Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne concedes a list of budget cuts touted by Gov. John Bel Edwards included errors, but insists an updated list will show a shrinking state government, the USA Today Network of Louisiana reports.
Dardenne spoke to the network’s editorial board today about the cuts and the “doomsday budget” he and Edwards say can’t be avoided without replacing temporary taxes.
Edwards told a Joint Budget Committee last month his administration had cut more than $600 million from the state budget during his two years in office, which Republicans like Sen. Sharon Hewitt of Slidell questioned.
“I don’t believe the $600 million in cuts is real,” Hewitt said. “I do think there are more opportunities on the expense side.”
The criticism of Edwards’ list of cuts has grown since then. Dardenne does acknowledge that the original list shouldn’t have included two deferred Medicaid payments at $150 million apiece.
“We erroneously included the deferred payments twice so I recognize that error,” he said.
Read the full story. And be sure to check out opposing columns on Louisiana’s fiscal crisis by Business Report Publisher Rolfe McCollister and Editor Stephanie Riegel.
