State Construction Budget Filled With Pet Projects

BATON ROUGE — With the state strapped for cash, Louisiana lawmakers have turned to the state's construction budget for their pet projects.

In coordination with Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration, the House and Senate piled in millions of dollars for local parks, sewage and water projects, economic development initiatives and more — $120 million more than the state can afford to spend on construction projects.

That leaves the governor's office to decide which will actually get funded in the fiscal year that begins July 1. It also reverses a previous push by the Jindal administration to limit the construction budget, called the "capital outlay" bill, to reflect only what the state has money to spend.