Louisiana lawmakers shield their own budget from chopping block – News – Daily Comet – Thibodaux, LA
BATON ROUGE — As they weigh steep cuts across state services, Louisiana lawmakers have fully funded their own budget so legislative agencies are poised to escape reductions in three weeks, even as those agencies are sitting on tens of millions of dollars in unspent funds.
Lawmakers passed an $85 million spending plan for the House, Senate and other legislative agencies in the fiscal year starting July 1, similar to the budget approved last year, while education, social service and public safety programs are on the chopping block. And legislative agencies get an additional $10 million annual dedication of money for their operations from an earmark enacted in 2008.
In addition, audits show that on top of the annual financing they’re slated to receive, the House, Senate and other legislative agencies have tens of millions in unspent fund balances — and even more cash in the bank beyond that. One legislative agency alone, according to a recent financial report, showed more than $42 million in the bank, with more than $40 million deemed an “unassigned fund balance” when the last budget year ended in June 2017.