R.I.P. Scout26
On 7-6 vote, the commission excluded Citigroup Inc., the nation’s third largest bank, and Bank of America Merrill Lynch, the second largest, from participating in a $600 million plan to widen Interstate 10 in Baton Rouge and improve access into the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, along with a project in Shreveport.State Treasurer John Schroder made the motion saying the banks’ restrictions infringed on Louisiana residents’ constitutional right to buy guns. “As treasurer and chairman of the Bond Commission it is one of my duties to help hire financial professionals and not necessarily social engineers,” he said.Bank of America handles 18 percent of the state’s general obligation bonds and Citibank administers another 5 percent. Schroder said after the meeting that he doesn’t plan on disrupting those existing relationships but would bring the issue up when those contracts expire.
