Kirk Talbot

Michael Kirk Talbot (born November 18, 1969) is a Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from River Ridge, Louisiana, located in Jefferson Parish in suburban New Orleans.

Education

Talbot attended Saint Martin's Episcopal School in his native Metairie in Jefferson Parish and holds an undergraduate degree in business administration from the University of Mississippi at Oxford.^[1]

Political career

First elected in the 2007 general election against Harahan Councilwoman Tiffany Scot Wilken^[2] to replace the term-limited District 78 Representative Shirley D. Bowler, a Republican who had served since 1992.^[3]

Cuts to higher education

Talbot is a proponent of reduced spending by Louisiana government, specifically naming higher education as an area ripe for cutting. In a June 15, 2009, letter to the editor of the Times-Picayune (New Orleans), Talbot explicitly opposed 2009 Louisiana Senate Bill 335 by Senator Lydia P. Jackson of Shreveport and criticized the increased rate of state spending for higher education over the last 10 years; Jackson’s bill was an attempt to delay a state income-tax reduction as a means of forestalling a 15.4-percent budget cut to Louisiana's public universities.^[4] The income-tax reduction was in a 2008 statute intended to accelerate reversal of the Stelly Plan, named for its author, former Republican State Representative Vic Stelly of Lake Charles. Talbot supported the reversal in his 2007 campaign in which he also endorsed private school vouchers.^[5] Talbot's letter was symptomatic of a larger struggle over the budget in the Louisiana Legislature. On the next day (June 16, 2009) and without naming Talbot, a letter from Louisiana State Senate president Joel Chaisson appeared in the Times-Picayune. Chaisson asserted there was "a misguided attempt by the House to protect their member projects"; the representatives were "allowing their member projects to go forward even if higher education is not properly funded" according to Chaisson.^[6]

Personal life

Talbot and his wife, the former Julie Strong, have a daughter and a son. The Talbots, part owners of Lucky Dogs Inc.,^[7] are involved in various business-related organizations in Jefferson Parish. For one year in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Talbot worked for Fannie Mae. The Talbots attend Saint Martin’s Episcopal Church.^[8]

Notes