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Louisiana’s surging tax collections still haven’t tapered off, with the newest forecasts pouringadditional dollars into state coffers and further complicating tense legislative negotiations overwhat to do with all the cash.
Spending plans crafted by Republicans leaders in the Louisiana House trade most of the governor’s recommended education investments to instead pay down retirement debt, setting up a financial clash with senators who want a different approach.
Louisiana’s newest round of budget negotiations began with a $45.7 billion proposal from Gov. John Bel Edwards that sidesteps worries about the impending financial gaps awaiting officials next term and would raise spending on education from preschool through college.
Federal pandemic aid is disappearing, but state tax collections continue to surge, giving Gov. John Bel Edwards and the Louisiana Legislature $1.6 billion in unspent cash from the last and current budget years and further boosting the money available for next year’s spending plan
With little attention, Louisiana has poured more than $1 billion in higher-than-usual business tax collections into a six-year-old trust fund aimed at lessening the state’s overreliance on the volatile income source.
Louisiana is rebuilding its state savings account for tough times, after repeatedly taking out money to patch budget gaps during years of financial difficulties for the state.
Louisiana students and their families are bearing more of the costs of attending college, after years of declining state financing for public universities and ballooning tuition costs. The state-financed TOPS free college tuition program is filling some of those gaps for families, but with certain schools and students benefitting more than others.