Auto-pilot

Louisiana is run by people who call themselves "fiscal conservatives."  You might think that means they favor responsible budgeting policy but what it really means is being super shitty to poor people who need things like food stamps and unemployment benefits while, literally, giving away free money to rich people without a care in the world as to what happens to it.

State officials need to consider Louisiana’s long list of tax breaks as spending programs that siphon dollars away from the budget, just like road projects and health care services, the Legislature’s chief economist said Monday.

But Greg Albrecht said the difference with Louisiana’s $7 billion in various tax credits, rebates and exemptions is that the spending comes off the top, with no annual oversight from state lawmakers before the money goes out the door.

“It’s open-ended and unappropriated. It’s on auto-pilot. The programs, the parameters, the statutes that set them up, participation, payout. It’s got no controls, no review, nothing,” Albrecht told the Press Club of Baton Rouge.