Gov. Bobby Jindal’s top budget officials say the state will reach the $76 million in state general fund savings it promised to keep this year’s budget balanced.
The Jindal administration hired consultant Alvarez and Marsal to recommend ideas to save the state money, improve government operations and generate new money. The administration assumed $75.7 million less would be spent this year because of those recommendations, and lawmakers built that into the budget. The Associated Press reports the Senate Finance Committee sought an update today.
Ruth Johnson, overseeing the consulting contract for Jindal’s Division of Administration, told senators agencies expect to exceed the state general fund savings included in the budget by about $6 million.
The consulting contract generated complaints from lawmakers who said agencies should be able to find their own savings.
In a press release issued today, the Division of Administration says $50 million of the $75.7 million in savings included in the current fiscal year budget have already been realized.
“This proves that we’re on the right track and that the hard work of state agencies is paying off,” says Commissioner of Administration Kristy Nichols in the release. “We created aggressive targets and are finding ways to meet them even as falling oil prices have made other adjustments necessary.”
While the current budget outlines $75.7 million in savings, the full Government Efficiencies Management Support report released in June includes $574 million in total savings and efficiencies for fiscal year 2016, and more than $2.7 billion in savings to be implemented over the next five years.
