Republican leaders in the Louisiana House who continue to harp about the need to cut a growing state budget have conveniently forgotten that many of them are responsible for the current financial dilemma. The GOP has been the majority party in the House since December of 2010, and Republicans bought into the reckless budgeting practices of former Gov. Bobby Jindal.
Gov. John Bel Edwards inherited the mess Jindal and the GOP left him, and Republicans have been fighting Edwards tooth and nail simply because he’s a Democrat who defeated David Vitter, their patron saint. They are willing to do whatever it takes to defeat Edwards when he runs for re-election in 2019.
Rep. Lance Harris, R-Alexandria and chairman of the House Republican Caucus, is the attack point man. He is singing the same tune over and over again. Here it is:
“Over the last 14 years, the state budget has grown an average of 3.9 percent per year while the consumer price index (inflation) has only grown 2.1 percent per year, “ Harris says. “Government growth has outpaced the private sector 2 to 1, it’s time we look at state finances differently.
“House Republicans are committed to finding responsible cuts now and in the next fiscal year.”
Well, they haven’t done it up to now. Most House Republicans followed in lock step with Jindal for most of his two terms. They not only approved budgets that ended up in mid-year shortfalls, they depleted trust funds like the $850 million in the Medicaid Trust Fund for the Elderly and wiped out surpluses wherever they could find them.
Edwards wants to use $119 million from the state’s rainy day trust fund, and Republicans are fighting him on that issue.
Harris said, “Members are concerned that every time we have hard issues come up, we look to the rainy day fund,” Harris said. “Over the years, we have depleted the rainy day fund and not put money back into it.”
Yes, that’s true. But the “we” in this case is Harris and a majority of Republicans in the Legislature. Tyler Bridges, in a report in The Advocate, spelled it out in detail. He said the rainy day fund dropped from its peak of $853 million in 2009 to $359 million in the fund now. The money was taken by Jindal and legislators to avoid raising taxes.
Robbing Peter to pay Paul wasn’t the only travesty during the Jindal years.
“Lawmakers under Jindal repeatedly chipped away at the state’s ability to raise revenue, in the name of promoting jobs and investment,” Bridges said.
“In 2008, the state awarded 51 cents in sales tax breaks for every $1 it collected in sales taxes… In 2015, the state gave away $1.18 in sales tax breaks for every $1 it collected in sales taxes.
“In 2008, the state awarded $1.08 in corporate income tax beaks for every $1 in corporate taxes it collected. In 2015, the state awarded $2.72 in corporate income tax breaks for every $1 in corporate taxes it collected.”
Lanny Keller in a column in The Advocate talked about the state continuing “to slog through unending financial crises inspired by the bad judgment of former Gov. Bobby Jindal and many members of the Legislature, who cut taxes and larded out business tax breaks over eight years without regard to the bottom line.”
The evidence of the financial recklessness of both Republican and some Democratic legislators in the House over Jindal’s eight years is irrefutable. Their talk about a mushrooming state budget is their legacy, and it’s long past time they accepted blame and helped repair the damage.
Edwards plans to call a special session to deal with this fiscal year’s $304 million budget shortfall, and it’s designed to primarily open up more areas of the budget to reductions. Republicans don’t like the idea of a session, saying it’s an unnecessary expense. However, they may not be looking forward to making the hard budget reduction choices they evaded over eight years.
The governor said he doesn’t plan to ask for more taxes. Jay Dardenne, Edwards’ budget chief, laid out the alternatives if Republicans don’t want to tap the rainy day fund.
“That is going to shape the discussion for the rest of the 10 days,” Dardenne said. “If you decide as a body you’re not going to do that, you’ll have to go about the business of figuring out where else you’re going to cut.”
To Edwards’ credit, he doesn’t’ plan to cut higher education, K-12 public education, corrections and the Department of Children and Family Services that manages specialized care for the disabled. Reductions are being proposed for the state Department of Health, the Legislature, the judiciary and statewide elected officials.
Edwards explained why a special session is necessary.
“I’m the last person who wants another special session,” he said. “But when we’re looking at cuts of this magnitude, I believe it would be irresponsible not to open up the entire budget to scrutiny and it would be negligent to exclude the public from decisions that will affect them so much.
“There just aren’t any painless options left. Behind every number are real people, our fellow Louisianans.”
Those legislators who contributed to the current financial straits in which the state finds itself will have this opportunity to step up to the plate and make the hard choices many of them refused to make when Jindal was governor.
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