Jeff Landry seeks to withhold funding to pressure New Orleans to enforce abortion ban

Attorney General Jeff Landry wants to pressure recalcitrant New Orleans officials into enforcing the state’s ban on abortion by withholding funding projects for the city.

Landry, who is defending the state’s abortion ban in court, on Tuesday told Treasurer John Schroder, a fellow Republican and a likely opponent of Landry’s in next year’s governor’s race, that until New Orleans officials say they’ll enforce the ban, the city should not “incur debt…at the expense of Louisiana taxpayers.” Schroder oversees the state Bond Commission, which approves financing for construction projects and other spending.

“It is my belief that a parish or municipality should not benefit from the hard-working taxpayers of this state while ignoring laws validly enacted by the people through their representatives,” he wrote.

A handful of key New Orleans officials – including Mayor LaToya Cantrell, Orleans Parish DIstrict Attorney Jason Williams, Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson, Police Superintendent Shaun Ferguson and members of the City Council – have enacted policies or said publicly that they will not arrest or charge people accused of violating the abortion law.

Cantrell said Tuesday said she wasn't surprised by Landry's move. 

"I think it's very unfortunate," she said. "I will not be baited into politics, but I will stand for women. I will continue to stand for women, not only in the city of New Orleans but also in the state of Louisiana." 

Schroder, speaking after an event in New Orleans, said he learned about Landry's letter through a tweet, and hadn’t read it yet. “That’s (Landry’s) mode of operation," he said.

As the field for next year’s gubernatorial race takes shape, Landry has emerged as an ardent defender of Louisiana’s abortion ban, which subjects doctors who perform abortions to prison terms of up to 10 or even 15 years. He has repeatedly told people who disagree with the law that they should feel free to move to another state. 

19th Judicial District Judge Don Johnson took the case over the abortion ban under advisement Monday. A temporary block of the law, allowing temporary access to abortion, remains in effect until his ruling. 

The Bond Commission meets Thursday. Among the projects for which Landry would delay funding: a rehabilitation of the Old New Orleans Veterans Affairs building, a hospital project and a project at the New Orleans airport in Jefferson Parish.

Landry, who is a member of the commission, said the panel should “defer any applications for the City of New Orleans, Orleans Parish, and any other local governmental entity or political subdivision under its purview.”

Gov. John Bel Edwards, speaking at a press conference Tuesday, slammed Landry's idea, saying it would put other projects at risk of being delayed because the state can't move to lower priority projects until the higher priority ones are funded. 

"The idea that you seek to punish all the people living in a certain area because you are at odds with some of their elected officials, that is not a reasonable approach," Edwards said. 

It’s not the first time Republican leaders have used the Bond Commission for a political sideshow. In 2019, Landry sought to bar banks that seek to limit their involvement with gun companies from financing Louisiana projects. And last year, Republican leaders delayed funding for New Orleans in a dispute over masking policies at the Caesars Superdome.

New Orleans leaders ripped Landry’s latest gambit.

“I wish Mr. Landry could channel his fixation to target women and interfere in healthcare decisions to instead helping cities across LA battling major violence including the Acadiana region where he’s from,” City Councilmember Helena Moreno tweeted Tuesday. “It’s about priorities. In NOLA we must prioritize curbing violence.”

Staff writer Ben Myers contributed to this story.