The Louisiana Legislature passes laws and state agencies are charged with enforcing those laws. Unfortunately, some of the laws they passed during three sessions earlier this year have increased the cost of government.

Instead of getting more funding, the agencies are now being asked to reduce their budgets between 1% and 5% because a couple of inexpensive taxes are going off the books next June 30. One is a 0.45% state sales tax increase and the other is a 2.0% sales tax on business utilities.

If teachers get $2,000 stipends and school support workers get $1,000, the expected deficit would be $587 million, which renewal of those two low taxes would cover.

The Advocate explained the dilemma well when it said the latest budget cuts would reduce juvenile justice facility staffing, gut National Guard education programs for at-risk youth and diminish the attorney general’s office’s ability to handle criminal prosecutions.

The state’s juvenile justice system has experienced a number of serious problems, the state has many at-risk youths, and laws passed at a special session on crime are going to increase the cost of prosecuting criminals.

Reductions to the Office of Juvenile Justice would reduce the number of budgeted juvenile justice specialists. Those specialists work on the front lines with youth in detention facilities that have experienced a multitude of problems.

An undersecretary in the office said that a 5% cut would result in a reduction of 80 positions. That would increase overtime costs and safety issues that may not help the state in the long run, he said.

Cuts to the National Guard’s at-risk program for youth would mean a loss of funding from the federal government, which provides a 75% match for the program.

Legislators also created problems for the secretary of state’s office when they passed 11 new election laws.

Nancy Landry, secretary of state, said cuts to her agency would be especially challenging after the Legislature passed a law canceling open primaries for some races, especially those for members of Congress.

Each political party will now have its own closed primary elections in which only party members can vote. Landry said her office needs $3 million next year to inform voters about that change to avoid having confusion at the polls.

Landry said, “As 86% of my department’s discretionary state general fund is in the elections program, any cut there will only cripple my office’s ability to support and implement the closed primaries.”

The secretary of state also has to manage some state museums housed under her office. She said cutting that budget would reverse progress in managing the museums.

The new and tougher crime laws are expected to increase state incarcerations that are already at world-records and the Department of Corrections said budget cuts would mean personnel cuts.

A chief deputy attorney general said, “The cuts, if substantial, basically could hamper our ability to prosecute cases,” such as internet crimes against children. He also said more cases out of New Orleans complicates problems.

Last week, we talked about unbelievable cuts being proposed by the Louisiana Department of Health. Those would impact day care for medically fragile children, at-home care programs for the elderly and health care for adults with disabilities.

The House Appropriations Committee is going to look at more state agencies, including the Department of Transportation and Development. It is being evaluated by a Boston firm with an eye toward possible reconstruction.

Another up for review is the Department of Children and Family Services that has had its problems. Many of them were created by drastic budget cuts during Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration from which it has not fully recovered. The department doesn’t need any additional reductions.

What Republican Gov. Jeff Landry, who wants budget cuts, and the GOP Legislature that is in control, have to remember is that Louisiana is a state that has 2 million of its people, 44% of the 40.6 million population, on Medicaid for low-income families. Its poverty rate is over 18%.

Both of those realities, according to one source, mean Louisiana families don’t need budget cuts and instead deserve “a strong safety net and proven policies to help them thrive.”

Jim Beam, the retired editor of the American Press, has covered people and politics for more than six decades. Contact him at 337-515-8871 or jim.beam.press@gmail.com.

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