As the year closes and with
Louisiana preparing to embark upon divided government for the first time in
several years (and a dozen since a governor of one party opposed a legislature
firmly in the hands of another), could the tumult in Illinois
and Pennsylvania
serve as a forecast for what may come with next year’s budget?
For half a year now, both of those
states, whose fiscal year begins like Louisiana’s on Jul. 1, have operated
without a budget. Pennsylvania’s Republican-led legislature just sent one to
its Democrat governor who item-vetoed a decent-sized chunk of it, while
Illinois’ legislature led by Democrats haven’t tried in the face of veto
threats from its Republican governor.
But it is unlikely that these
events will replicate in Louisiana starting this summer, largely because of
constitutional and legal differences among the three states. Pennsylvania
actually has measures legally
in place, as its Constitution
does not restrict the time limit of appropriations, to tide over the state in
such circumstances, as has commonly happened over the last decade. Nor does
Illinois have such a time restriction in its and it also allows
short-term borrowing to cover a portion of state expenditures. Keep in mind
as well that both have full-time legislatures who can work on this matter every
day while Louisiana like most states has only a part-time legislature that must
meet in extraordinary (special) or emergency (a stretch for this purpose)
session to deal with any unfinished (or unanticipated) business.
