FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, February 14, 2011
For more information, please contact:
Jim Harris or Brad Lambert
225-344-0381 office
jharris@hdaissues.com
blambert@hdaissues.com
BLUEPRINT RELEASES POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FY 2012
BATON ROUGE, La. — Blueprint Louisiana today released a list of policy recommendations focused on
Louisiana’s budget challenges for the upcoming fiscal year.
Building on Blueprint’s commitment to state government reform, the organization prepared a list of researchdriven recommendations that deliver substantive budget solutions for Fiscal Year 2012 and provide real
reforms to address long-standing issues facing Louisiana. The list of 14 recommendations provides an
estimated $972 million to $1.64 billion in potential savings and new revenue for the upcoming budget cycle.
“The Blueprint Board of Trustees recognized last fall the state’s budget challenges were considerable, and we
felt compelled to develop a one-year blueprint that produces savings as well as improves how our state
functions and serves its citizens,” said Blueprint Louisiana Chairman Bill Fenstermaker, President and Chief
Executive Officer of C.H. Fenstermaker & Associates of Lafayette. “We encourage not only thoughtful
discussion about these and other ideas, but bold and decisive action to advance statewide priorities that build
a foundation for sustainable government.”
GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS FOR STATE GOVERNMENT
Recommendation
Potential Savings/New Revenue in FY 2012
Open up statutorily protected funding
$100+ million in potential savings
Reduce state workers by 9,486 over two years
$235+ million in potential savings
Reform state employee and teacher retirement
$25+ million in potential savings
systems
Be “smart on crime” by revising outdated sentencing $2 million to $6 million in potential savings
and parole guidelines
Subtotal $362 million to $366 million in potential
savings
HEALTH CARE RECOMMENDATIONS
Recommendation
Potential Savings/New Revenue in FY 2012
Implement a Medicaid coordinated care system
$20+ million in potential savings
Reform the charity hospital system
$50+ million in potential savings
Maximize federal matching funds for current state
$125 to $575 million in potential savings and new
health expenditures
revenues
Implement a hospital provider assessment to
$245 million in potential new revenues
generate new state dollars for the federal match
Strike the right balance of institutional, community
$25+ million in potential savings
and home-based care
Subtotal $465 million to $915 million in potential savings
and new revenue
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Blueprint Louisiana News Release
Page Two
2/14/11
HIGHER EDUCATION RECOMMENDATIONS
Recommendation
Potential Savings/New Revenue in FY 2012
Sharpen the focus on academic performance, and
Millions in strategic reductions to re-invest in higher
eliminate programs that don’t meet acceptable
education
standards
Undertake and incentivize structural reform
$25+ million in potential savings
Create management savings and efficiencies
$20+ million in potential savings
Grant more operational freedom to institutions
$10+ million in potential savings
Re-define the role of the legislature in setting tuition
$90 million to $300 million in potential new revenue
rates
Subtotal $145 million to $355 million in potential savings
and new revenue
Blueprint has spent the past six months conducting research into these and other ideas. The result is an 18page report that provides an explanation of each of the 14 recommendations and estimates potential savings
and/or new revenue generated to help the state close its significant FY12 budget shortfall.
“Our state budget challenges continue to present an opportunity for meaningful reforms in government,”
Fenstermaker said. “Budget reductions are necessary, and we believe it matters immensely how those cuts
are made. Our goal is a state government that operates more efficiently and is more sustainable in the future.”
Established in 2006, Blueprint Louisiana is a citizen-driven effort to identify and implement essential changes
to make the state a better place to live and work. The group’s original vision for a better Louisiana focused on
major governmental reforms in the areas of ethics, education, workforce development, health care,
transportation and coastal restoration and hurricane protection. In 2009, it added a “new economy” component
(higher education and economic innovation) to its reform agenda. The nonpartisan effort is led and supported
by community and business leaders from across the state.
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