If there was one thing that five state legislators of the Northshore delegation could agree on about the legislative session that closed last week, it was that despite a $2 billion hole in the state budget, no new taxes were introduced and current taxes were not raised.

The legislators gave their version of the last legislative session Wednesday at the East St. Tammany Chamber of Commerce luncheon, and they all seemed proud that they were able to balance the $28.7 billion budget without resorting to increasing taxes.

“It’s the first time in almost 50 years, the state did not raise taxes even in a fiscal crisis,” state Rep. Tim Burns said. Still, Sen. Jack Donahue was not pleased with the way the session turned into a dog-and-cat fight near the end when cuts had to be made to the budget.

“It was a very contentious session,” Donahue said. “The atmosphere made my stomach hurt, because there was so much fighting between the Senate and the House.”

Rep. Kevin Pearson was a bit more understated on his reaction of the session.

“It was not a typical session. It wasn’t quite as boring,” Pearson wryly commented.

All the legislators agreed that making huge cuts in higher education and healthcare was painful, and that a solution has to be found.

Even though the legislators returned $110 million to the $219 million cut to the higher education budget, Donahue said this action cannot continue. He estimated that a total of $800 million will be cut from higher education over the next three years.

“In three years, higher education will no longer exist,” Donahue warned.

State Sen. A.G. Crowe said there was one silver lining in getting $110 million back into the education budget.

“They now have greater accountability and downsizing,” Crowe said.

Both Donahue and Burns said that even more downsizing is needed in higher education to cut the fat. Donahue said that some colleges in the system should be combined and some even closed down. Burns said more focus should be on expanding technical training for those that don’t want to go to college.

“The current model of higher education is not realistic,” Burns said. “There are too many schools and too much personnel.”

Burns said that decreasing the number of government employees is what needs to be done.

“The government kept growing, while our population growth is flat. Our dollars are not being spent correctly,” Burns said.

That idea was echoed by Pearson, who said the state has plenty of money, and does not need more revenue.

“It’s not a revenue problem, but a spending problem,” Pearson said.

Everybody agreed the next step is to streamline the government and bring spending down. Donahue has introduced legislation to form a committee that will give suggestions to the governor on how the government can be made more efficient with less people and departments.

State Rep. Greg Cromer said that besides balancing the budget, the legislators did pass some other good legislation. Gov. Bobby Jindal signed a law that protects medical personnel from legal action if they refuse to provide certain medical procedures be-cause of religious beliefs. Cromer said that victims of child pornography will benefit with increased court awards. Also a new law would remove and reduce liabilities for volunteers who come here to help out after a disaster.

Donahue said the Legislature has lost its sense of priorities and what it is supposed to do for the taxpayer.

“There are no priorities in the Senate. As long as this goes on, we will continue to have bedlam,” Donahue said.