The budget knife cut deep into proposed capital outlay projects in Louisiana this week. The House Ways and Means Committee either reduced or eliminated more than a quarter of a billion dollars’ worth of funding for proposed projects statewide as lawmakers continue to deal with a growing state budget deficit.
Photo by Brian Turner is licensed under CC BY 2.0
These proposed capital outlay projects are generally associated with roads, bridges, sewers and maintenance repairs. Officials say if the House committee cuts associated with HB 2 are not approved, construction projects statewide will face a $735 million shortfall.
The funding allocations, eliminations and reductions were the result of passage this week of 370 amendments to the bill. The legislation is now headed to the full House, which is expected to take up the bill on Thursday. If it passes in the House, it will then head to the Senate for debate.
Among the victims of the funding cuts and reductions approved by the Ways and Means Committee were a number of higher education projects slated throughout the state, including: elimination of a project for renovation, planning and construction of the Sciences Building at Louisiana State University (LSU) in Alexandria: a $1.18 million reduction in funding for Northwestern State University’s Multipurpose Assembly Center; an $818,500 reduction in funding for the University of Louisiana-Lafayette’s Fletcher Hall exterior repairs; loss of $3.39 million in funding for the Shearman Fine Arts Building renovation and addition at McNeese State University; and a $1.7 million reduction to existing funds for renovation, planning and construction of Inpatient Critical Care at LSU Health Sciences.
The proposed cuts have drawn the ire of numerous local government officials, many of whom have worked for years to help their communities raise matching funds needed for their projects in HB 2. Close to $330 million in state-funded projects were eliminated, with funding priority going to projects that are already under way.
Among the local projects for which funding would be eliminated in the version of HB 2 that came out of the committee are: construction of the Highland Park Road Bridge in Natchitoches, and South Natchitoches drainage improvements; construction of the Central Louisiana Juvenile Detention Center; improvements to Crowley’s wastewater treatment facility; water plant improvements in Morgan City; construction of a new city hall in Dequincy; construction of a new water system in Calcasieu Parish; construction of a community center in Coushatta; and construction and renovations at the Bastrop Central Fire Station.
It is not likely that HB 2 as it came out of the House committee will be the final version of the bill. Changes are likely during both full House and Senate debate. But private-sector firms should keep a close eye on this bill, as opportunities for millions of dollars’ worth of public-sector contracts or collaborative efforts with the state are at stake.