BATON ROUGE (AP) — Gov. Bobby Jindal's top budget officials say the state will reach the $76 million in state general fund savings it promised to keep this year's budget balanced.
The Jindal administration hired consultant Alvarez and Marsal to recommend ideas to save the state money, improve government operations and generate new money.
The administration assumed $75.7 million less would be spent this year because of those recommendations, and lawmakers built that into the budget. The Senate Finance Committee sought an update Monday.
Ruth Johnson, overseeing the consulting contract for Jindal's Division of Administration, told senators agencies expect to exceed the state general fund savings included in the budget, by about $6 million.
The consulting contract generated complaints from lawmakers who said agencies should be able to find their own savings.
– by AP Reporter Melinda Deslatte
