Governor Bobby Jindal is getting lawmakers’ support for his plan to use patchwork financing and modest cuts to close a $170 million budget deficit.
The House and Senate budget committees backed the proposal without objection yesterday. It comes only days before the budget had to be rebalanced to avoid a special session.
Minor changes were made to Jindal’s plan submitted last month. Financing sources were swapped. Agriculture department job cuts were scrapped. A cut to road maintenance work was eliminated.
About $37 million in cuts will be made — mainly by not filling vacant jobs, reducing contracts and spending fewer dollars on travel and supplies.
The rest of the gap will be filled with excess funds, like dollars from a tax amnesty program and insurance settlement.