House Appropriations approves budget bills that contains teacher pay raises, but no dedicated dollars for new Mississippi River Bridge in Baton Rouge

Jeffrey Schwartz / CC

The House Appropriations Committee approved a spending plan today for next fiscal year that contains 15-hundred dollar pay raises for teachers and 750-dollars for support staff. Chairman Jerome Zeringue of Houma says if this latest raise makes it through the legislative process, teachers would see their salary go up 33-hundred dollars over the last four years.

“We still need to work toward getting them to the Southern Regional Average, but we have and will continue to support teachers as demonstrated in this year’s budget and the previous three,” said Zeringue.

The budget bill also calls for using 500-million dollars in federal pandemic aid to help replenish the state’s unemployment trust fund. Another 450-million dollars would be allocated to water systems.

The proposed budget for next year does not contain a 100-dollar increase in supplemental pay for local police and firefighters, despite a recommendation from Governor John Bel Edwards. Zeringue says Louisiana is the only state to provide a salary supplement for local police and firefighters.

“And granted they are worth more than what we are providing, but this is a recurring expense and we need to look at trying to engage and involve local governments as well to support their local fire and police,” said Zeringue.

There’s also a disagreement between the Edwards administration and House Republicans over funding for a new Mississippi River Bridge in Baton Rouge. The governor is proposing to put 500-million dollars towards the construction of a new I-10 bridge that could cost two-point-five billion dollars.

Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne made the case why this money is needed now.

“This money is going to be able to be used by DOTD when it submits for competitive grants that are going to be available from the bipartisan infrastructure act,” said Dardenne.

But for right now, a supplemental budget bill proposes that 100-million be spent on road repair and preservation and it’s undecided where the other 400-million will go.

The budget bills will be heard on the House floor on Thursday.