State officials today said Louisiana’s budget for the current fiscal year is “relatively balanced” following lawmakers’ work earlier this year to raise revenue and cut spending enough to bridge a more than $1 billion budget shortfall. But legislators also expect they’ll have to address another deficit this year—plus a massive fiscal cliff when new taxes expire in the years to come.
Lawmakers at today’s meeting of the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget, which is composed of members of fiscal committees in both the state House and Senate, were warned of another $1.5 billion budget gap looming for fiscal year 2018-19.
The fiscal cliff should come as no surprise to legislators who, over the course of three legislative sessions this year, compromised on raising taxes on a number of fronts, including a 1-cent increase in the state sales tax.
And next fiscal year is when many of the new taxes—which fund areas like education, health care and corrections—will expire, setting the state up for another long round of budget debates. Lawmakers have pointed to next year as the right time for an overhaul of the state’s tax code.
The state Legislature cannot raise taxes in even-numbered years, which is why two special sessions were called this year to deal with the deficit. Gov. John Bel Edwards says he does not plan to call another special session before the 2017 regular session begins.
Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne on Monday reminded reporters at the Press Club of Baton Rouge that agencies are being asked to set aside money this year to deal with the expected midyear gap. Edwards’ administration expects the shortfall to come from lagging revenue collections in the fiscal year that ended June 30.
Officials said today they will announce in October exactly how much money is needed to fill the hole left in last year’s budget.
—Sam Karlin
