BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Treasurer John Kennedy says Gov. Bobby Jindal's budget proposal for next year is unrealistic and unbalanced.
Kennedy said in a column Monday that the state will face another round of midyear budget slashing if lawmakers approve the governor's spending plans for the 2013-14 year.
The Republican treasurer says Jindal's budget includes "pretend" savings from an unfinished privatization of the LSU hospitals and anticipates "inflated prices" from property sales that won't pan out. He also questions a borrowing plan that would be used to funnel $100 million into higher education and would have to be paid off over years with interest.
Jindal's Commissioner of Administration Kristy Nichols says the governor's budget is balanced. She says if the dollars Kennedy criticizes were removed, cuts would be required to health care and colleges.
