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Attorney General Defends Concept of Separate Budget

Sue Lincoln

Attorney General Jeff Landry crossed swords with the media at the Baton Rouge Press Club Monday.

“I have not in any way – ever – made any notion that I was trying to grab power, however that has been a common theme that the media has seems to want to take,” Landry said.

That didn’t stop reporters, who grilled him about HB 105, the bill giving his department its own separate budget.

“Nothing in the bill confers additional power on the Attorney General,” Landry said, defensively. “This simply gives a constitutional officer the ability to manage his money, with the oversight being the proper oversight – that being the Legislature.”

Pressed for examples of any budget conflicts he has had with the Governor or Division of Administration, Landry said only that he “heard from staff that it was frequent under the previous governor.”

The Attorney General said he wasn’t the instigator of the bill. It was prompted by Secretary of State Tom Schedler’s testimony before House Appropriations during the special session earlier this year. And Appropriations chair Cameron Henry had a “placemarking bill” that could serve as the vehicle.

“At the last minute, the Secretary decided to withdraw from the bill,” Landry explained. The A.G. went ahead because, “I believe there’s a constitutional problem here. I do not believe the Governor has the constitutional right to control the purse over those statewides. The Legislature does.”

Yet the Louisiana Constitution says: “The powers of government of the state are divided into three separate branches: legislative, executive, and judicial,” and that “the Executive branch shall consist of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, Treasurer, Agriculture Commissioner, Insurance Commissioner” – all the statewide-elected officials.  

It further says “the Governor shall be the chief executive officer of the state” – the one in charge of them all -- and that “the Governor shall submit to the legislature an operating budget” – one budget.

And while Governor John Bel Edwards has said he will veto the separated budget for the Attorney General, because he believes it’s unconstitutional, the Senate Finance Committee still has to consider HB 105, which they take up later this week.