This is the seventh of a ten-part series on the 2011 State of the State (SOTS) speeches in states with the ten worst projected relative budget deficits for FY 2012. Budget data is from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ (CBPP) recent budget report, and SOTS speech text is from Stateline. CBPP’s data on states’ FY 2012 budget deficits as a percentage of their FY 2011 budget is the benchmark for relative budget deficits.
According to CBPP, Louisiana is projected to have a $1.7 billion budget deficit in FY 2012, equaling 22% of the state’s FY 2011 budget.
On March 20, 2011, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal delivered his SOTS address (full text available here). Governor Jindal’s address is very brief; overall he encourages bipartisan cooperation in the coming legislative session. The only policy area he specifically mentions is electoral redistricting. Regarding redistricting, Jindal encourages collaboration between both parties and quips that he knows his electoral lines (as Governor) won’t change unless the legislature attempts to annex Texas or Arkansas.
Like many states, policymakers in the Pelican State are wrangling with unusually daunting budget deficits. To understand steps being taken by states across the country, read the American Legislative Exchange Council’s (ALEC) State Budget Reform Toolkit and Reason Foundation’s Annual Privatization Report 2010: State Government Privatization section. For the previous articles in this SOTS series, see: North Carolina, Wisconsin, California, Illinois, Nevada, Connecticut, Minnesota and Oregon.