Agency heads give sneak peak at possible budget cuts

On the eve of Gov. John Bel Edwards’ release of next fiscal year’s budget, nervous state agency brass continued testimony in a House Appropriations subcommittee on General Government Monday on spending cuts that provided a sneak peak of Tuesday’s actual figures.
For the past several weeks, state department and university officials filed into separate subcommittees to testify on expenditures and the effects of budget cuts under the old $2 billion deficit scenario. Hearings began without quorums, legislators came in and left throughout meetings and Monday’s testimony from the Secretary of State’s office began with only two representatives present.
Most of the lawmakers remain in the dark on how the estimated $750 million in cuts for the 2016-17 fiscal year which begins in a little more than two months, will be spread around the state 33 days following a special session that raised nearly a billion dollars in tax revenue. But Monday’s testimony provided some clues.
Legislators heard actual figures on cuts to agencies under the new scenario, which Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne will announce in the full House Appropriations Committee Tuesday.
Secretary of State Tom Schedler said his department will see a 15 percent cut to its budget under the new proposal and that could prompt a return of four to five state-run museums to local control.
Commissioner of Agriculture Mike Strain testified the governor will propose a $2 million cut to the Department of Agriculture and Forestry, with Forestry protected from the spending reductions.
Department of Revenue Secretary Kimberly Robinson said the state’s tax collections agency will receive a 7.5 percent cut, and Secretary of Veterans Affairs Joey Strickland, a retired U.S. Army colonel, stated his department’s spending cuts have been reduced significantly from the original forecast of 60 percent to 6.3 percent in cuts.
Higher education officials have been told to brace for an 8 to 12 percent budget cut. Additionally, some $63 million is guaranteed for the TOPS program, Louisiana’s popular scholarship program, leaving nearly $240 million unfunded if lawmakers fail to reform its growing costs.