Fund ‘sweep’ makes lawmakers uneasy
BY MICHELLE MILLHOLLON
Capitol news bureau
April 15, 2012
A tiny bug from Central America is threatening to burrow holes in Gov. Bobby Jindal’s proposed $25.5 billion state operating budget.
The governor is upsetting many legislators by proposing to take money from various funds across state government to help pay for health care and other expenses in the fiscal year that starts July 1.
Growing discontent over the move could stall one of the governor’s major budget bills, throwing his spending plans out of balance. The legislation in question would transfer more than $200 million from special funds and other sources.
The tipping point seems to be the idea of taking dollars from a boll weevil eradication fund established to protect cotton crops. Although the Central American pest is no longer a problem in Louisiana, farmers still voluntarily pay $6 an acre to monitor against resurgence.
The governor wants to take $766,044 from the boll weevil fund to help pay the health-care expenses of the poor.
http://theadvocate.com/news/2561961-123/officialsbuggedby-bill
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