Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Blanco’s office says budget not bloated
ADVOCATE
By MICHELLE MILLHOLLON
Capitol news bureau
(excerpt)
Gov. Kathleen Blanco’s $20.3 billion proposed spending plan for state government is not a “runaway budget” loaded with lagniappe, her administration told lawmakers Tuesday.
“What you’ve been hearing … is ‘Oh, my God, $20 billion budget. Largest in history,” Commissioner of Administration Jerry Luke LeBlanc told members of the House Committee on Appropriations.
The Governor’s Office is in spin control mode after some lawmakers choked on the size of the proposed budget for the state year that begins July 1. The budget proposal, which must be approved by legislators, is about $2 billion bigger than the spending plan adopted for the current year.