New South Politics

Baton Rouge, LA— Ahead of the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget, Governor Jeff Landry addressed his annual budget plan. This budget was built on the goal of flat funding for this fiscal year when compared to the last year and continues the trend of decreasing the overall amount of money that our government spends. Specifically, the budget to be presented Thursday, based on the goal of flat funding, will show that with Total State Funds (State General Fund, Fees and Self-Generated Revenues, and Statutory Dedications): 

– We decreased total state funds by $1 billion, when including carryforwards 

– We decreased total state funds by over $400 million, excluding carryforwards 

Federal funds increased because of efficiencies in the RESTORE program. This comes as a result of the work we continue to pursue in improving state government operations. 

Full Text Below:

Hi everyone, Governor Jeff Landry here.

With the help of the Legislature, during my first year as Governor we have made MAJOR progress.

We’ve introduced the largest single jobs and economic development project in the history of our state with the Meta investment in North Louisiana.

We changed our criminal justice system to focus on the victims more than criminals.

Our education reforms are giving us the best test scores in a generation.

We provided the largest tax cut in our state’s history!

And that work will continue with a YES vote from you on Amendment TWO in the statewide election on March 29th

Your vote is a vote to gain a permanent tax cut, a permanent teacher pay raise, and a permanent government growth limit.

All of this is in addition to the fiscally responsible budget passed during my first year in office. 

As we begun to reign in runaway government spending—spending $2 billion dollars less than the previous year.

Now, this week, my administration will further this work in presenting a Fiscal Year 2026 budget.

This budget was built on the goal of flat funding for this fiscal year when compared to the last year and continues to the trend of decreasing the overall amount of money that we spend.

This is a tremendous step forward for fiscal responsibility.

This new budget will allow us to use any new revenue on non-recurring expenditures, such as continuing to lower the personal income tax rate even further OR by making investments in critical state infrastructure such as roads, bridges, water, and sewer systems.

This was accomplished by finding efficiencies including….

Savings of over $11 million in the Louisiana Department of Health

Over $1 million of savings in the Department of Energy and Natural Resources

$2.3 million worth of savings in the Division of Administration

There is still more work to be done.

That is why I have created a fiscal responsibility program, and I have appointed a Budget Czar to review government expenditures and seek even greater efficiencies.

I conducted a similar review as the Attorney General and we achieved significant savings.

I expect we will again achieve great results.

I continue to be focused on turning our State around – working with my team, the Legislature, and our people to make Louisiana a great state with a growing economy and strong revenue.

To accomplish this, we must continue making these structural reforms.

I believe our budget once again sets us on the right path toward fiscal responsibility and shared prosperity.

I look forward to working with our Legislature to achieve these goals.

It is going to be a great year!