Surplus spending proposals approved by the House budget committee
BYLINE: By The Associated Press
The House Appropriations Committee advanced a bill that would spend much of the state's surplus money on more than two dozen items, from road construction to hurricane recovery. A look at the bigger pieces of the $1.9 billion proposal that heads to the full House for debate:
INFRASTRUCTURE:
$600 million for road repairs and construction.
$200 million for coastal restoration and hurricane flood protection projects.
$42 million for port repairs and expansions.
$25 million to the Louisiana Housing Finance Authority for loans for low-income housing.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT:
$150 million for an economic development fund that would be used to help attract so-called "mega-projects" to Louisiana, money that could be used on things like site improvements and land purchases.
HURRICANE RECOVERY:
$447 million for the Road Home homeowner grant program (combines with another $267 million in federal recovery money for a full $714 million earmark for Road Home)
$23 million for a revolving loan fund for the city of New Orleans to make repairs to hurricane-damaged buildings, streets and other infrastructure.
$15 million to universities in hurricane-affected areas.
$12 million for the New Orleans Convention Center and the city visitor's bureau.
$11 million for health insurance for school systems in hurricane-damaged areas.
HEALTH CARE:
$55 million to build and start up primary health care clinics around Louisiana.
$38 million for the Louisiana Cancer Research Consortium in New Orleans.
$30 million for electronic medical record keeping at the charity hospitals
$10 million for a program in north Louisiana that connects rural hospitals to the LSU public hospitals and provides for continuing education.
EDUCATION:
$77 million for building repairs on public college campuses.
$25 million for classroom technology at K-12 schools.
$15 million for technology upgrades at the community and technical college system.
$12 million for the Louisiana Tech University research park.
$10.7 million for endowed chairs and professorships at public colleges.
OTHER:
$42 million for judgments or settlements in lawsuits against the state.
$5 million for food banks to provide food for the poor.
Where the money would come from:
$827 million from a surplus left over in the 2005-06 budget year that ended June 30, 2006.
$380 million in state money paid to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the state's portion of the costs for people and households who received aid after the hurricanes. The state match requirement was waived recently by Congress.
$372 million in unspent state cash available in the current 2006-07 budget year.
$300 million set aside in a fund by lawmakers last year to try to attract a German steelmaker to build its new mill in Louisiana. Alabama got the mill instead.
On the Net: House Bill 765 can be found at http://www.legis.state.la.us