Louisiana To Hold Back Cash
by MICHELLE MILLHOLLON - Advocate (excerpt)

At issue is whether Jindal used one-time money to resolve the current problem rather than making cuts in government programs that will continue next year, when the shortfall is expected to be nearly six times as great. One-time money is revenue that the state cannot expect to get year after year. But money leftover from the appropriation after the goods or services have been paid is not, at least by the administration’s definition, one-time money.

Critics such as former legislative lawyer C.B. Forgotston say the administration is using excuses to avoid acknowledging a valid suggestion. “Either there are two types of ‘one-time money’ or perhaps the problem is merely the messenger,” Forgotston wrote on his blog. The Joint Committee on the Budget is meeting Friday to consider part of Jindal’s plan for resolving a shortfall in the current state spending year that ends June 30.

Jindal did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday. His communications director, Melissa Sellers, said the governor was traveling and would be unavailable.