Michael Kirk Talbot (born November 18, 1969) is an American politician from

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a U.S. state, state in the Deep South and South Central United States, South Central regions of the United States. It is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 20th-smal ...

. A Republican, Talbot has represented the 10th district in the

Louisiana State Senate The Louisiana State Senate (french: Sénat de Louisiane) is the upper house of the state legislature of Louisiana. All senators serve four-year terms and are assigned to multiple committees. Composition The Louisiana State Senate is composed ...

since 2020, and previously represented the 78th district in the

Louisiana House of Representatives The Louisiana House of Representatives (french: link=no, Chambre des Représentants de Louisiane) is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. This chamber is composed of 105 re ...

between 2008 and 2020.

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 The University of Mississippi ( byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

Political career

First elected in the 2007

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

against Harahan

Councilwoman A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

Tiffany Scot Wilken to replace the term-limited District 78 Representative

Shirley D. Bowler Shirley Bowler (née Duvigneaud; born October 2, 1949) is a writer and editor who served as a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1992 until term-limited in 2008. A Republican, she represented Louisiana House District 78, w ...

, a Republican who had served since 1992.

Cuts to higher education

Talbot is a proponent of reduced spending by Louisiana government, specifically naming

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after compl ...

as an area ripe for cutting. In a June 15, 2009,

letter to the editor A letter to the editor (LTE) is a letter sent to a publication about an issue of concern to the reader. Usually, such letters are intended for publication. In many publications, letters to the editor may be sent either through conventional mail ...

of the ''

Times-Picayune ''The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate'' is an American newspaper published in New Orleans, Louisiana, since January 25, 1837. The current publication is the result of the 2019 acquisition of ''The Times-Picayune'' (itself a result of th ...

'' (

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Louisiana Senate The Louisiana State Senate (french: Sénat de Louisiane) is the upper house of the state legislature of Louisiana. All senators serve four-year terms and are assigned to multiple committees. Composition The Louisiana State Senate is composed ...

Bill 335 by Senator

Lydia P. Jackson Lydia Patrice Jackson (born March 5, 1960) is a Democratic Party (United States), Democratic former member of the Louisiana State Legislature, Louisiana State Senate from Shreveport, Louisiana, Shreveport, Louisiana. An African American, Jackso ...

Shreveport Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population of 393,406 in 2020, is t ...

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. 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 A school voucher, also called an education voucher in a voucher system, is a certificate of government funding for students at schools chosen by themselves or their parents. Funding is usually for a particular year, term, or semester. In some cou ...

. 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

president

Joel Chaisson St. Charles Parish (french: Paroisse de Saint-Charles) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2020 census, its population was 52,549. The parish seat is Hahnville and the most populous community is Luling. The parish was ...

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.

Personal life

Talbot and his wife, the former Julie Strong, have a daughter and a son. The Talbots, part owners of ''Lucky Dogs'' Inc., are involved in various business-related organizations in

Jefferson Parish Jefferson may refer to: Names * Jefferson (surname) * Jefferson (given name) People * Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States * Jefferson (footballer, born 1970), full name Jefferson Tomaz de Souza, Brazilian foo ...

. For one year in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Talbot worked for

Fannie Mae The Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), commonly known as Fannie Mae, is a United States government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) and, since 1968, a publicly traded company. Founded in 1938 during the Great Depression as part of the N ...

. The Talbots attend

Saint Martin Saint Martin may refer to: People * Saint Martin of Tours (c. 316–397), Bishop of Tours, France * Saint Martin of Braga (c. 520–580), archbishop of Bracara Augusta in Gallaecia (now Braga in Portugal) * Pope Martin I (598–655) * Saint Mart ...

's Episcopal Church.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Talbot, Kirk 1969 births Living people American Episcopalians Republican Party members of the Louisiana House of Representatives Republican Party Louisiana state senators People from Metairie, Louisiana Politicians from New Orleans People from Oxford, Mississippi University of Mississippi alumni Businesspeople from New Orleans 21st-century American politicians People from River Ridge, Louisiana