Eric LaFleur
June 18, 2018
Thirteen days from today marks the start of the 2018-19 state fiscal year. If the Legislature fails to craft a revenue deal by then, Louisiana faces the specter of unprecedented cuts to higher education, public safety and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which puts food on the table for nearly 1 in 5 Louisianans.
Number of the Day
$67.5 million - Annual cost to the state of administering the food assistance program (SNAP). A $34.7 million cut would force the program to shut down during the 2018-19 fiscal year (Source: LBP via House Fiscal Division)April 23, 2018
Members of the Senate Finance Committee met Sunday to review the Draconian budget bill approved last week by the House. Some, like Chairman Eric Lafleur of Ville Platte, were horrified by the cuts to health care and graduate medical education.
Number of the Day
66,099 - Number of employees on the state payroll as of December 2017, down from 100,473 in Fiscal Year 2008. Nationwide, the state and local public sector workforce is the smallest it’s been since 1967 as a share of the civilian American civilian workforce. (Source: Division of Administration and The New York Times)October 30, 2017
Conservatives in the Legislature are once again combing through the state budget in search of things to cut rather than raising the revenue needed to support critical services.