Deficit that sparked special session only the latest as leaders look for stability
When Louisiana legislators meet next week, it will be to solve the state's 15th mid-year budget deficit in nine years.
The state found itself off track $319 million in the 2009 budget cycle, then $107 million two years later. In 2010 alone, there were three mid-year deficits that came in at a grand total of $828 million. More recently, the state came up about $313 million short when it closed the books on the budget that ended June 30 — and that was after resolving two separate mid-year gaps totaling more than $1 billion.
There hasn't been a single year since 2009 in which the Legislature-approved budget has been on track with what the state actually had to spend — creating a steady spiral of shortfalls. (The state calculated deficits differently prior to 2009, so it's unclear how much further back the trend may really stretch.)
Despite approving a sales tax hike and other measures that were meant to shore up finances through the current year and into a more permanent fix, the state's back in the same boat.
Read more: http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/article_221e035e-ed56-11e6-810d-03a1d349bc6c.html
