The third and final installment of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry’s “Budget Basics” research series, released this morning, includes 23 short- and long-term recommendations for state lawmakers to get Louisiana’s fiscal house in order.
The solutions laid out by LABI fall under five broad areas: unlocking dedications, reforming the budget structure and process, limiting government growth, enacting greater transparency and adopting a pro-growth tax code. LABI addresses budget reform, spending and revenue in the recommendations, the major of which are:
- Abolish the majority of state dedications
- Require interest earned on statutory dedications flow into the state general fund
- Place a higher threshold on to enact new dedications
- Reinstate a expenditure limit for state government
- Allow more time for the Legislature to debate new revenue
- Increase transparency of funding formula for higher education and incentivize better outcomes
- Reform capital outlay to focus on statewide infrastructure priorities
- Expand the state’s budget transparency website beyond executive branch spending to include the judicial, legislative and local government branches
“As Louisiana confronts economic and budget challenges, there is no question that reforming the state’s approach to our tax code and budget structure should be at the top of the agenda,” says LABI president Stephen Waguespack in a prepared statement.
LABI says it’s three-part “Budget Basics” research series, paired with the “Louisiana Fiscal Reform: A Framework for the Future” study released by the Tax Foundation and the Louisiana Committee of 100 in November, is a “strong starting point for policymakers to begin discussions of comprehensive tax reform.”
The second installment of the LABI series was released in late November and urged lawmakers to review ‘locked-up’ spending as part of larger fiscal reform effort. The first in the series, released in October, offered up an overview of Louisiana’s budget deficit and was meant to increase public understanding of the state’s finances.
See LABI’s complete “Budget Basics No. 3—Recommendations for Budget Reform.”
