Put up or shut up! Tuesday, Apr 21 2009
1 8:00 am
The leges continue to whine about their “hands being tied” and are forced to cut Higher Education and Healthcare whenever there is a shortfall of revenues.
However, there is nothing written per se that mandates those cuts.
Excuses, excuses, excuses
Excuse No. 1: The state constitution and laws dedicates so much money that they have no choice, but to cut Higher Education and Healthcare.
I’ve explained to any of them who will listen that statutory dedications do NOT tie the hands of leges. All the leges have to do when they are in session is to take the money from the funds via an appropriation and spend it where they choose.
When I ask for the specific citations in the constitution to which they refer that are “tying their hands,” I get zero response.
Excuse No. 2: Next the leges claim that the only way to remove the dedications from the state constitution is to hold a Constitutional Convention.
To which I say: no, that’s not true, all that has to be done is a simple amendment or amendments to the constitution that can be handled in any Regular or Special Session of the lege.
Excuse No. 3: The next excuse is that “we have to study“ the issue because we don’t know exactly what we need to change in the constitution.
Facts
There are 30 or so such funds in the constitution depending on what considers a “dedication.”
The total amount of money that the “dedications” tie up is $3.9 Billion out of the current budget of over $30 Billion.
Despite the number of funds, the only fund that is significant is the Minimum Foundation Program (”MFP”) for funding public elementary and secondary education.
The MFP alone accounts for $3.3 Billion of the $3.9 Billion in dedications that are “tying the hands” of the leges.
If it is true that the constitutional dedications are “tying the hands” of the leges, then a single simple amendment to the constitution will solve 85% of the problem.
There is no need to waste more time and our money studying the problem. It’s been done for free.
Solution
Introduce a Joint Resolution which repeals LA Const. Article VIII, Section 13B. It takes a 2/3s vote of the leges and a majority favorable vote by the people of LA to untie their hands. The governor cannot even veto the amendment.
Propose the amendment to untie your hands or shut-up and adjust your spending priorities so that Higher Education and Healthcare don’t have to be cut at all.
C.B.