Budget debate was scheduled to resume Friday morning. The Revenue Estimating Conference didn’t change the forecast, leaving Louisiana with an estimated $600 million budget shortfall next year. With Thursday’s action, the tuition aid program would be $72 million short of fully funded.
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Henry countered in the House Thursday, saying all he and his committee did was provide more balanced funding across the board. The GOP has controlling majorities in both the House and the Senate.
Others said the hospitals that care for the poor and needy – and the medical schools that rely on those facilities for their training programs – should rank higher.
We talked about this a little in this morning’s Hither And Yon post, but the passage of HB 105 with a 17-6 vote in the House Appropriations Committee has lit up no small degree of outrage among the state’s Democrats and Gov. John Bel Edwards’ allies in particular.
Edwards and other Democrats also chided Henry’s lack of communication with the governor’s administration and other committee members.
In addition, the Edwards administration said the deeper health department cuts would strip services from 5,600 people, including children, the elderly and people with disabilities and force reductions to rural hospitals.
Gee said with that change, “none of them are viable”.
Health and Hospitals Secretary Rebekah Gee said the House budget would be “devastating to Louisiana’s health care system”. The Constitution says where to make cuts and by how much, but does not specify the process.
The budget debate stretched over more than nine hours.
Henry also stepped out onto a limb, so to speak, and eliminated state funding for the Office of Inspector General. The Metairie Republican found the money by cutting funding for the Department of Health and Hospitals. Henry argues that the office duplicates services already offered by state police, the attorney general and legislative auditors.
Henry said Edwards’ budget prioritized DHH, and his amendments “reprioritized”.
“Just as we’re working to stabilize the state’s budget, this proposal throws another wrinkle into our plans and raises numerous legal issues”, Edwards said in a statement after the House vote.
Landry defended the move on the House floor, telling lawmakers he’s a “statewide constitutional officer” who shouldn’t fall under the governor’s oversight. He doesn’t want the governor’s veto to temporarily defund the Attorney General’s office, disrupting its core functions. “The budget is very problematic, and I know the challenges the Legislature will have, as well, in making the budget a better document than it has in years”.
The separate budget bill would allow Landry’s office to shift dollars among programs more easily – and to only seek legislative approval for midyear financing adjustments, rather than going through the Edwards administration.
The other statewide elected officials are Republicans, but a lot of them – with the exception of State Treasurer John Kennedy – have a more collaborative relationship with Edwards than Landry.
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“The governor’s priority was DHH while higher education was last among his priorities”, Henry said”.
