The Louisiana Budget Project is taking a hard line against Gov. Bobby Jindal's latest salve for the state's lingering budget wound.
The Louisiana Budget Project, a Baton Rouge-based nonprofit that "monitors and reports on state government spending and how it affects Louisiana's low- to moderate-income families," is taking a hard line against Gov. Bobby Jindal's latest salve for the state's lingering budget wound. The administration announced Friday that it plans to close a $166 million mid-year budget gap through cuts to Medicaid, hospice services for the poor and disabled and dental benefits for pregnant women.
LBP Director Jan Moller released the following statement soon after the Jindal administration's announcement:
"The latest round of mid-year budget cuts is further evidence that Louisiana's failure to consider new revenues means more pain for our most vulnerable citizens. Pregnant women and children, people with disabilities and mental illness, and dying patients in need of hospice care are being hurt while Louisiana continues to spend hundreds of millions of dollars each year subsidizing Hollywood film producers, big-box retailers and others through the tax code. Enough is enough. We need a new, balanced approach that raises the revenue we need to fund critical services."