Gov. John Bel Edwards will propose using portions of Louisiana’s share of the $350 billion in government aid called for in the American Rescue Plan Act to pay for infrastructure improvements, promote tourism and replenish the fund that pays for state unemployment benefits, his top budget official said Monday.
Louisiana’s share of the aid is expected to be almost $5.2 billion, including about $3.2 billion to state government, not counting $180 million reserved for construction projects. The rest will go to local governments.
As The Center Square reports, Louisiana Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne says the federal government has not issued the rules governing how the money can be spent. He said administration officials just had their first discussion about how to do so Monday morning. The Louisiana Legislature would have to approve a bill to spend the money, and Edwards has not begun to meet with legislative leaders about his proposal, Dardenne says.
So the administration’s plan is a work in progress, but putting “hundreds of millions of dollars” into the state’s unemployment insurance trust fund, as Dardenne put it, is one priority Edwards shares with many legislators.
The fund, which had a balance of more than $1 billion before the COVID-19 pandemic, has been tapped out by unprecedented demand, forcing state officials to borrow money from the federal government to pay legally required benefits. The Legislature suspended laws last year that otherwise call for tax increases on businesses and reduced benefits for unemployed workers when the fund balance gets low. Read the full story.
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March 16, 2021 at 04:40PM
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Edwards wants stimulus to help pay for infrastructure, replenish jobless fund - Greater Baton Rouge Business Report
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