BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - After taking criticism for its last list, Gov. John Bel Edwards’ administration has sent lawmakers a new spreadsheet of budget cuts it says were made during the governor’s two years in office. And the cuts included are larger than the last tally.
The list released Thursday totals $981 million, up from $672 million.
The tally contains the same types of items that drew Republican criticism.
Many are one-time cuts that don’t yield permanent, long-term savings. Other cuts are counted twice, for each budget year Edwards has been in office. A $152 million item is a delayed payment to Medicaid providers, a debt still owed.
Edwards’ list is a defense against GOP criticism that he hasn’t done enough to trim spending as he pushes to replace $1 billion in temporary taxes.
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