-4994-b968-9c63b7a415a9.html •https://www.225batonrouge.com/food-drink/meet-baton-rouge-guy-behind-titan-coffee-co-serving-small-batch-coffee-alongside-cute-dog •https://www.thenewsstar.com/story/news/politics/2014/11/20/mayo-abraham-face-th-district-debate/70035864/
