Bobby Jindal may be out of office, but commitments his administration made while he was governor will haunt Governor John Bel Edwards for years.
The New Orleans Advocate details the various incentives and business deals the Jindal administration committed the state to without actually setting aside money to pay for any of it.
In the upcoming 2016-17 budget year, the Edwards administration will owe an estimated $50 million to companies from Jindal’s economic development deals, about $11 million from the state construction budget and another $39 million in direct cash from the general fund.
That doesn’t count spending from any tax break programs through which companies in Louisiana can lessen what they owe the state.
The Edwards administration will owe at least $155 million to various businesses and corporations over the next four years not counting tax breaks, and while that may not sound like a lot, it's significant because this debt will prevent the state from spending more money on other more important programs.
Jindal made these commitments without carving out pay-fors, effectively putting them on the state credit card. You could say the Fiscally Irresponsible governor had no choice because the state couldn't afford to cover these commitments and incentives, but that was also his fault. Jindal spearheaded the movement to drastically lower state taxes which emptied the state's coffers.
It make take the entirety of Edwards' term to reverse the fiscal damage done to the state by Hurricane Jindal and it will require cooperation from the state legislature.