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By MICHELLE MILLHOLLON

 

The head of the Louisiana House Appropriations Committee questioned the Jindal administration Tuesday on why more money is not being set aside to improve state highways in rural areas.

 

State Rep. Jim Fannin, D-Jonesboro, said he expected $44 million to be deposited this year into the State Highway Improvement Fund from truck and trailer registration licensing fees and taxes.

 

With three months left in the current spending year, $25 million has been placed into the fund, created to maintain 6,000 miles of state highways that do not qualify for federal dollars.

 

“We thought it was pretty clear what we intended to go into that fund,” Fannin said.

 

Greg Albrecht, chief economist for the Legislative Fiscal Office, said he is not certain where the problem lies.

 

He said a 2006 bill attempted to place into the fund those fees not already being spent in other areas. Before the bill, that undedicated money went into the state’s general fund, which uses taxpayer money to pay for higher education, health care and other public services.

 

Albrecht said the amount of money going into the fund is less than what was expected. He said an answer is needed from the state Department of Public Safety on sections of the law involving license taxes that the bill might have omitted.

 

He said he is unclear on what those sections of law would be since the bill seemed to encompass everything.

 

“There was a breakdown in communication here,” Albrecht said.

 

Fannin said he wants the problem fixed.

 

“There seems to be some misunderstanding,” Fannin said. “It’s flip-flopping and it shouldn’t be flip-flopping to the degree it is.”

 

Louisiana State Police Col. Mike Edmonson said after the meeting that his staff will sit down with the Legislative Fiscal Office to review the law.

 

“It could be as simple as a coding issue,” he said, referring to the system of directing dollars to different areas.

 

Commissioner of Administration Paul Rainwater, the governor’s chief budget aide, said later in the meeting that a shift might be made in the state construction budget to increase the amount of money that is spent on road projects.

 

“Our preliminary conversations have been about being very road heavy, very transportation heavy,” he said.

 

The issue arose as the House Committee on Appropriations reviewed Gov. Bobby Jindal’s proposed $24.9 billion state operating budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1.

 

Public Safety, which includes State Police, the State Fire Marshal’s Office and the Office of Motor Vehicles, is budgeted at $381 million, a 43.2 percent drop compared to the current fiscal year.

 

Much of the drop stems from that fact that BP gave the agency $245 million in the current spending year for expenses related to the oil rig explosion.

 

Lawmakers praised Edmonson for the way he is running the agency.

 

Edmonson said the Jindal administration is focusing on allowing people to take care of multiple errands at a single location.

 

He said kiosks could be built for people to obtain a hunting license, renew their driver’s license and apply for food stamps.

 

Edmonson said the state wants to partner with groups such as Councils on Aging to help senior citizens who might not be computer savvy so they can get their driver’s license at a place other than a motor vehicle office.

Original Article