The House Appropriations Committee on Monday unanimously advanced a $47 billion “standstill” budget pushed by Gov. Jeff Landry. Recent state tax cuts, combined with new costs from the harmful federal megabill, will help create state budget shortfalls starting next year. Sheridan White and Kylah Babin of the LSU Manship School News Service explain how budget architects are preparing for those fiscal headwinds:
A central feature of the proposed budget is a continued effort to reduce reliance on one-time spending and instead align ongoing expenditures with stable, recurring revenue sources. … “Utilizing those one-time dollars in HB 1 puts us in a better position next year because that will be more dollars available to meet the shortfall that we’re forecasting for next year,” [Appropriations Committee Chair Jack] McFarland said.
The committee acquiesced to the governor’s request to double funding for the state’s new private school voucher program. That funding increase will face stronger opposition in the Senate:
Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, has said he does not support increasing Gator funding. “Doubling a program every year’s going to be a problem for us financially because at some point in time, you have to figure out when you are going to stop doubling it,” Henry said during the Baton Rouge Press Club meeting on March 2.
Lawmakers are also contending with the fiscal fallout from the federal megabill:
The budget bill for next year would cover an expected $42.3 million increase in the state’s administrative expenses in the SNAP program. The increased costs are the result of changes made to SNAP in President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, which requires states to cover 75% of the administrative costs for SNAP instead of the previous 50-50 split of costs between the state and federal government.
Lawmakers made hundreds of changes to next year’s proposed operating budget, along with a separate “supplemental” budget bill that funds current-year priorities. The amendments were worked out behind closed doors and added more than $225 million in new spending, much of it for local construction projects around the state. The next stop for the budget bills is the House floor, where they’ll be debated on Thursday.
Long-shot con-con bill advances to House
Legislation that would set up the parameters for a future constitutional convention in Louisiana advanced to the House floor on Monday. While House Bill 244 by Rep. Kyle Green has cleared its first two committee hurdles, the prospect of a new state constitution still faces a long road. The Louisiana Illuminator’s Greg LaRose reports:
All amendments to the constitution would require two-thirds approval from delegates to be placed before voters. Once a draft is compiled, it would need to be ratified by at least three-fourths of Louisiana’s 64 parishes in addition to a majority of voters statewide before the governor can proclaim it the new constitution. Louisiana last updated its constitution 52 years ago, with the new version having taken effect Jan. 1, 1975.
Reducing access to school meal programs
The Trump administration is reportedly planning to eliminate the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program’s broad-based categorical eligibility (BBCE) policy, which is used by Louisiana and 45 other states to help more families afford food. Emily Gutierrez of the Urban Institute explains how nixing BBCE – and reducing the number of families on SNAP – would reduce access to universal school meal programs:
For more than a decade, schools have used students’ participation in social safety net programs, such as SNAP and Medicaid, to “directly certify” students for free and reduced-price meals—that is, if students participate in SNAP or Medicaid, schools can automatically enroll them in free school meals and count that student toward eligibility thresholds for universal school meal programs that also correspond to the program’s financial feasibility.
Roughly 1,700 Louisiana children would lose direct certification status if BBCE is eliminated. The federal megabill also requires states to pick up a larger portion of SNAP administrative costs. And states with higher payment error rates for the program will be required to cover a higher portion of benefits starting in fiscal year 2028. Louisiana would be on the hook for $140 million based on the state’s 2024 error rate and 2023 SNAP costs.
Factors that increase the cost of maintaining roads and bridges
States are staring down an $86 billion shortfall over the next decade to maintain transportation infrastructure. Pew’s Fatima Yousofi and Eli Gullett lay out five factors, including decades of underinvestment, that drive up the cost of repairs and upgrades:
A recent analysis from The Pew Charitable Trusts shows that, since 2004, state and local governments’ real investments, adjusted for inflation, have generally declined since the early 2000s and that capital maintenance investments have failed to keep pace with the rate of asset depreciation—the estimated annual decline in an asset’s value because of wear and tear. In total, states and localities have underinvested in maintaining roads and bridges by about $105 billion.
Louisiana doesn’t have enough revenue to address a $19 billion backlog of infrastructure repairs and tackle much-needed megaprojects, according to a recent analysis from the Boston Consulting Group. The easiest way to increase funding for infrastructure projects is by raising the state’s gasoline tax, which hasn’t budged since 1990.
Number of the Day
48% – Share of planned data-center construction that will be located in the South. The South currently has the most data centers in the country (1209), with an additional 754 planned for future construction. (Source: Pew Research Center)