Gov. Jeff Landry and legislative leaders want to redirect over $700 million that would typically go into a state savings account toward a handful of one-time building projects planned across the state, Louisiana Illuminator reports.
The proposed projects span across transportation, water systems, college campus maintenance, prisons and juvenile justice detention centers.
The cost of transport items alone could be upwards of $400 million, although a list of specific projects has yet to be released, according to budget architects in the Legislature.
The redirection of funds, which comes from certain business tax collections, would have to garner a two-thirds majority vote in each chamber to move forward.
This year’s deposit into the savings account would typically be slightly over $700 million, but lawmakers would like to use the money to address some outstanding building needs instead, Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, and House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jack McFarland, R-Jonesboro, said in interviews this week.
