Rev. Freddie Lee Phillips (right) expresses his concerns that the Louisiana State Board of Cosmetology (LSBC) is seeking for the Senate Commerce Committee to provide a “blank check” to them and expresses his frustration that the LSBC provided no hard numbers whatsoever at the House Commerce Committee when he testified stating that those numbers should be provided.
What happens when you show up at a Senate Commerce Committee seeking a $1 million a year fee increase, yet you can’t even respond to very basic financial questions by two State Senators, Sen. Joseph Bowie, Jr. (D-NO) and Sen. Patrick Connick (R-Marrero)? The following video demonstrates what happens perfectly:
May 14, 2025 Louisiana Senate Commerce Committee meeting during which the LSBC sought a $1 million a year fee increase but could not answer even the most basic of questions posed by Senators Bowie and Connick.
As Burns testifies on the above video, all of the numbers he presented to the Senate Commerce Committee came directly from the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s website for the audit for FYE 6/30/24.
As he has so consistently done at Board meetings, LSBC Executive Director Steve Young has painted a totally false picture of the LSBC’s finances in which he has consistently said, “Without this fee increase, we’ll be out of business in two years.”
Were Young’s statements even remotely accurate (they are not), the accounting firm who produced the above-linked audit report would have been required to add a paragraph after its unqualified opinion expressing concern over the LSBC’s “ability to continue as a going concern.”
Obviously, Young knows almost nothing about financial statements, nor does he demonstrate even the remotest ability to properly analyze them. Burns, as an inactive CPA (for 35 years), a former FDIC bank examiner, and former credit analyst at several Baton Rouge area banks, has literally analyzed thousands upon thousands of company or nonprofit audit reports over his 61-year life.
Since the Committee will give the LSBC another shot next Wednesday (May 21, 2025), we’ll see if they want to take Burns up on his challenge and provide a CPA willing to refute the testimony Burns provided in the above video.