BATON ROUGE, La.—Louisiana's "rainy day" fund will be used to help plug a $319 million deficit and rebalance the state's budget with only six weeks left in the fiscal year, after the state House gave the proposal final legislative passage Monday.
The legislation by Senate President Joel Chaisson, D-Destrehan, authorizes the use of as much as $198 million from the Budget Stabilization Fund -- the maximum allowed under the trust fund's rules. The dollars will have to be appropriated in a separate bill before they can be spent in the current budget year that ends June 30.
The House backed use of the rainy day fund in a 91-2 vote Monday. The Senate had approved the measure unanimously last week.
"Is this the most fiscally responsible, conservative position that we as legislators can have with the budget?" asked Rep. Hunter Greene, R-Baton Rouge.
"Without shutting down government completely for the next 30 days or five weeks, it is the most conservative way that I can think of," replied Rep. Jim Fannin, D-Jonesboro, who as chairman of the House Appropriations Committee handled the legislation in the House.
Only two lawmakers voted against the rainy day fund's use: Republican Reps. Cameron Henry and John LaBruzzo, both from Jefferson Parish. Henry questioned whether there were other ways to cut the budget instead of using the stopgap money.
The money will be used to reshuffle a budget plan offered by Gov. Bobby Jindal that proposes rebalancing this year's $29 billion budget with a mix of other one-time dollars and $65 million in cuts to agencies and colleges. Lawmakers question much of the one-time funding Jindal wants to use and want to replace it with the rainy day money.
Though both chambers agree on using the rainy day fund this year, they disagree about when the money will have to be repaid. House leaders believe the money will have to be repaid in the upcoming budget year, but Senate leaders do not.
Meanwhile, Jindal's proposals to help with state budget problems in upcoming years -- that would make it easier to tap into several trust funds -- advanced to the Senate for debate, after the Senate Finance Committee approved the package of bills Monday without objection.
However, those bills sponsored by Senate President Joel Chaisson face hefty hurdles.
They would need backing of two-thirds of the House and Senate, followed by voter approval before they could be enacted, and the ideas have attracted an array of opponents, including the state's leading business lobbying group. Several House leaders also have expressed skepticism.
Jindal's executive counsel, Stephen Waguespack, said the measures are designed to prevent health care and higher education from bearing the brunt of budget cuts. Opponents argue the bills circumvent trust fund rules that were created to force fiscal discipline, even in tough budget cycles.
