WikimediaBATON ROUGE, La. (AP) —Louisiana's income forecasting panel has decided against making changes to the state's revenue estimates, after economists said little had changed to brighten the budget picture.
That leaves lawmakers to continue grappling with a $600 million budget shortfall for next year.
The Revenue Estimating Conference heard a bleak update about Louisiana's declining jobs numbers and its spill-out effect across tax collections.
The Legislature's chief economist, Greg Albrecht, says the state has had employment declines since September. He says he believes the state has "bottomed out" but the recovery will be a "slow climb."
Economists suggested nothing has changed enough on the economic front to make significant changes to income projections. The conference agreed.
The conference includes the governor's chief budget adviser, the Senate president, the House speaker and an independent LSU economist.