The surging post-pandemic economy, coupled with unprecedented federal aid, meant that many states (including Louisiana) saw substantial revenue gains in recent years along with big budget surpluses. Now that the economy is back to a more even keel – and potentially tipping into recession – state budgets are starting to feel a pinch. Pew’s Liz Farmer reports that general fund spending is expected to decline by more than 6% nationwide in the 2024-25 fiscal year compared to last year.

A big reason that states are heading into a spending slowdown is that much of the spending boosts in recent years were one-time expenditures. States used budget surpluses to pay down pension liabilities and fixed debt, boost their rainy day funds, invest in infrastructure, or issue one-time rebates to taxpayers.

In Louisiana, lawmakers face a self-inflicted budget crisis next year due to temporary taxes that are rolling off the books. Revenue Secretary Richard Nelson, speaking Monday at the Baton Rouge Press Club, said he expects legislators to push for budget cuts as he continues to make his case for overhauling the state’s tax structure. 

Tax payments by undocumented immigrants

Undocumented immigrants paid $96.7 billion – or $8,889 per person – in federal, state and local taxes in 2022, according to a recent report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. ITEP’s Carl Davis, Marco Guzman and Emma Sifre analyze these payments:

More than a third of that amount, $33.9 billion, went toward funding social insurance programs that these individuals are barred from accessing because of their immigration status. In total, the federal tax contribution of undocumented immigrants amounted to $59.4 billion in 2022 while the state and local tax contribution stood at $37.3 billion. These figures make clear that immigration policy choices have substantial implications for public revenue at all levels of government.

Undocumented immigrants in Louisiana pay $181 million in state and local taxes each year. The Pelican State would see an additional $29.9 million in annual tax revenue if these undocumented immigrants gained legal status. 


Best and worst states for women’s health

Girls and women in the United States are dying from preventable causes as a patchwork of state policies create dangerous geographical health divides. That’s the conclusions of a recent report from The Commonwealth Fund. Route Fifty’s Kaitlyn Levinson explains: 

“The choices that states make on a policy basis really do impact how their health systems are performing,” said (Sarah Collins, a senior researcher at the Commonwealth Fund). States where legislators have “expanded their Medicaid programs and made reproductive health care legal and accessible” have “achieved lower maternal mortality rates, [and have] more maternal health care workers, more prenatal and postpartum checkups and higher rates of [health] screening,” she said 

The report notes the inverse relationship of screening less for postpartum depression but seeing higher rates of the condition. 

 In Louisiana, for instance, 76% of women who recently gave birth were screened for postpartum depression, compared with 12% who reported having it, according to 2021 data from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System. In contrast, 94% of women in Vermont were screened, and only 9% said they experienced postpartum depression. 

Louisiana ranked 46th nationally in women’s health and reproductive care outcomes. 


Addressing discrimination against Black farmers

The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued more than $2.2 billion to more than 43,000 farmers, including 1,265 in Louisiana, last month. While the American Rescue Plan Act included aid for Black farmers, a group that has lost land as they were shut out of loans by banks and the federal government, those funds were held up because of lawsuits from white farmers. WWNO’s Eva Tesfaye reports: 

A study shows that over the 20th century, Black farmers lost over $320 billion in land, partly due to that discrimination. USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack said the Biden Administration hopes the money will help thousands stay on the farm. “This financial assistance is not compensation for anyone’s loss or the pain endured, but it is an acknowledgement by the department,” he said at a White House press briefing on July 31.

Number of the Day

50.5% – Percentage of Louisiana’s state revenue that came from federal funds in fiscal year 2022, the highest in the nation. (Source: Pew)