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Budget News and Notes

Friday, March 2nd, 2012

By Jan Moller

It didn’t get much attention, but last week Gov. Bobby Jindal made what appears to be a dramatic policy shift. Speaking to WWL-TV in New Orleans on the day that President Obama released a plan to cut corporate taxes, Jindal said:

The reality is, I’m certainly in favor of taking away all of the different subsidies and loopholes in the tax code, but let’s treat everybody fairly. Let’s do that across the board. I think just picking and choosing industries is not the way to go… and that’s what’s gotten us into the trouble in the first place.”

To which the Louisiana Budget Project says: Welcome to the party, governor! What took you so long? Click to continue »

Posted in Budget, Education, Health Care, Media Citation, News/Updates, Report, Revenue and Taxes | 2 Responses »

Op-ed: Budget group responds to criticism

Thursday, March 1st, 2012

By Jan Moller
Special to The Political Desk

Twenty-two years ago, back when bipartisanship was still possible on Capitol Hill, the U.S. Congress passed a bill that required all packaged food to be labeled with detailed nutritional information.

With the stroke of President George H.W. Bush’s pen, supermarket shoppers across the country were suddenly entitled to know how many calories, carbs and grams of sugar were in their morning cereal. Freedom-loving Americans could still start their day with a bowl of Fruit Loops or a Pop-Tart, but it was a more informed choice.

(Today, such a bill would no doubt get attacked as a socialist, free-market-destroying Big Government conspiracy).

It was in this spirit of disclosure and accountability that the Louisiana Budget Project released a paper last month that called for testing and accountability requirements to be included in Gov. Bobby Jindal’s plan to expand the availability of private-school vouchers. Click to continue »

Posted in Budget, Education, Health Care, Letter to Editor, Media Citation, News/Updates, Report, Revenue and Taxes | 1 Response »

Sign the Better Choices for a Better Louisiana petition today!

Tuesday, February 28th, 2012

Posted in Budget, Education, Health Care, News/Updates, Revenue and Taxes | 1 Response »

Gov. Bobby Jindal’s School Voucher Plan Gets An ‘F’ For Accountability

Tuesday, February 14th, 2012

A new report by the Louisiana Budget Project finds that Gov . Bobby Jindal’s plan to dramatically expand the state’s private school voucher program is lacking the strong accountability and transparency requirements that parents need to make informed decisions about their children’s educational needs.

“Private schools receiving state vouchers should be held to the same accountability standards as public schools,” says Jan Moller, director of the Louisiana Budget Project.

“Assessment tests allow parents, as well as Louisiana taxpayers, to see what results they are getting for their money.”

The report recommends that voucher schools should be required to test all their students, and that students from the worst-performing public schools should be given first priority for vouchers.

Read the full report and press release.

Posted in Budget, Education, Health Care, News/Updates, Press Release, Report | 1 Response »

Statement From LBP On The Governor’s Executive Budget

Thursday, February 9th, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, February 09, 2012
Contact:
KAREN MILLER
225.929.5266, x220
JAN MOLLER
225.929.5266 x224
225.819.7715 (cell)

STATEMENT FROM LOUISIANA BUDGET PROJECT ON THE GOVERNOR’S EXECUTIVE BUDGET

“This is an unbalanced budget that would kill jobs, raise payroll taxes on hard-working state employees and cut services essential to protecting the middle class and building a strong economy.

“We are disappointed that the budget continues the irresponsible pattern of meeting ongoing needs by raiding state funds set aside for specific purposes.

“Selling and privatizing state assets to meet the state’s obligations is a short-sighted approach that won’t provide the resources we need to invest in schools, transportation, public safety and other necessities for long-term growth.”

-Louisiana Budget Project Director Jan Moller.

For more information on the Louisiana Budget Project, visit www.labudget.org.

Posted in Budget, Education, Health Care, Media Citation, News/Updates, Press Release, Revenue and Taxes, Workforce Development | No Responses »

Budget News and Notes

Friday, February 3rd, 2012

By: Jan Moller

Gov. Bobby Jindal will release his 2012-13 budget plan in less than a week, and that’s when we’ll find out how he proposes to close the $895 million shortfall. But so far it looks like more of the same is on the way: tax breaks for those who need them the least, with higher costs and fewer services for those who need them the most.

If you’re a Fortune 500 chief executive, the state wants to pay 25 percent of your moving costs if you agree to put your headquarters to Louisiana. That should help defray the cost of hauling all those Mercedes and BMWs to the Pelican State, though who knows how the CEOs will react when they see our
roads. Click to continue »

Posted in Budget, Education, Health Care, News/Updates, Revenue and Taxes | No Responses »

Budget News and Notes

Tuesday, January 24th, 2012

By: Steve Spires

The 2012-13 budget shortfall: $895 million.

That’s what Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration told the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget  last Friday when the “continuation budget” was released. The continuation budget represents what it would cost to maintain current levels of government services, and the shortfall—unfortunately—was larger than many were expecting.

The Associated Press broke down what is driving the budget gap. Most significant, and troubling, is that the shortfall is in large part of result of all the “one-time money” the administration used to plug last year’s budget hole:

“At least 40 percent of the gap is tied to the use of one-time money that propped up parts of the current budget and that is expected to fall away in the new fiscal year that begins July 1, most of it used in the state’s Medicaid program. . . Click to continue »

Posted in Budget, Education, Health Care, News/Updates | No Responses »
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Protecting health care from state budget cuts by…cutting hospital budgets?

Wednesday, January 4th, 2012

By: Steve Spires

When Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration presented its mid-year budget cuts to the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget last month, Commissioner of Administration Paul Rainwater assured lawmakers that neither Medicaid providers nor LSU hospitals were being affected.

Not so fast. Now it appears the LSU public hospitals , which provide critical safety-net care for the state’s poorest residents, will in fact have to cut  $29 million over the next six months, according to a story in the Baton Rouge Advocate.

How did this happen?

In a nutshell:  To help close the $251 million December shortfall, the administration replaced $50 million in state dollars it was planning to spend at the Department of Health & Hospitals with federal dollars through a change in what is called “means of financing.” Legislators were assured that this was simply the result of a smarter use of federal dollars and would protect state health-care services from cuts. Click to continue »

Posted in Budget, Health Care, Uncategorized | 2 Responses »

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