BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Secretary of State Jay Dardenne has urged lawmakers to wait until 2010 to put proposed constitutional amendments on the ballot because there’s no money for a statewide election this year.
No regular statewide election is scheduled for this fall. So, Gov. Bobby Jindal’s proposed state budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1 does not include the nearly $6 million in state funds needed to conduct one.
Dardenne also advised the House Appropriations Committee Thursday that the state elections agency will be operating on $21.8 million in federal stimulus money that will go away in two years.
Jindal’s proposed budget provides $76.5 million for Secretary of State’s Office operations — down from the current $90.85 million.
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