Declaring a “magic fix” isn’t happening for a state budget facing a projected $648 million shortfall, Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne told those at Monday’s Press Club the only budget-balancing solution is to replace expiring taxes with new ones.
Warnings of a fiscal cliff have been echoing across Louisiana for several years, yet little has been done to address the situation as politicians have spent the time arguing whether it’s better to cut while awaiting an increase in state revenue or approve new taxes to keep state services funded. Those who have been arguing for cuts and living within the state’s means, says Dardenne, are being proven wrong.
“Everyone, I think, knew this day was coming that the taxes that were going to expire would have to be replaced if government was going to provide a level of service most people want and most people expect,” Dardenne says. “Both the House of Representatives in its entirety and the Senate Finance Committee thus far have been unable to fashion a budget that makes cuts without devastating various segments of Louisiana.”
The state isn’t looking to replace the entire tax revenue supply that ends on July 1, Dardenne says, but they are trying to reach the $648 million “magic number.”
An estimated $120 million in cuts would still have to be made, Dardenne says.
Gov. John Bel Edwards is holding a press conference later this afternoon where he’s expected to call for the current legislative session to end Friday and for a special session to begin next Tuesday, says Dardenne. The special session, limited to only addressing the state’s revenue needs, would last until June 4, the initial date when the regular session was to end.
