GumboBC

Legislative panel OKs way to pay Saints

By MELINDA DESLATTE
Associated Press Writer

BATON ROUGE, La. - In a multimillion dollar, last-minute shell game, a legislative compromise committee worked out a $17.5 billion budget for next year that keeps lawmakers' pet projects in tact, spares the charity hospitals from cuts and avoids a fight over the shortfall in the state's payment to the New Orleans Saints.

Instead of using general operating cash, the compromise committee agreed Monday to a plan _ tucked into a second money bill _ that would borrow from an economic development fund to fill in the $7 million shortfall in the state's annual $15 million payment to the NFL team and pay it back over eight years with local cash. The source of that local repayment was uncertain, however.
"This is the way we get the money right now," said Sen. Francis Heitmeier, D-New Orleans, who handles the budget bill in the Senate. "We were against a deadline, July 5, and the last thing we wanted to do was the state to renege on a major economic development deal."

Both the $17.5 billion spending plan for the 2004-05 fiscal year that begins July 1 and the separate measure with the Saints plan awaited decisions on the House and Senate floors, needing approval from both chambers before the session's 6 p.m. deadline.

Both chambers of the Legislature managed to protect their portions of about $20 million in lawmakers' local projects. Senate cuts to House members' pet items were reversed, and the compromise committee added another $1.7 million in local areas, like money for a rodeo arena in Livingston Parish, a senior program in New Orleans and industrial park improvements in Ferriday.

A $4.3 billion construction budget, mainly a wish list of projects since the state is limited in the amount of money it has to spend in the new fiscal year, also awaited final legislative approval in the House. The Senate already has signed off on the plan.

The measure contains a multiyear construction plan for state buildings, highways and legislators' pet projects. It is funded mainly with bond sales that are paid off by the state, federal money for projects such as highways, and revenue bonds that are paid off by money earned through a project's operations.

Since the state has little new money to spend, the construction budget leaves most of the power with the governor's administration to determine which projects actually get lines of credit from the state Bond Commission.

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dberce1

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat!!!! Now, we don\'t have to worry about that Saints deal for another 12 months, when the state will be short again.

Minus the sarcasm, definitely am glad to know the black and gold \"ain\'t going anywhere\", go SAINTS.