[StBernard] Senator Boasso Pulls a Lynn Dean

[Westley Annis]

Senate approves $26.7 billion budget bill

BATON ROUGE, La. -- A bigger-than-ever $26.7 billion Louisiana budget that is bulked up by federal recovery dollars and includes pay raises, health care increases and dozens of legislative pet projects for next year received Senate backing Friday.


The budget bill continued to grow as it moved through the Legislature. More than a quarter of the spending plan for the new year that begins July 1 is hurricane relief cash, $7.8 billion in aid mainly for housing, education and health care after hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

The disaster aid has boosted the budget to record levels.

"Much of that increase is in federal funds," said Sen. Francis Heitmeier, who as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee shepherds the bill through the Senate. He later said the measure takes care "of the needy, the people of Louisiana."

The Senate voted 38-1 for the budget after four hours of debate. Only Sen. Walter Boasso, R-Chalmette, opposed it.

In comparison, lawmakers approved an $18.7 billion spending plan for the current fiscal year. Gov. Kathleen Blanco's administration, which has tried to downplay the appearance of a giant leap in state spending, said this year's budget had grown, however, to more than $21 billion because of recovery assistance since the hurricanes.

Though the bulk of new money is tied to hurricane relief, the state also had better than expected tax collections as people replaced appliances, furniture and other items after the hurricanes and oil and gas prices boomed.

The 2006-07 budget bill, already approved by the House, goes back to that chamber for approval of substantial Senate committee changes, but the Senate _ prompted by Heitmeier, D-New Orleans _ successfully turned away any sweeping alterations on the Senate floor.

A final version of the budget likely will be worked out in a legislative compromise committee in the waning hours of the session, which must end by Monday. Blanco can strip out individual items but hasn't said if she has targeted specific items she plans to remove.

Lawmakers and the Blanco administration found dollars to beef up funding next year for public colleges and provide new money for nursing homes, hospitals and other health care providers. Legislators also earmarked at least $32 million to individual add-ons for their districts, like town fire stations, local museums and festivals.

Dan Juneau, president of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, said the budget bill "is bursting at the seams with money."

"Some of it is one-time federal funding for hurricane recovery. Much of it, though, is pork barrel spending gone wild," Juneau wrote in his weekly column, released Friday.

Pay raises would be given to public school teachers, school support workers like janitors and cafeteria workers, assistant district attorneys, judges, college professors and others. Teachers would get $1,500 pay hikes, and support workers an extra $500 a year. New jobs would be created in Blanco's offices for post-storm recovery efforts.

Funding would grow for health care and education, which are two of the largest spending areas in the budget.

The state health department, which administers the Medicaid program for the poor, elderly and disabled, would take up a quarter of state spending at $6.8 billion _ including a $120 million pool of money for private and community hospitals who have taken in uninsured patients since the New Orleans charity hospitals were shuttered by Katrina.

Senators rejected attempts to shuffle more dollars to the private and community hospitals and to add new dollars to community- and home-based care for the developmentally disabled.

Louisiana's public colleges would receive $2.6 billion and the state funding formula for the 68 public elementary and secondary school districts would get $2.7 billion.

A separate spending bill that includes $434 million to pay FEMA for Louisiana's share of the hurricane response efforts to Katrina and Rita and another $150 million for an emergency response fund pushed by Blanco was approved by the Senate.

Heitmeier wasn't able to beat back a large amendment to that bill, however, that would set aside up to $50 million in the emergency fund _ if it's left after this hurricane season _ to help shore up the state-run insurer of last resort, Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp.

The insurance company, which offers homeowners insurance to those who can't get it on the open market, is assessing private insurance companies a regular fee that they can pass onto all their Louisiana customers to pay off Citizens' borrowing to cover claims after the hurricanes.

Up to $50 million of any remaining emergency fund dollars after November would be used to pay down some of the borrowing, thereby lowering the assessment on insurers and people who carry private insurance.

Opponents of the change say the fund shouldn't be raided and should be allowed to roll over from year to year for any emergencies Louisiana faces. Sen. Robert Adley, D-Benton, who proposed the Citizens provision, said the state could afford to help people avoid hefty insurance bills.

"We give pay raises for everybody and their brother down here this time. We've taken care of everybody we can. But we haven't done anything to help the policyholders of this state," Adley said.

Adley's amendment was approved 28-8, and the bill must go back to the House for approval.

Senators also approved a series of other spending bills for next year, including a $4.8 billion construction budget that has more projects than the state has money to spend, the $128 million budget for the state's court system and the nearly $72 million budget for legislative agencies.

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The budget bill for next year is filed as House Bill 1. The other spending bills are filed as House Bill 2, 1208, 1209 and 1244. They can be found at http://www.legis.state.la.us

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