Louisiana Legislature Is Quietly Sitting On $106 Million In Reserve Funding

By Julie O'Donoghue, Louisiana Illuminator

February 7, 2023

10:52
Brief

• Budget
• Govt + Politics
• Legislative

In A Flash
Louisiana Legislature is quietly sitting on $106 million in reserve funding

By: Julie O'Donoghue - February 7, 2023 10:52 am

(Photo credit: Wesley Muller/Louisiana Illuminator)

The Louisiana Legislature ended its last budget cycle June 30 with $106.5 million worth of reserve funding, according to audits the Legislative Auditor recently released.

The lawmakers’ reserve funding has gone largely untouched for years and is rarely discussed during debates about state spending. In fact, legislators complain when other agencies keep any unallocated cash on hand, let alone over $100 million.

Over the last year, legislators have also complained about the condition of the Capitol complex, particularly the Pentagon Barracks where they are leased apartments at a below-market rate. They have blamed Gov. John Bel Edwards’ administration for not doing enough to keep up the barracks and Capitol’s physical plant, while not offering up any of their own reserves to fix the problem.

The Louisiana House ended the last fiscal year with $34.6 million on hand. The Senate had $15 million and the Legislative Budgetary Control Council, which Republican legislative leadership oversees, had $54.2 million at the end of June.

The Legislative Fiscal Office, which provides financial analysis and economic predictions to the lawmakers, also ended the last budget year with $2.6 million in the bank.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST.

DONATE

In spite of large amounts of reserve funding, lawmakers shifted more of the state’s general resources into the Legislature’s coffers last spring. The Legislature increased its own budget by $12.2 million in the current fiscal cycle.

The biggest funding jump went to the Legislative Budgetary Control Council, where financing went from $8.6 million last year to $11.8 million this year.

The council pays for some of the House and Senate’s joint staff and also outside, private contracts. For example, the money to hire private attorneys to defend the Republican-backed state political district maps in court comes from control council.

The Legislature also said it increased its own spending in order to pay for a new 21-member security team at the Capitol.

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX

SUBSCRIBE

Republish

Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our web site. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of photos and graphics.

Julie O'Donoghue

Julie O’Donoghue is a senior reporter for the Louisiana Illuminator and producer of the Louisiana Illuminator podcast. She’s received awards from the Virginia Press Association and Louisiana-Mississippi Associated Press. Julie covered state government and politics for NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune for six years. She’s also covered government and politics in Missouri, Virginia and Washington D.C. Julie is a proud D.C. native and Washington Capitals hockey fan. She and her partner, Jed, live in Baton Rouge. She has two stepchildren, Quinn and Steven.

MORE FROM AUTHOR

Related News
Regulating Louisiana utilities: Q&A with new PSC member… by Charles Maldonado, Verite December 26, 2022 SuperTalk radio was a powerful mouthpiece for welfare… by Anna Wolfe December 18, 2022 Candidates, mostly Republican, skip debates, bar press… by Ariana Figueroa September 1, 2022

The Louisiana Illuminator is an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization driven by its mission to cast light on how decisions are made in Baton Rouge and how they affect the lives of everyday Louisianians, particularly those who are poor or otherwise marginalized.