Treasurer Kennedy Praises Legislature for Working to Dedicate $528 Million to Higher Education

4/24/2014-- 11:17 AM CDT

BATON ROUGE, La. - State Treasurer John Kennedy praised members of the Louisiana House of Representatives today for unanimously passing HB 142 by Rep. Jerome "Dee" Richard to cut consulting contracts by 10 percent and dedicate the $528 million saved to higher education.

"Louisiana's colleges and universities need money," said Treasurer Kennedy. "This bill is a way we can help them without raising taxes or tuition."

Louisiana has 19,000 consulting contracts spread throughout state government, and approximately 14,000 of these contracts are for $50,000 or more. In 2012, total state spending on professional, personal and consulting contracts was $5.28 billion.

Taxpayers can search through a list of state contracts here. A small sample of the contracts on this site include:

$94,000 for a California consultant to "assist students to learn valuable social skills through organized play on their recess and lunch periods" (Contract #672113)

$874,930 for a consultant to "provide ... assistance to disadvantaged business enterprise companies doing business with DOTD" (Contract #658942)

$19,500 for DHH to pay a consultant to "coordinate two Golden Glove Boxing tournaments" (Contract #710616) $250,000 in consulting fees for DOE to "provide valid and reliable data to parents to support informed school choice decisions" (Contract #674139)

"Why would any reasonable public official give precious taxpayer dollars to the Hop 2 It Music Co., the Smile and Happiness Foundation or the Light City Church under any circumstances, but particularly when our colleges and universities and the kids they teach are falling behind the rest of America in a knowledge-based global economy," asked Treasurer Kennedy.

HB 142 passed the House today by a vote of 98-0. In 2012, the bill passed the House by 94-0 and again in 2013 by a vote of 86-0. The bill now faces an uphill battle in the Senate, where in previous years, it has been defeated in the Senate Finance Committee.