Thompson speaker at Chamber meeting by Joey Martin - posted Thursday, November 19th, 2009 @ 8:25 am  E-mail Story |  Print Story  State Senator Francis Thompson told Ferriday Chamber of Commerce members Tuesday that Ferriday has a lot going for it with Riverland Hospital, an "excellent school system, good police and fire protection, and a sound judicial system." But he said the state and local governing bodies are having to watch their finances closely. Thompson, who identified himself as a fiscal conservative, said he doesn't make decisions based on political party. "I do what the people want me to do," he said. He said the state constitution says that Louisiana cannot spend more than it takes in. "We have been fiscally sound," he said. "We're already looking toward next year. We have to live within our means." Thompson is the senior member of the budget committee and is second in seniority in the Legislature, having served more than 30 years. "I've never seen a proposed project that wasn't good," Thompson said. "But there are a lot of things the government should not be in control of." Thompson is a member of the Streamlining Commission. "The problem is, they want all the cost-cutting to take place away from Baton Rouge," he said. "They wanted to close the Highway Department Office in Chase even though the highway department did not recommend that. Some people do not know what's going on outside of Baton Rouge." Thompson serves District 34 in northeast Louisiana which in addition to part of Concordia includes Richland, East Carroll, Madison, Tensas and a portion of Ouachita Parish. Thompson said he and Rep. Andy Anders of Ferriday pushed for passage of Act 341, which requires food processors to maintain a written food safety and recall plan and to report positive test results for dangerous contaminants to the Department of Health and Hospitals. "More people die from E coli infections and food borne diseases than died in the World Trade Center incident," Thompson said.