(AP) — As state agencies work to cut costs, every idea is on the table.They include eliminating airplanes, state cars and employee cell phones; hiring a contractor to process fingerprints for the state police; dropping state support for a Christmas tree recycling program; and closing three state-run ferries in south Louisiana.A hefty list of suggestions for spending nips and tucks — contained in a thick volume of department-by-department reviews — was delivered to the Commission on Streamlining Government. The panel, created by Gov. Bobby Jindal and lawmakers, is combing through the ideas as it crafts recommendations to shrink spending amid years of projected state budget shortfalls.Proposals range from small savings to sweeping changes that could reorganize government and would require legislative action. Cabinet secretaries already are putting some of the administrative changes in place while suggesting other big-ticket items for commission review.Corrections Secretary Jimmy LeBlanc has started replacing security officers in prison watchtowers with video cameras. He’s also increased tele-medicine consults at jails and substituted video conference hearings for in-person court proceedings to cut down on the $10 million annual cost of transporting prisoners to medical visits and court hearings.Five guards travel with a death row prisoner when he goes to court, LeBlanc said, so the most recent such hearing was held by video conference from the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola.—-Contact The Daily Reveille’s news staff at [email protected]
La. agencies offer cutting cost ideas
August 31, 2009