Louisiana Budget Question

[ofcmetz]

Below is the copy of an Advocate article about the louisiana budget problems. I work for LSU so this affects me directly. My question is why is the revenue going away? Was the budget just falsly inflated due to hurricane and high oil revenues and now that that money is drying up the budget needs to be reduced? Or is there more too this?

Personally I agree with Jindal for not increases taxes and for shrinking the government, but I wish it could be cut accross the board instead of so much at the higher education end. 53 million dollars in increased public school costs seems to be 53 million dollars less for LSU System.

Any insight on this would be appreciated.











Jindal makes $248M in budget cuts



Advocate Capitol News Bureau
Published: Dec 22, 2009 - UPDATED: 4:40 p.m.

Gov. Bobby Jindal ordered across-the-board spending cuts Tuesday to cope with an unexpected drop of $248 million in tax revenue.

Higher education and health spending, as they often do, will absorb the brunt of the latest reductions.

The cut for colleges and universities totals $83.9 million, including $45 million to the LSU System.

Health and hospitals face a $108 million reduction.

Jindal repeatedly told reporters that state government has to trim its expenditures rather than rely on tax hikes.

“We are going to reduce state government to a sustainable size,” he said.

Louisiana’s latest budget problem surfaced on Thursday, when a key panel concluded that tax revenue was $197 million below estimates.
A drop in sales tax collections is the chief culprit.

The budget problem rose another $53 million on Friday because of higher-than-expected public school enrollment.

The latest reductions mean state revenue is down by $1.5 billion compared to last year, which is a 16 percent decline.

State revenue is expected to drop another $3 billion in the next two financial years.

Jindal said he has no plans to use the state’s Rainy Day Fund because of predictions of more budget problems.

 

[thatwhichisnt]

Only way to change the items they can cut is with a constitutional convention. Have not had one of those since the 70's. Do not hold your breath.

 

[FishingBack]

In other words, some areas are protected from budget cuts by how the constitution was setup. The only things that can be cut are basically healthcare and higher ed.

Awesome Louisiana.....cutting higher ed is one of the dumbest things to do...to advance the state...

 

[cvinson]

This state has always failed to see the long term picture. Saw this in mid-80's when most of the vo-tech schools were crippled, and now "they" wonder why there is such a lack of skilled workers. The sooner we realize that everyone is not cut out to graduate from a 4 year college and adjust education accordingly, the better off we all will be!

 

[Storm52]

State employment increased 58% between 2006 until present. Those people were hired in department that due to the constitution are not allowed their budgets to be cut. You bloat the side of gov't spending that can't be touched then the cuts and reductions have to be made elsewhere. Much of the money was tied hurricane funds.

 

[Geardo]

It's a crime to take my tax money, and spend it on education, healthcare, foodstamps, etc...

 

[shoalsfugro]

October 17, 2009

Extra money is less than in recent years

BATON ROUGE -- It's a far cry from the budgetary bonanza of recent years, but state government managed to pile up a $47 million surplus in the past fiscal year, state officials said Friday.

The figure is preliminary and liable to change slightly before it is certified later this year, state budget director Ray Stockstill told the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget.

He said the extra money is in line with historical averages and is largely the result of state agencies spending less than their total budgets for the 2008-09 budget year that ended June 30. Other savings came from the state refinancing some bond debt.

Stockstill said he was surprised the number was as high as it was; most state agencies were required to cut their budgets in the middle of the fiscal year to make up for a projected $341 million revenue shortfall.

Once the money is officially declared as surplus, likely to happen early next year, the state Constitution restricts how it can be used. It can't be plugged into the normal operating budget. Instead, it must be deposited in the state's rainy-day fund or used on "one-time" spending priorities such as debt repayment, road construction or coastal restoration projects.

The news follows three consecutive years of record surpluses, as a surge of post-hurricane economic activity combined with and influx of federal recovery dollars and sky-high energy prices to give the state government more money than it could spend.

Last year, lawmakers had $866 million left over from the 2007-08 fiscal year, and the previous year the surplus was $1.1 billion. Even in the 2005-06 fiscal year, when Hurricane Katrina devastated much of south Louisiana's economy, the state managed to generate an $827 million surplus.

. . . . . . .