Legislature OKs budget bill approved

• By MICHELLE MILLHOLLON
• Capitol news bureau
• Published: Jun 22, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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The Louisiana Legislature sent Gov. Bobby Jindal a $29.9 billion state operating budget Saturday that includes extra pay for teachers and school support workers.

House Bill 1 — which funds state government for the fiscal year that starts July 1 — also is packed with millions of dollars in projects in legislators’ districts.

Economic Development chief Stephen Moret, whose pay became a point of contention during the session, will get the $320,000 salary the governor promised him despite earlier efforts by the House to reduce it.

The budget contains fewer hurricane-recovery dollars than in the past. But the state is contributing more money than in the current fiscal year.

HB1 was one of a number of budget bills that gained final legislative approval Saturday after the Louisiana House of Representatives agreed to the state Senate’s changes to the legislation.

The House also sent to the governor:

• House Bill 2, a $4.9 billion state construction budget. Several lawmakers hope to persuade Jindal to use a future state government surplus to reduce a lengthy backlog that limits the inclusion of new projects.
• House Bill 926, which puts $307 million into an economic development fund. The money would be used as incentives to lure major projects to the state.
• House Bill 1287, which spends leftover money from the current fiscal year that ends June 30. The bill allows the state to take care of a number of obligations, notably the annual cash inducements for the Saints professional football team and the Hornets professional basketball team.
• House Bill 1294, which covers the Legislature’s expenses, including the raise that more than doubles lawmakers’ base pay.
  HB1 consumed the most time Saturday.

The bill funds state agencies and public services. It ensures that the charity hospitals treat patients, that public universities hold classes and that state parks welcome nature lovers.

HB1 now is much more the Senate’s version of the bill, reflecting only a fraction of the spending cuts that the House initially embraced.
However, the House agreed in a 102-0 vote Saturday to send the bill to the governor’s desk with the Senate’s changes.

“All of us aren’t happy with everything that’s in the budget. All of us aren’t happy with the bottom number,” said state Rep. Jane Smith, R-Bossier City.

Still, she said, the legislative process is what it is.

The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Jim Fannin, urged lawmakers to try to be more conservative in their spending in the coming years.
The current growth in state revenue stems from the oil boom, primarily mineral and corporate tax collections, he said.

“It’s dangerous to base a budget on an oil-based economy that could collapse as it has in the past,” Fannin said.