With $313M budget deficit looming, Louisiana agencies, colleges braced for cuts

Louisiana closed the books on the last budget year with a $313 million deficit, and state agencies and colleges are being asked to prepare for budget cuts of up to 10 percent of their state financing to close the gap.

Gov. John Bel Edwards' administration notified departments this week of the possible cuts.

"We advised the agencies that this is the number that we're going to have to deal with," Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne, the governor's chief budget adviser, said Thursday.

The Edwards administration hasn't yet decided how to deal with the shortfall, which is from the budget year that ended June 30 and driven in part by lagging business tax collections.

Read more: http://www.theadvocate.com/acadiana/news/politics/article_bd012588-9ca0-11e6-ac2b-8bf6c1ff29de.html