As part of Governor John Bel Edwards plan to fix the state budget, he’s proposing roughly $160 million dollars in cuts. Michelle Southern reports…:
CUT 1 (29) “I’m Michelle Southern”
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Former state lawmaker Troy Hebert outlined 15 suggestions to resolve the state’s budget issues in a letter to lawmakers…
CUT 2 (28) “I’m Halen Doughty”
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As part of Governor John Bel Edwards plan to fix the state budget, he’s proposing roughly $160 million dollars in cuts. Republican Representative Cameron Henry of Metairie says with a $957 million dollar deficit you have to look at more ways to manage spending…:
Henry says GOP lawmakers will look at every way to cut before anyone agrees to raise taxes. He says Louisiana can not continue spending more money than it makes…”
Edwards spoke with reporters following his opening remarks to lawmakers Sunday and said he’s leaving everything on the table…:
Edwards says it’s impossible to operate on nothing…:
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The Edwards Administration began detailing today its tax proposals that will be debated during the special session. Governor Edwards recommends a combination of budget cuts and revenue raising measures as a way to solve a $957 million deficit. State Department of Revenue Secretary Kimberly Robinson spoke to the House Ways and Means Committee about a proposed 1-cent state sales tax increase.
The tax increase, which would take effect by April 1, would generate an estimated $200 million for this fiscal year.
The current state sales tax is 4%. Robinson says even with the proposed one-cent sales tax increase, the amount of taxes Louisiana citizens pay, is below average when compared to other states….
The Edwards administration is also proposing changes to income taxes, plus seeking legislative support for higher alcohol and cigarette taxes as part of their revenue raising package. Robinson says the additional penny on the state sales tax would be temporary, until the deficit is resolved.
Robinson said the so-called “clean penny tax” would not apply to areas of exemption including groceries, residential utilities, prescription medications and gas.
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A published report says Nicholls State is considering closing its doors for 12 days because of a lack of state funds. But Nicholls president, Doctor Bruce Murphy, says closing the campus for several days is the last option they would ever take. University of Louisiana System president, Doctor Dan Reneau, encouraged the Senate education committee to do what they can to keep college campuses open…
Lawmakers have until March ninth to come up with a funding solution that would spare higher education from deep budget cuts. Metairie Senator Conrad Appel is upset to see a headline that Nicholls plans to close, when that’s not the case…
Reneau says depending on the size of the cut in state funding, mid-year closures could occur as some universities. But Appel warns higher ed leaders that these kinds of threats could become a “self fulfilling prophecy”…
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Former state lawmaker Troy Hebert recommends putting GPS devices on state vehicles and requiring state employees, including college professors, to be on a time clock while at work. Hebert provided other suggestions on how to control government spending in a letter to lawmakers.
Hebert says it is not fair to taxpayers for state workers to be paid for more work than they actually do. He believes using time clocks would resolve this issues.
Hebert recently served as commissioner of Alcohol and Tobacco Control. At ATC, Hebert says he cut the number of employees in half, reduced the budget and increased services. Hebert says when he used GPS and time clocks at ATC, he made troubling discoveries about the employees.
Hebert’s other suggestions include tying pay to performance, monitoring civil service actions and settlements, stopping across-the-board cuts, and changing state supervisor-to-worker ratios.
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