| I mentioned in an open thread a few days ago that Louisiana is facing a projected $1.3 billion shortfall in its budget. The blame for this lies with our elected officials, both Democratic and Republican. For the past six years, the business community, (never one to look out for anyone but themselves), called for tax cut after tax cut. And, because the Legislature is afraid of being called anti-business, they acquiesced. But that's not the whole story ... they also increased spending instead of saving enough for the lean times, which is projected to occur in the next fiscal year.
Such a shortfall poses a significant problem, as much of the budget is constitutionally mandated, with the incredible exception of education and health care spending, which is discretionary.
This means that the Legislature cannot cut the budgets of anything without revising the State Constitution, which means, short of calling for a new Constitutional Convention to write yet another State Constitution, the Legislature will have to put any such constitutional changes to the voters.
All this means is that Governor PBJ will face the first true test of his term as Governor. Does he be pragmatic, and call for a tax raise; or, does he act like a Republican ideologue, and slash education and health care spending?
As frequent commentator and contributor Matt D said to me the other day:
"I love the GOP, man. Sometimes, you just gotta give it to them.
Is the education system doing well? Cut their funding, we're probably overspending.
is the education system doing poorly? Cut their funding, and they'll use market-based solutions to improve it themselves."
You can substitute any of the services that government provides for education system, with the exception of infrastructure spending, and the military, and it'll work. That's how easy it is to be Republican.
Of course, in the real world, their solutions don't always work. And education funding and health care funding are the two "discretionary" items we can least afford to cut right now. But I bet you won't be hearing that from the statewide media over the next few months, nor will you hear how the tax cuts enacted for the last six years are contributing to the problem. |
