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 From the publisher
Money Still Doesn’t Grow On Trees in Louisiana
A lot of attention has been focused on this legislative session in Baton Rouge. The hot topic this session has been education funding. Governor Bobby Jindal has been cutting expense items left and right.
One of the measures that is among the most controversial is the voucher program that he is pushing through the legislature. Another is the drastic cuts in funding for higher education. The dilemma has been created by the shrinking revenues in the state’s coffers.
It’s amazing that the state’s leaders have not come to grips with the reality of revenue reduction until now. Part of the problem is one of procrastination. But a large part of the problem is not wanting to face the music and do what’s necessary, even if it’s a difficult pill to swallow. So over the last three years, as the state’s revenues steadily declined, Baton Rouge has pretended that this is only a temporary problem. But unfortunately, revenues have not met budget forecasts consistently over the last few years.
Shouldn’t the state’s budget operate similarly to your budget? When the income decreases, you simply reduce the expenses. Wouldn’t it have been more prudent over these past years if budgets across the board had been cut by a few percentage points instead of having to make drastic cuts in just one or two areas such as education?
While it has become necessary for the state to make some significant spending cuts, there have been a number of reports from Baton Rouge indicating that the governor has not been very compromising with the legislature over where to make the cuts. This is very troubling because our democratic process is based on principles that majority opinions rule. Hopefully, the governor and legislature can end up collaborating on solutions that minimize the effects on any one department of government.
One area that offers the opportunity for saving dollars that has recently come to my attention is in the total number of state employees we still have on the payroll. Louisiana leads all the other Southern states in the number of government jobs per capita with a workforce of 83,533 as of June 30, 2011. There has been a reduction in the total number of state employees since the June 30, 2005 report of 94,733 state workers. But, even with over 6,800 fewer employees, the state is spending an additional $650 million in taxpayer dollars to pay salaries and benefits now than it was six years ago.
How many places could this $650 million have been used better? We could have made major infrastructure repairs to our roads and bridges. Or the money could have been used to make up the shortfall in the budget. Or we could have used it for industrial inducement.
It’s time to get real in Louisiana. Money does not grow on trees. With a limited supply, we absolutely must prioritize our spending based on the best possible uses for all of the people of our state.
That’s my opinion, what’s yours? Click on the above link to tell me anything that's on your mind. Art Suberbielle, Publisher Verse of the Month
“In my misfortune I called, the Lord heard and saved me from all distress.” Psalm 34:7
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