The Louisiana House on Thursday unanimously approved a $47 billion state budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, advancing a plan that avoids tax increases while accelerating investments in education and workforce development.
The primary spending measure, House Bill 1, passed in a 104-0 vote and now heads to the Louisiana Senate along with a package of related funding bills.
“I’m proud that the House came together in overwhelming unity today to build the budget our voters sent us here to build: one founded on fiscal accountability, while reaching beyond bureaucracy to make Louisiana a place people want to live and businesses want to grow,” House Speaker Phillip DeVillier, R-Eunice, said in a statement.
House Appropriations chair Jack McFarland, R-Jonesboro, who authored HB1, said the plan positions the state to compete for future investment.
Key investments in the budget bill include:
- $420 million for early childhood education
- Full funding of the K-12 Minimum Foundation Program
- An increase in per-pupil operational funding from $100 to $147, the first such increase since 2009
- $87 million for the LA GATOR scholarship program
- $125 million for Louisiana Economic Development to support business recruitment and expansion
- $50 million to replenish the state’s emergency response fund
- A $144 million supplemental payment to the Louisiana State Employees’ Retirement System to reduce retirement debt.
The budget package builds on tax reforms approved in recent years and now moves to the Senate for committee review before consideration by the full chamber.
Lawmakers also approved the state’s capital outlay bill, HB2, along with funding for the legislative and judicial branches. The construction budget remains several million dollars below the maximum available funding level. The plan also introduces an approach that allows unused funding from delayed projects to be redirected to projects that are ready to move forward.
