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Story Archives: Solons on board with Jindal


Solons on board with Jindal
by Michael DeVault - posted Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 @ 10:09 pmE-mail Story E-mail Story | Print Story Print Story 
Local lawmakers agreed with Gov. Bobby Jindal's call for cooperation between the administration and the Legislature in crafting a balanced budget for the 2009-2010 fiscal year.

Jindal offered the remarks Monday in his speech to mark the beginning of the regular legislative session. The Legislature must balance the budget in the face of a $1.3-billion revenue shortfall.

Jindal said the budget crunch and the budget cuts to deal with it were "real challenges." He said the budget issue would push lawmakers in the coming months.

"Indeed, you saw last year we had to make mid-year budget reductions of $341 million," Jindal said. "We have $1.3 billion fewer dollars this year as we put together this year's budget, as we continue to work hard to move our state forward even while we have to do more with less."

Jindal challenged lawmakers to find bipartisan solutions and said any budget will not be Republican or Democrat at the end of the session in June.

"We don't always have to agree, we won't always agree," Jindal said. "But what is important, what is important is we come together to work at the end, after we have the debates. After we have the full discussion. After we argue. It is important that we come together to do what is best for Louisiana."

State Sen. Robert Kostelka said he was optimistic about the session.

"The one good thing it showed, the overall thing, is that he wants to work with the Legislature, to cooperate with the Legislature," said Kostelka, R-Monroe. "He really emphasized the point of everything we've worked together and accomplished because we now have some difficult times ahead."

Sen. Francis Thompson said the governor's remarks were "right on target" and woke people up to the very real problems facing the state because of proposed 8-percent cuts.

"That's what we're going to have to do in government," said Thompson, D-Delhi. "It's not going to be pretty, and it's not going to be something people like."

Thompson and Kostelka both expressed reservations about the proposed budget for the new fiscal year, which calls for steep cuts in funding for higher education. The 2009-2010 fiscal year begins July 1.

Both men, though, said there was not much wiggle room because of limitations in the state constitution.

Thompson believed there may be some relief in the form of across the board spending decreases, but cuts would still come.

For Kostelka, the matter of budget cuts to higher education was much clearer.

"I think they're going to stand," Kostelka said. "The problem people need to realize is that education and health and medicine, combined, are more than 80 percent of the budget and there's hardly any other place to do that much of a cut."

Kostelka added that many of the state's various agencies are self-funded through fees and fines.

"They really take nothing out of the budget," Kostelka said, referring to the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries as an example.

"If you cut them, you're really taking away pass-through money that they've earned and are, in effect, taxing the hunters and fishers," Kostelka said.

State Sen. Neil Riser, R-Columbia, said he looked forward to tackling the budget issue, but added that he did not expect discussions of any of the more radical, so-called "nuclear options" that have been discussed of late.

Among the options Riser dismissed was talk of delaying the implementation of income tax cuts the Legislature approved last year. He also dismissed talk of raiding the state's economic development mega-fund to shore up state finances long enough to call for a constitutional convention later this year.

Riser said the state constitution dictates that most budget cuts must fall on higher education and healthcare, tying the hands of legislators struggling to come up with solutions.

"That's what makes this session so difficult, when
you're dealing with such a limited range of what you can deal with," Riser said.
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