INDReporter

Treasurer slams Jindal's budget as unbalanced

by Walter Pierce

John Kennedy said in a column released Monday that the state will face another round of midyear budget slashing if lawmakers approve the governor's spending plans for the 2013-14 fiscal year.

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Treasurer John Kennedy says Gov. Bobby Jindal's budget proposal for next year is unrealistic and unbalanced.

Kennedy said in a column released Monday that the state will face another round of midyear budget slashing if lawmakers approve the governor's spending plans for the 2013-14 fiscal year.

The Republican treasurer says Jindal's budget includes "pretend" savings from an unfinished privatization of the LSU hospitals and anticipates "inflated prices" from property sales that won't pan out. He also questions a borrowing plan that would be used to funnel $100 million into higher education and would have to be paid off over years with interest.

Jindal and his advisers have called the governor's budget balanced and say it relies on savings that are reasonable and dollars that they expect to have in hand.