Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration is using creative financing maneuvers to get around constitutional and political limitations on using surplus and other sources of patchwork financing for next year's budget.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration is using creative financing maneuvers to get around constitutional and political limitations on using surplus and other sources of patchwork financing for next year's budget.
Jindal has to contend with constitutional restrictions on how he can spend $181 million surplus cash. And he's also run into repeated disputes with a group of House Republicans about the use of piecemeal funding to pay for ongoing expenses.
But he's trying to plug budget gaps in the fiscal year that begins July 1 by proposing budget tactics to help funnel $450 million in one-time financing into next year's spending plans.
The plans are running into criticism from some who say while they technically comply with the restrictions, they sidestep the intent of limiting one-time cash for ongoing operating expenses.