Louisiana’s debt load under the Jindal administration has grown over the last year, reaching $1,307 for every man, woman and child in the state while approaching a state record set three years earlier for per capita debt, according to a report released today. Despite the increase, the State Bond Commission was told the state remains below its debt ceiling, though it could edge ever closer to the constitutional limit with expected future borrowing for state-backed construction projects. “If revenues don’t increase, we will hit the debt limit in two years. Now, the revenue forecast is that (state income) will increase,” says Treasurer John Kennedy, chairman of the State Bond Commission.
If state income doesn’t rise as projected, Kennedy says the state will have to shrink its borrowing and curtail construction projects. Kennedy acknowledged he would rather see the per capita debt flat or declining, but he says state officials are monitoring the situation closely to ensure Louisiana doesn’t breach its debt cap. “It’s not going up by leaps and bounds, but it’s clearly going up, and it’s something that concerns me,” Kennedy says. From 2009 to 2010, the amount the state owed for every resident grew by $30 per person, up from $1,277, according to the report compiled by Bond Commission staff covering debts through December 2010.
