Lawmakers may delay work on $211M deficit

If they can’t get enough votes to tap into the “rainy day” fund, lawmakers may ignore this year’s $211 million deficit and delay making cuts until next year. House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jim Fannin, D-Jonesboro, talked about the possibility this morning. He says the Legislature could wait until the books are formally closed on the fiscal year that ends June 30—a procedural move that won’t happen until December—and then make midyear budget cuts in the 2012-13 fiscal year. Gov. Bobby Jindal’s top budget adviser, Commissioner of Administration Paul Rainwater, wouldn’t say if the governor would support such a move. He says agencies are still tallying budget cuts they could make before the fiscal year ends. Fannin says the cuts would be too deep to be possible. Lawmakers began scrambling for ways to balance the budget in late April, when the state’s revenue forecasting panel downgraded income projections in late April by roughly $211 million.