EDITORIAL: State budget needs flexibility
The Daily Advertiser (excerpt)

It seems that every scrap of good economic news for Louisiana comes with bad news close behind. (O)ne more dip in state revenue is expected to lead to one more projected deficit, which probably means at least one more round of state budget cuts. It turns out that in February, the Louisiana Department of Revenue paid out $21 million more in personal income tax refunds than it received in personal income tax payments. February's sales tax revenues also were down $40 million from February 2009, to $157 million. The unanticipated deficit may reach $400 million, and that shortfall must be erased by the time the fiscal year ends June 30.

It's time to push forward with structural changes. On this page Wednesday, columnist John Maginnis pointed out two areas where the governor and Legislature need more flexibility — the all-or-nothing Minimum Foundation Program request presented each year by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, and state civil service, the salary rules of which handcuff budget authorities. We must give the governor and lawmakers more power to spread cuts throughout the budget instead of allowing constitutional requirements to focus the pain on health care, higher education and public safety. We should ask, plead with even, the congressional delegation to push for federal approval of Louisiana's Medicaid experiment, which would expand coverage and offer recipient families a choice of government-subsidized private insurance plans.

It's past time to look beyond Band-Aids for the current series of crises to make Louisiana government leaner and more responsive to economic fluctuations.