Some lawmakers want to cap how much the state government's spending can increase every year by enshrining a limit on “government growth” in the Louisiana Constitution.
The legislation deals with “how much our government grows each year and trying to limit that to a reasonable and sustainable amount,” said Rep. Brett Geymann, R-Lake Charles, who is sponsoring the measure along with Sen. Bob Hensgens, R-Abbeville.
The proposal comes amid a whirlwind 20-day special session aimed at overhauling Louisiana tax policy and attracting more business activity to the Bayou State.
“People have expressed to us that ‘we don’t always trust you with a lot of money,’ and so this does send a message to them that we are gonna restrain our spending on growing government,” Geymann said.
On Friday, Geymann and Hensgens presented the idea, which is backed by Gov. Jeff Landry and his revenue secretary Richard Nelson, to the House budget committee, which advanced the legislation.
But former House budget chair Rep. Jerome Zeringue, R-Houma, questioned the need for putting the spending increase limit in the Constitution.
“I understand the intent, and I’m all for trying to rein in growth,” Zeringue said after the hearing.
“Why would we want to limit ourselves or place restrictions on future legislators that may have to deal with different issues?” he said. “We’re fully capable of reining in or restraining our spending without the bill.”
The spending increase cap would be set every year through a “growth factor,” which would be calculated using five-year averages of Louisiana’s population change as well as the consumer price index and the consumer medical price index.
The legislation, Geymann explained, also has “an escape clause” that would allow state lawmakers, with a two-thirds vote, to buck the constitutionally mandated spending limit in the event of a disaster or “some sort of weirdness in the world we can’t anticipate.”
Rep. Larry Bagley, R-Stonewall, on Friday asked if the plan was “flexible enough” to account for “catastrophic problems that we’ve had in the past,” referencing the administration of former Gov. Bobby Jindal, which left the state grappling with major budget shortfalls.
“I was here during the Jindal years, so I lived in that budget drama,” Geymann said.
“I don’t think we’re hamstringing or boxing us in,” he said.
