Fiscal insanity

Bobby Jindal's Louisiana Miracle

Low oil prices are a factor in the budget crisis, but Albrecht and the state's other economist, Manfred Dix, said tax collections across a variety of areas have taken a hit. Sales and income taxes are unusually low.

"This is a very low number for individual income tax collection," Dix said.

Not all of those problems can be attributed to the downturn in the oil market. Louisiana's sluggish sales tax collection predates the low oil prices, Albrecht said.

And perhaps a bigger problem than low prices for Louisiana is the state's lack of corporate tax collections. Albrecht says Louisiana is likely to pay more out to corporations in tax credits and refunds than it collects in taxes this year.

"I've never seen corporate numbers this weak," he told the panel.