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Administration presents a 'standstill' executive budget; teacher pay raise left out pending constitutional amendment
Summary
The commissioner of administration told the Senate Finance Committee the executive budget is a near‑standstill proposal that excludes a permanent teacher pay raise pending a March constitutional amendment, while adding $50 million for a scholarship expansion and identifying $297 million of constitutionally available surplus.
The commissioner of administration presented the governor’s executive standstill budget to the Senate Finance Committee, saying the proposal is “truly, a standstill as we can get it.” The budget keeps recurring spending mostly flat and excludes long‑term additions that would expand the state’s structural obligations.
Taylor Barra, commissioner of administration, told senators the proposal deliberately omits the governor’s previously discussed permanent teacher pay raise. “The funding for the teacher pay raise right at a hundred 98,000,000 is not included in this standstill budget,” Barra said, explaining that the raise depends on the outcome of a pending constitutional amendment.
Barra and Patrick Goldsmith, deputy commissioner of administration, said the budget does include several targeted items that could be funded within the standstill framework. Those include $50 million in new dollars for the Louisiana Gator Scholarship program and continuation of the existing voucher program allocation (about $43.46 million in the executive documents). Barra said the additional $50 million is intended to fund roughly another 5,300–5,500 scholarships, based on current application interest.
The administration also recast last year’s one‑time spending so the base budget does not carry forward nonrecurring items. Barra highlighted $11.1 million proposed for the Louisiana Economic Development agency to support its reorganization and technology work, and named several agency needs that state leaders said required relief after heavy public events and weather responses, including state police and wildlife agencies.
On available surplus, the administration reported a fiscal‑year‑24 surplus of about $590.5 million and noted the constitutionally allowed uses of half of that — roughly $297 million — for pay‑down of liabilities, capital projects or deposits to the budget stabilization fund. Barra said current‑year excess — money expected to be available before next fiscal year — is estimated near $29 million and could be used for supplemental needs.
Senators pressed administration officials about how contingencies would be handled if the constitutional amendment on March 29 does not pass. Senator Lydia Edmonds asked how a teacher raise would proceed if the amendment fails; Barra said actuarial work would be required to determine changes to the unfunded accrued liability (UAL) and the mechanics by which local districts and the state would implement any commitments. Commissioners emphasized that charter schools were included in prior stipends and that the governor had committed to include charter employees in any pay action contingent on the amendment.
Why it matters: The administration framed the budget to avoid adding ongoing obligations before a major fiscal rule change. The most politically visible item — a permanent teacher pay raise worth about $198 million in prior proposals — was explicitly left out pending the outcome of the ballot amendment that would alter how certain revenue is treated.
