Iberia Parish residents got a sneak peek at this year’s upcoming legislative session Tuesday morning during the Greater Iberia Chamber of Commerce’s Eggs and Issues event at the Ramada Inn Conference Center in New Iberia.

State legislators Beau Beaullieu, Blake Miguez and Brett Allain, who represent Teche Area parishes, discussed their predictions for the upcoming session which begins on March 9 and lasts three months.

Local officials and business leaders were present for the roundtable discussion and dined on a catered breakfast meal while the three legislators discussed some of the top issues for this year.

Beaullieu pointed out that this year’s legislative session will not be held in a fiscal year, and said he expects election integrity to be a major topic.

“There’s a lot of talk about this since we’re far from a presidential election and this might be the perfect time for cooler heads to prevail,” Beaullieu said.

On his end, Beaullieu said he plans to be focusing on bills to help small businesses get off the ground. The high number of permits and licenses expected for many small businesses in Louisiana could be streamlined, and Beaullieu said that he is hoping to make it easier for people to get in business.

As a member of the Ways and Means Committee, Beaullieu also said that he will help with allocating the big surplus Louisiana is expected to get this year.

“I think it bodes well for us,” Beaullieu said. “We have to make sure the state doesn’t grow the budget.”

The finalization of the redistricting process will also be a major theme for this year’s session. Miguez said that although redistricting is expected to end Feb. 20, the governor could veto a proposed map which could lead to a more controversial process.

“He may not agree with us, and if that’s the case we have until the end of the year to bring bills,” Miguez said. “Round 2 could happen.”

Miguez also referenced several Republican bills that were vetoed during last year’s session, and the state representative said he thinks common ground will be able to be found with the governor on some of the issues .

The large surplus that the state government will be receiving is due to a mix of federal funds being received as well as funds meant for hurricane relief as a result of the several natural disasters that occurred last year.

“The biggest challenge is going to be legislators not spending like drunken sailors,” Miguez said. “We have all this money and we don’t want to be broke again.

“We have an opportunity to be fiscally responsible and spend on one time expenditures. The last thing we want to do is grow recurring expenditures.”