Gov. Bobby Jindal will seek legislation that would allow higher education and health care to take smaller shares of budget cuts, according to a news release.
Jindal proposed three different bills at a Lafayette news conference Monday.
The proposals address complaints by higher education officials like Chancellor Michael Martin about the state’s system of constitutional and statutory dedications.
Dedications are funding sources that can only be used to pay for certain services. Higher education and health care lack many dedicated funds, which means higher education and health care suffer “more than their fair share” of cuts.
“These three bills will put more options on the table so we can access this funding to help protect critical services,” Jindal said. “We must be able to put all state spending on the table, especially as we work to make reductions and improve efficiencies across state government.”
The first would increase the amount the governor can cut from protected funds during a budget crisis from 5 percent to 10 percent.
Currently, the governor has the power to cut 5 percent from protected programs during tough fiscal times. The proposed legislation would raise that amount to 10 percent.
Jindal chose not to use his power to cut 5 percent from protected programs last semester when the University received a $5.1 million midyear cut.
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The second proposal would allow interest on protected funds to be spent to bolster non-protected budgets.
While dedicated funds’ principal investments would remain untouched, the interest those funds earn could be used to shore up higher education and health care budgets in fiscal rough patches.
Both of these proposals will be sponsored by Sen. Gerald Long, R-Natchitoches.
The third would impose a budget “sunset” on most of the state’s dedicated funds, meaning those funds would be up for regular review.
Currently, funds dedicated to certain programs are dedicated permanently. The proposed legislation would force most of those programs to routinely defend those dedicated funds.
This legislation will be sponsored by Sen. Mike Walsworth, R-West Monroe.
“The LSU System continues to support initiatives that will give legislators flexibility to make strategic adjustments throughout the state budget to spread and minimize the impact of revenue reductions on all of the state’s public services,” LSU System President John Lombardi said in the release.
Jindal’s proposals stop short of some proposals that would remove dedications on many programs entirely. Some of those programs are protected constitutionally.
Administration officials have previously said challenging dedications requires political battles, because programs with protections don’t want to see those protections disappear.
Legislators who defend the current system of dedications argue that these two programs’ budgets already have more money than most others. They also say no dedicated fund is large enough to make much of a difference for either program anyway.
 
 
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Contact Matthew Albright at [email protected]