Fannin says budget crisis will get worse next year By James Ronald Skains "As of today, the Governor will have 30 days in which to decide how to handle the $107 million deficit from last year through executive orders," Louisiana State Representative Jim Fannin told the Piney Woods Journal. "The cuts will be across the board and will hurt, but we are mandated by the Constitution to have a balanced budget each year." Fannin, who represents the North Louisiana District 13, including Jackson, and portions of Winn, Bienville, and Ouachita parishes, is chairman of the Louisiana House of Representatives Appropriation Committee. Fannin said, "Next year, we are reportedly facing a $1.6 billion deficit which the legislature and governor will have to solve by the time we go into session on April 30, 2011," Fannin added. "There is a lot of controversy about the cuts to higher education and health care,'' Fannin noted, "but what most people do not understand is that 68% of our state budget goes for higher education and health care, so where else are you going to cut? The money in the budget each year for K-12 education is dedicated revenue, but I don't think anyone would dare consider cutting funding to educate our children," Fannin pointed out. "What the higher education people do not want to admit is that only about 20% of the people in Louisiana ever attend a higher education institution," Fannin explained, "and many of those attending colleges are doing so on TOPS programs." (TOPS is a state-funded scholarship program for students who qualify.) "Another thing that people do not want to accept in this budget controversy is that we are in the worst recession since the great depression and we are a long way from being out of it," Fannin said. "A few years ago, we had a state budget with revenues over $10 billion," Fannin stated. "This next year we will have a revenue stream of a little over $7 billion. We were repeatedly warned that the growth that Louisiana experienced after Katrina would not last forever," Fannin, a resident of Jonesboro, commented. "Then as the economic boom after Katrina slowed down, we hit the great recession of 2007-2008. "Now we have two choices, either raise taxes or cut government spending,'' Fannin said. "The Baton Rouge area has not been hit as hard by the recession as the rest of the state because of all the state and higher education employees in the Baton Rouge area. People in the Piney Woods and areas outside of metro areas are in a survival mode with no real indication of when things will get better for them economically," Fannin noted. "There are so many people all over the state who do not grasp the magnitude or the ramifications of what is actually going on in our economy.'' "The uncertain part of our nation's future is how to grow ourselves out of this depressed recession," Fannin added. "Our economy grew during the technological boom, then for the last several years most of the growth in the economy has come from the service industry." "What is on the horizon to grow our economy, not only here in Louisiana, but nationwide?'' Fannin, a former building contractor questioned. "Nobody at any level seems to have a clue. But until we begin to grow the economy, we will be faced with one budget crisis after another." "2011 is going to be a wild year in Louisiana," Fannin pointed out. "First, we have a $1.6 billion budget shortfall to deal with. Secondly, we have the redistricting of the Congressional and state districts," Fannin said. "Then, we have an election year for all state offices including the governor's office. So, 2011 will be a year like we've never seen before." "The way it works is that our regular legislative session begins on April 30," Fannin explained. "By constitutional law, the Governor is required to present to us a balanced budget 45 days before the beginning of the legislative session. This means that by mid-March the Governor will have to give us a balanced budget for consideration," Fannin elaborated. "However, the redistricting issue will have to be dealt with prior to the regular session of the legislature. The Speaker of the House has told me that he will call a Special Session of the Legislature for the first three weeks in March," Fannin emphasized. "We have been told that the Feds will release to us Census information on February statistics." "Eight states across the country will get their census information early because each has elections in 2011," Fannin pointed out. "In the event that we don't have this redistricting issue solved in the special session or we are hit with lawsuits over the plans we have drawn, then our regular session will have to resolve any problems." "The biggest questions is whether we will lose a Congressional district and, if we do, what will the new districts look like," Fannin noted. "Although Louisiana lost some people in the mid-2000's, we have had some growth in recent years," Fannin said. "The deciding factor will probably be how much states like Texas, Arizona and California have grown." When asked by the Journal about the water issues facing north Louisiana, Fannin had this to say: "I think that we are making progress with the Sparta. We are now only over pumping the Sparta by 18 million gallons a day. Half of those gallons are going to one company which is changing over to other sources of water," Fannin explained. "Recent studies have indicated that rural water system are losing nearly 10 million gallons a day due to leaks in water pipes and other structure problems. We are urging these rural water systems to put flow meters on their systems to determine how much water is pumped each day and how much is actually used by customers," Fannin elaborated. "If more water is being pumped each day than is being used by customers, it is obvious that the pipes are leaking somewhere along the lines." "On the water controversy with the Haynesville shale, we have passed a resolution mandating that everyone involved come to the table so that we can determine what is actually going on," Fannin added. "The Haynesville Shale has been a tremendous economic boon for northwest Louisiana but at the same time there are environmental issues that have to be considered. One of the things that has to be resolved is what is the true value of water," Fannin pointed out. "As we know, the Attorney General has given an opinion that most surface water belongs to the state. In my opinion, we are not yet doing a good job of managing our water resources. We have a lot of water that flows through Louisiana that just empties into the Gulf. Some of this water could be used by us as a resource." When asked by the Journal about the economic outlook for the Piney Woods, Fannin made these comments: "My area of the state is all about timber. I'm for whatever is good for the timber industry and the loggers. I'm pleased with the progress that Smurfit Stone has made in coming out of bankruptcy and their new mill manager at Hodge is impressive. I think they are doing a good job in trying to keep an old mill running profitably." "I understand that Graphic Packaging in West Monroe is in pretty good shape considering the overall economy," Fannin added. "Part of my focus is to see the Jeld-Wen Company get into production in Winn parish at their new mill," Fannin emphasized. This mill when it gets running will be the most efficient mill within the company. JEld-Wen would like to begin operations in the Spring of 2011, however, they are dependent upon the housing market making some significant progress before it will be profitable to open the mill," Fannin stated. "They do have a few people on payroll there at the plant doing maintenance work." "I know that the loggers have been getting hit with a lot of ticket violations recently," Fannin noted. "There are a couple reasons for this happening. Some of the regulatory agencies are not working with us as well as in the past. Secondly, with budget cuts all around, revenue becomes a key factor for each agency," Fannin continued. "Another factor is that loggers are in a survival mode and are running their trucks and trailers longer than they would like to which causes more mechanical problems. However, with all the budget cuts, the regulatory agencies are having to rotate their people around to different areas so they will not just stay in one area looking for violations," Fannin explained. "When I first ran for office in 2003, I never envisioned being in the middle of such a budget crisis that seems to grow everyday," Fannin concluded. "I'm wearing out our roads going back and forth to Baton Rouge for budget meetings." Fannin, who owns a feed and seed store near Weston in Jackson Parish, is a 1966 graduate of Winnfield High school, and a former vocational agriculture teacher. |