Gov. Bobby Jindal’s proposed executive budget drew sharp criticism Friday morning from several members of the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget.         
“I’m trying to find the difference between real money and imaginary money,” in the budget, said Sen. Lydia Jackson, D-Shreveport.
Jindal’s proposed plan cuts more than $1 billion from the state budget, draws on countless proposed efficiencies and reductions to programs throughout the state and includes no new general fund cuts to higher education and no new taxes.
Jindal presented his proposal to the press Thursday afternoon, but Friday’s meeting marked its official unveiling, which drew so many people that several backup rooms had to be used to accommodate the crowds in addition to the main meeting room.
Several committee members, mostly Democrats, grilled Commissioner of Administration Paul Rainwater and his aides during the four and a half hour-long meeting. They argued Jindal’s budget assumes passage of several pieces of proposed legislation, most notably a constitutional amendment that would shuffle money to fully fund TOPS.
“I think this budget is unconstitutional,” said Sen. Karen Carter Peterson, D-New Orleans.
Peterson was among several legislators who criticized the budget for using what they called “contingencies” to balance the budget. The TOPS amendment, for example, can only be passed with a two-thirds vote of the Legislature and a statewide vote.
“What happens if [the Legislature] or the people don’t pass this amendment?” Peterson demanded. “You won’t have TOPS fully funded.”
Rainwater argued that, if the amendment doesn’t pass, other efficiencies and cuts will be found to fully fund TOPS.
“This administration is committed to fully funding TOPS,” he said.         
Rainwater said it wasn’t unreasonable to assume passage of certain bills because a budget necessarily relies on certain predictions and assumptions.
He sparred with legislators over how much one-time money the budget uses to pay for recurring expenses, a practice for which the administration has previously been criticized.  
   
Rainwater and other administration officials have said the budget relies on less one-time money than previous budgets. But legislators said the administration wasn’t counting certain proposals in that total. 
They especially focused on Jindal’s proposal to sell several state prisons. 
“This is the worst kind of money we can use to plug the budget,” said Sen. Eric LaFleur, D-Ville Platte. ”We’re just going to have to pay back this money later.”
LaFleur argued paying a private company to hold prisoners won’t save the state any real money in the long term.
The proposed prison sales also faced scrutiny from legislators who were concerned private prisons would be less safe, pay fewer employees less money and provide fewer rehabilitation programs for prisoners.
“I know there’s a concern in the public about [the prison proposal],” said Rep. Mack “Bodie” White, R-Denham Springs.
Each committee member who spoke at the meeting raised several concerns about the budget. Several said the budget’s focus on “self-generated” higher education funding would lead to drastic tuition and fee increases that might scare off students.
“You’re not doing more with less,” Jackson said. “You’re doing it with more. You’re doing it with increased fees, which are taxes in my opinion.”
A small crowd of protesters wearing T-shirts that read “divided we fall” attended the meeting, crowding the hallways until they were escorted out. They then protested on the Capitol steps, chanting “We are not for sale” and waving signs criticizing the prison sale proposal.
Chancellor Michael Martin said in a statement Friday that administrators are “optimistic” about the budget’s implications for the University. Still, he made clear “we have a lot of work to do over the coming days and weeks to understand exactly how the University’s budget will be affected.”
Martin also encouraged faculty, staff and students to attend the Chancellor’s Forum at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Shaver Theatre in the Music and Dramatic Arts Building. Martin said he would update the campus community with any new details administrators may have about the proposed budget.
 
 
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Contact Matthew Albright at [email protected]