Jindal talks of budget cuts

Published 3:36 pm Monday, October 20, 2008

BATON ROUGE (AP) — Governor Bobby Jindal says he won’t agree to raise taxes to fill a projected $1 billion budget shortfall next year. But he’s already warning state agencies that they face cuts to close the gap.

Jindal says it’s too early to talk about where he might consider cuts, but he says he’s talked to his agency chiefs about finding ways to trim spending and increase efficiencies.

Budget analysts say it would cost $1 billion more than the state has to spend next year to continue running all current programs and keep up with the costs of inflation.

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Jindal talked about the budget projections Monday after a meeting with cabinet secretaries on the state of the Louisiana economy.