State contracts draw opposing views

Republican State Treasurer John Kennedy lambasted the Gov. John Bel Edwards administration’s approach to state contracts in an interview Monday, while five Statehouse floors below Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne was wrapping up a preliminary contracts review to a joint legislative committee.
Dardenne’s long-awaited presentation to the Legislative Committee on the Budget came as legislation by Rep. Barry Ivey, R-Baton Rouge, and Sen. John Milkovich, D-Shreveport, inflicted additional reporting requirements on contracts.
Kennedy continues to drive discussion about the amount Louisiana spends on contracts as a fix to the state’s budget woes. He claims the state has signed $21 billion in current contracts, some multi-year. Dardenne acknowledges 15,023 contracts.
Kennedy said he had not spoken with Dardenne about his presentation, but forecasted what Edwards’ budget adviser would say.
“He’s going to say it won’t solve the problem, because they don’t want to solve the problem,” Kennedy said. “They want to ram through tax increases.”
Dardenne told the committee 99 percent of personal, professional and consulting contracts are “non-discretionary,” meaning they are required by some law or would threaten life if eliminated. After the meeting, he acknowledged there is no statewide definition of “non-discretionary,” rather it is up to the department to determine what is required and what is not.
“We would assume the departments would know best what is and is not necessary,” Dardenne said. He said he would call state department heads before his next contract presentation, which he said would come after next year’s budget proposals in February, and ask them to defend their contracts.
Kennedy insists that reviewing contracts would help stymie what he sees as a “spending problem” in state government amid economically stressful times.
Sen. Sharon Hewitt, R-Slidell, encouraged Dardenne also to challenge department heads on non-discretionary contracts. She said the state may be required to do something, but isn’t required to do it in a specific way.
“We seem to take a hands-off approach to (non-discretionary contracts),” she said. “It doesn’t mean we have to spend X amount of money to do it.”
Dardenne also updated the committee on potential savings stemming from Gov. John Bel Edwards’ executive order, directing executive branch departments to find savings in their contracts.
Excluding the Attorney General’s Office, which did not respond to the request, agencies identified $25.1 million in professional, personal and consulting contracts.