Highway agency’s budget probed
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Lawmakers pressed Louisiana’s new transportation chief Tuesday to come up with department cost savings amid predictions of a $3 billion drop in state revenue.
The pleas were directed at Sherri LeBas, who has been interim secretary for the state Department of Transportation and Development for just four weeks.
The three-hour hearing was her first appearance before a key legislative panel since she took over the top job.
LeBas’ agency budget and others are under review by the House Appropriations Committee before the legislative session begins March 29. The panel is reviewing, agency-by-agency, Gov. Bobby Jindal’s proposed $24.2 billion budget for the state financial year that begins July 1.
State Rep. Jim Fannin, D-Jonesboro, and chairman of the committee, grilled LeBas on issues ranging from student workers at the agency to overall salaries and benefits.
“Where do we go from here?” Fannin asked. “How do you make your department more efficient than it is today?”
The department has 4,525 employees, which is down about 200 from last year.
“It’s been going down since 2004,” said Michael Bridges, undersecretary of the department.
The transportation agency is scheduled to spend $536 million for operations, a drop of 5.7 percent over current spending.
Salaries, other compensation and benefits account for $306 million, or 57 percent of the operating budget proposal. The average DOTD employee is paid $45,000 per year.
LeBas told lawmakers her agency is looking for ways to streamline operations, live within its budget and find more ways to trim employee ranks when possible.
Employee merit raises are out, she said.
“We are headed into hard times,” LeBas said of the state’s financial outlook.
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