The Senate Finance Committee yesterday passed three bills (SB 1, SB 2, and SB 34) that are part of Governor Jindal’s fiscal reform package, which would enhance budget flexibility by increasing the amount and frequency of reductions to “statutory dedications” allowable during times of deficit.  The Advocate begins its coverage this way:

A Jindal administration-pushed constitutional amendment that would provide greater budget-cutting flexibility when the state is facing financial crisis cleared a state Senate panel Monday.

Gov. Bobby Jindal testified the change would help spread the budget-cutting pain across all state agencies. Higher education and health care are the only major areas unprotected from the budget ax.

Louisiana expects $1.3 billion less state revenue for spending in the fiscal year that begins July 1.

“And there will be multiple years of budget challenges,” Jindal said. “We need to do everything we can to mitigate impacts on health care and higher education.”

Read the whole story here.