This makes sense

[RhythmDawg]

And by the way, don't think repubs taking the house will help. They were all elected to cut the budget.

Cutting taxes is good, but not always. We still must fund basic services. Cutting taxes must not be the only answer. This state MUST significantly trim the overhead. The Amendment #2 that everyone just voted for, to keep state dollars in the parishes...that is great for the parishes but is going to make the state issues even worse...state issues being the state funded services that reside in those parishes.

[FishingBack]

Shut down a 4 year. Just do it.

[Dwayne From Minden]

The Amendment #2 that everyone just voted for, to keep state dollars in the parishes...that is great for the parishes but is going to make the state issues even worse...state issues being the state funded services that reside in those parishes.

No it will NOT -

Do your homework - it will not reduce money going into the state coffers ONE DIME from what it was receiving at its highest point two years ago - get your facts straight...

The trigger mechanism is not even projected to kickin the additional payments until 2013 or 2014

Someone is feeding you VERY BAD information on this issue

[Cool Hand Clyde]

Shut down a 4 year. Just do it.

twss

[bdawg]

I haven't been able to get my hands on the data, but should have it by the first of the week. What I am told by the publisher of the Ouachita citizen (and other north LA papers) is that when you look at the actual budgets of higher education in LA they have only digested a 1% budget cut. State funding is down, but that has been offset by tuition and fee increases. That is one of the reasons Kennedy is saying his plan would keep higer ed from being drastically cut. Like I said, should have the numbers that Sammy is quoting around first of week. I am sure that some institutions might have been effected differently than others, but these numbers are proported to be statewide higher ed through all of the systems.

[Cool Hand Clyde]

I haven't been able to get my hands on the data, but should have it by the first of the week. What I am told by the publisher of the Ouachita citizen (and other north LA papers) is that when you look at the actual budgets of higher education in LA they have only digested a 1% budget cut. State funding is down, but that has been offset by tuition and fee increases. That is one of the reasons Kennedy is saying his plan would keep higer ed from being drastically cut. Like I said, should have the numbers that Sammy is quoting around first of week. I am sure that some institutions might have been effected differently than others, but these numbers are proported to be statewide higher ed through all of the systems.

How much state funding was replaced by federal stimulus funds which will disappear next year and not be replaced by the state?

Tuition can only increase 10% per year by law.

[RhythmDawg]

No it will NOT -

Do your homework - it will not reduce money going into the state coffers ONE DIME from what it was receiving at its highest point two years ago - get your facts straight...

The trigger mechanism is not even projected to kickin the additional payments until 2013 or 2014

Someone is feeding you VERY BAD information on this issue

Dewayne, you are correct. I oversimplified the issue and presented it from a very biased point of view. From a direct, $ to $ perspective, you are abslolutely correct, and I am aware of that. What I am referring to is the fallout that this will trigger in parts of the projected budgets in the future. While the effects may not be direct, there certainly will be significant indirect effects of the passage of this amendment in my industry. And I am talking about 2013 or 2014.

[Dwayne From Minden]

Dewayne, you are correct. I oversimplified the issue and presented it from a very biased point of view. From a direct, $ to $ perspective, you are abslolutely correct, and I am aware of that. What I am referring to is the fallout that this will trigger in parts of the projected budgets in the future. While the effects may not be direct, there certainly will be significant indirect effects of the passage of this amendment in my industry. And I am talking about 2013 or 2014.

There shouldn't be - and who ever is bending the numbers to show that is doing it as an excuse -

DIRECT net effect when the trigger is reached is less than 2% of additional severance tax revenue....

State will get between 97% - 98% of any NEW additional revenue over the trigger and 100% of the existing revenue in place under the trigger....

[Dwayne From Minden]

Here is the Dept Rev site that basically gives the Sev Tax Collections over the years -

http://www.revenue.louisiana.gov/for...tributions.pdf

The link is for the 07-08 year - state basically collected $1,019,453,191 mainly in oil & gas revenue - and returned less than 5% of this money to the producing parishes due to the cap in place $850,000 (even though the consitution calls for the remittance of 20%)

08-09 the state collected even more (and that's the number the trigger is based on)

Last year (09-10 fiscal) the state collected a little over $741,000,000 in O & G severance -

If and when the trigger is met in 13 or 14 that number will move for 95% kept by the state to 93% kept by the state - the problem is NOT the amendment but the decrease in $250,000,000 annually due to the price of oil and the $/gal that the budget was based on

The maximum $$ (64MM) effect this could have on the overall state budget is minimum at best if the trigger is met

[Dwayne From Minden]

Rythmn -

I don't want to sound beligerent about this but there are probably less than 10 people in the entire state who have a better grasp of the effects on the state budget of this amendment than I do -

It was a long and hard two year fight since 08 to get this back on the ballot (that the Gov and legislators would endorse 100% - not one dissenting vote in committe or the House or the Senate) and then passed statewide by a hefty margin -

Like I said, ANYONE who is using this as an excuse for their budget is misinformed and has NO grasp of the state budget, the O & G severance tax distribution formula and the trigger mechanism that would give the qualifying parishes the additional $2MM annually

Remember IF the mechanism is met - almost $300,000,000 mm will be back into the state coffers annually solely from O&G severance tax revenue before the first extra dollar is remitted back to the producing parish

[RhythmDawg]

Dwayne,

You certainly don't sound that way, and I certainly didn't take it that way, as I don't like to put out information is not accurate. The person giving out that information is a top person with the state for healthcare, represents us in the state government, and certainly has an agenda (though he does have a clue on the state budget). What concerns me is that this info was given to all hospital CEOs in the state and was presented to us in this way. I certainly believe what you are saying, but hopefully you can see why I give/gave creedence to the information that I put out there in this thread regarding the amendment. I will be sure to pass the facts along.

[Dwayne From Minden]

Dwayne,

You certainly don't sound that way, and I certainly didn't take it that way, as I don't like to put out information is not accurate. The person giving out that information is a top person with the state for healthcare, represents us in the state government, and certainly has an agenda (though he does have a clue on the state budget). What concerns me is that this info was given to all hospital CEOs in the state and was presented to us in this way. I certainly believe what you are saying, but hopefully you can see why I give/gave creedence to the information that I put out there in this thread regarding the amendment. I will be sure to pass the facts along.

I would appreciate that -

We knew this would probably come up and was actually surprised that someone really didn't try the ploy the week heading into the election...

The head of DHHS better hope the trigger is met SOON because that is the only way the revenue figures are going to climb in the state any time soon - because even though tourism is huge, oil & gas basically still drives the bus and sev tax and the sales taxes generated off of O & G activity is what fills the state's coffers

[RougeDawg]

I see a pattern here:

- 42% of State employees are in the university system.

- Louisiana has the highest percentage of universities per capita in the country.

- Louisiana has the highest percentage of state employees per capita in the country.

Sure wish we could get a politician that would trim back some of the overgrown community colleges.