Editorial: Senate makes wise budget changes
The Louisiana Senate made some major changes in the state budget that it received from the House for the fiscal year beginning July 1. It decided not to merge two state savings accounts and use one of them for long-delayed one-time projects.
Both the House and Senate approved the budget unanimously when it left their chambers. Members of the House will decide today whether they will agree to changes to the state budget bill (House Bill 1) made by the Senate. It's called concurrence.
The Advocate reported that the Senate added $1.2 billion in one-time spending for roads and bridges, economic development initiatives and improvements to college campuses. The money comes from the Revenue Stabilization Trust Fund, which holds $3.9 billion.
Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, in a statement said, 'What we're doing today changes the overall budget climate in our state in terms of workforce investment, economic development advancement and infrastructure improvements. It sets the stage for a better tomorrow.'
Henry said he hoped the House would concur with the changes, adding that the two chambers worked in conjunction in recent days.
The Senate amendments set aside $709 million for the Louisiana Transportation Infrastructure Fund, which pays for improvements to roads, bridges and similar work and another $273 million for the Louisiana Economic Development Initiatives Fund, which funds efforts to attract new investments in the state.
Another $75 million will go toward local water system improvements which are sorely needed. And $43 million will fund higher education priorities, which have also been delayed too long.
The Senate budget, as Henry had forecast earlier, provides only $43.5 million for the LA GATOR school choice program that gives parents money to pay for private schools. Gov. Jeff Landry wanted the $93.5 million approved by the House.
Henry said anyone who received voucher funding last year for those same school costs will get it in the new budget.
'We made it crystal clear last year how much we were going to fund, and this year we followed through,' Henry said. 'To make sure we don't grow the government too fast, which Americans for Prosperity does not want us to do, and we want to make sure that we're spending taxpayer money wisely.'
The Advocate reported that Henry said total expected spending for the coming fiscal year is $48.2 billion and nearly half of that is paid for by federal funds.
Voters in March rejected an amendment that included plans to eliminate the Revenue Stabilization Trust Fund that the Senate used and move its funds to the Budget Stabilization Fund (rainy day fund) for future budget emergencies.
A bill filed for the current legislative fiscal session also called for merging those two funds. It passed the House 99-1 but as of Tuesday was pending in the Senate Finance Committee and it is expected to die there.
Like Henry, we hope the House goes along with Senate changes to the budget because the funding it provides is going to take care of pressing needs that haven't gotten the attention they deserve.
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