Editor’s Note: This story has been updated after its original publication to include new information.
Lawmakers are getting an early jump start on budget negotiations for the coming year, but first they’ll have to find $600 million or more in cuts to close the growing hole in the current year’s $28 billion budget.
As The Associated Press reports, the chief budget adviser to Gov. John Bel Edwards outlined the financial problems to the House Appropriations Committee, warning that spending must immediately be slashed to close the deficit left over from last year and reflect this year’s lower-than-expected tax collections.
“Those numbers are going to be big enough that you’re not going to like anything we recommend,” Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne warned.
The Appropriations Committee opened hearings today to look at how agencies are spending the money they were allocated this year, what cuts they’ve made and what they’ve requested for next year.
These hearings usually don’t begin until March, but House Republican leaders are trying to find ways to cut spending before they debate taxes during the 2017 legislative session. After approving more than $1.5 billion in tax hikes for this year’s budget, some and GOP committee members suggested cuts are more likely than more tax increases.
“When I go home, I hear, ‘You better not raise our taxes anymore,'” said Rep. Larry Bagley, R-Stonewall.
Rep. Steve Pylant, R-Winnsboro, doesn’t believe agencies are making enough structural changes to shrink long-term costs. The retired sheriff took specific aim at recent pay raises and vehicle purchases by the state police.
Department leaders need to consider eliminating programs altogether, said Rep. Jerome “Zee” Zeringue, R-Houma. “It doesn’t appear the public has any appetite for raising revenue,” he said.
Meanwhile, Edwards’s budget analysts are reviewing agency requests for fiscal 2017-18. The requests aim high, seeking inflationary increases and other items that agencies won’t likely get under the plan Edwards presents to lawmakers Feb. 24.
“I think our (2017-18) budget is not going to be any prettier than this year’s budget,” Dardenne said.
