• Audit of the accounts and records of each tax collector at least once a year.

• Audit of a municipality or any public, quasi public, or private agency receiving state funds when requested to do so by the Legislative Audit Advisory Council, the legislature, or a grand jury.

• Determination of all funds in the state treasury.

• Submission to the legislature and the governor, prior to each regular session, of a written statement of the financial condition of the state treasury at the close of the preceding fiscal year, with an itemized estimate of the anticipated revenues for the current and the succeeding fiscal year.

• Preparation of fiscal notes for proposed legislation affecting the expenditures of local government and the receipts and expenditures of any state board or commission which is not appropriated state funds.

• Conduct of performance audits, program evaluations, and other studies as needed to enable the legislature to evaluate the efficiency, effectiveness, and operation of state programs.

• The legislative auditor fills the role of state auditor and reporter on the financial affairs of the state. In fulfilling these functions, the legislative auditor is aided and advised by the Legislative Audit Advisory Council.

The legislative actuary serves as an advisor to the legislature on issues related to public retirement systems. The basic functions of this office (R.S. 24:521) encompass the following:

• Preparation of actuarial notes, which are estimates of the immediate and long-range financial and actuarial effects of proposed legislation relative to any state, parochial, or municipal retirement system funded wholly or partially from public funds.

• Responding to requests for actuarial information requests of committees and individual legislators.

The subject matter jurisdiction of the Ways and Means Committee encompasses taxes and the raising of revenue; bonds and the bonding of revenue, including issuance, payment or retirement of bonds; evidences of indebtedness; the Department of Revenue; revenue collection; assessors; parish tax collectors; and the bond portion of the comprehensive state capital budget.

The Fiscal Year 2007-2008 total state budget from all means of financing is $29.8 billion, of which $15.8 billion is federal funds and $14 billion is state funds, including the State General Fund, dedicated funds, and fees and self-generated revenues. The Fiscal Year 2007-2008 state general fund as forecast by the May 2007 official forecast of the Revenue Estimating Conference is $8.741 billion. The major revenue sources are sales tax, individual income tax, corporate income and franchise taxes, gaming revenues, gasoline tax, and severance tax. The state constitution sets a rate limit on the individual income tax and the motor vehicle license tax, requiring a constitutional amendment to increase the tax rate of these two revenue sources.

The state may incur debt or issue bonds only by law enacted by two-thirds of the members of each house of the legislature, and then only if the funds are to be used for any of the following purposes: to repel invasion, suppress insurrection, provide relief from natural catastrophes, refund outstanding indebtedness at the same or a lower effective interest rate, or make capital improvements in accordance with the comprehensive capital budget adopted by the legislature. The legislature may also, by a two-thirds vote of each house, propose a statewide public referendum to authorize incurring of debt by the state for any purpose for which the legislature is not authorized to incur debt. All state general obligation bonds and certain bonds of state agencies, boards, and commissions which are secured by the full faith and credit of the state are secured by the Bond Security and Redemption Fund (Const. Art. VII, §6 and §9 (B)).

Budget Planning and Preparation　　

The state fiscal year for which appropriations are made begins on July 1 and ends on June 30.　

The Revenue Estimating Conference establishes an official revenue estimate (formally known as the "official forecast") for use by the governor and the legislature in preparing and adopting the budget for each fiscal year, including designation of money that is nonrecurring. The principals of the conference are the governor, the president of the Senate, the speaker of the House, and a faculty member with revenue forecasting expertise from a public or private university in the state. Any final action establishing the official forecast must be made by a unanimous decision of the conference principals. Any change to add members to the conference or change to the unanimous vote requirement must be made by law enacted by two-thirds of the members of each house. The conference is to meet quarterly and also at any time two principals suggest that a possible revision of the forecast be considered (Const. Art. VII, §10(A)(B)).

In its adoption of a revenue forecast, the Revenue Estimating Conference will designate whether monies available for appropriation are recurring or nonrecurring in nature. A budget surplus from a prior year has been a common source of nonrecurring revenues recognized in recent years (the $827 million surplus from Fiscal Year 2005-2006 was appropriated in the 2007 Regular Session). Those monies which have been designated as nonrecurring are limited in their use to: early retirement or defeasance of state debt, payments on the unfunded accrued liability of the public retirement systems, capital outlay, deposit into the Budget Stabilization Fund, deposit into the Coastal Protection and Restoration Fund, or new highway construction for which federal matching funds are available.

Appropriations or expenditures for any fiscal year shall not exceed the official revenue estimate of monies available for appropriation as determined in the most recently adopted official forecast for that fiscal year. Such appropriations and expenditures from the state general fund and certain dedicated funds are also limited by the expenditure limit for that fiscal year.

Appropriations from the state general fund and dedicated funds may not exceed the expenditure limit for the respective fiscal year. Each year's expenditure limit is calculated by increasing the expenditure limit for the previous fiscal year by a positive growth factor. The growth factor is the average annual percentage rate of change of personal income for Louisiana for the three calendar years prior to the fiscal year for which the limit is calculated (Const. Art. VII, §10(C)).

The expenditure limit for each fiscal year is calculated by the commissioner of administration for the purpose of development and enactment of the ensuing year's state budget. This calculation must be presented to the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget at least 35 days prior to the start of each regular session of the legislature. The expenditure limit calculated by the commissioner of administration may be changed in any fiscal year by a favorable vote of two-thirds of the elected members of each house. In the 2007 Regular Session, the legislature voted to increase the expenditure limit for Fiscal Year 2006-2007 from $10.3 billion to $12.2 billion to allow for the appropriation of surplus revenues from the prior year ($827 million) and additional revenues which were incorporated into the official forecast for Fiscal Year 2006-2007 since the most recent legislative session. The expenditure limit for Fiscal Year 2007-2008 is $11.6 billion. Federal monies, transfers between state agencies, and self-generated monies of public institutions of higher education are excluded from those monies considered in the development of the expenditure limit.

The House Appropriations Committee has 19 members: one member elected from each of the seven congressional districts of the state by House members from the district and the remaining 12 members appointed by the speaker, of whom one is appointed from each of the five Public Service Commission districts and seven at large.

The subject matter jurisdiction of the committee includes matters related to the appropriation and expenditure of funds, fiscal controls, deposit and investment of public funds, cash flow, economy and efficiency in government, budgetary procedures, and procurement of goods and services and professional, personal, and consulting services. The committee also considers legislation originating in the Senate which is estimated to have an impact on expenditures which exceeds $500,000.

• General Appropriation Bill – This bill provides for the annual operating budgets of state agencies, and includes both appropriated funding levels and performance targets for the year. The bill is submitted to the legislature by the governor and must be in conformity with the governor's executive budget. The legislature reviews and modifies the programs and recommended expenditures contained in the bill. Amendments increasing appropriations are generally added in line item form and are subject to gubernatorial veto.

• Capital Outlay Bill – This bill provides for the comprehensive capital construction budget for the state of Louisiana. The Capital Outlay Bill provides funding for construction of buildings, highways, flood control, airports, ports, and other public improvements. Only the projects funded by cash sources, commonly referred to as the cash portion of the bill, is reviewed and amended by the Appropriations Committee. The bond portion of the bill is within the jurisdiction of the House Committee on Ways and Means.

• Ancillary Appropriation Bill – This bill provides for appropriation of funds as working capital for the financing of business enterprises conducted by state agencies, such as self-insurance programs, prison enterprises, cafeterias, and printing centers. Appropriations are made out of special revolving working capital funds into which revenues from the operation of these enterprises are deposited and from which allotments are made.

• Legislative Expense Bill – The expenses of the legislature and its service agencies including House Legislative Services, Senate Research Services, the Legislative Auditor’s Office, the Legislative Fiscal Office, the Law Institute, and other support services are appropriated by means of the legislative expense bill rather than the General Appropriation Bill. The Legislative Budgetary Control Council is charged by law (R.S. 24:38) with the responsibility of reviewing and controlling the budget and expenses of the legislature and its agencies. The council is composed of 10 members: the president of the Senate, the president pro tempore of the Senate, the speaker of the House, the speaker pro tempore of the House, the chairman and one member of the Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee, the chairman and one member of the House and Governmental Affairs Committee, the chairmen of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees, and, ex officio, the clerk of the House and the secretary of the Senate.

• Judicial Expense Bill – The appropriation for the expenses of the judiciary, including the supreme court, courts of appeal, district courts, and other courts, is also provided for in a separate appropriation bill. The budget preparation and expenditure control function is vested in the Judicial Budgetary Control Board.

• Revenue Sharing Bill – $90 million is allocated annually from the state general fund to the Revenue Sharing Fund. Monies in the fund are distributed based on the population and number of homesteads in each parish in proportion to the population and number of homesteads statewide. The revenue sharing bill, after providing deductions for retirement systems and commissions, provides for distributions to local tax recipient bodies in each parish in an amount and manner specified in the bill. (Const. Art. VII, §26).

• Judgment Bills – Final judgments which are not paid through the risk management program require an appropriation of funds by the legislature for payment. Appropriations Committee staff review and authenticate documentation involved in the judgment, and bills appropriating funds to pay the judgments are reviewed by the Appropriations Committee.

• Supplemental Appropriation Bills – These bills are appropriations for the current fiscal year which are made during that fiscal year and which are supplemental to the state budget which was adopted by the legislature in the previous regular session. They provide for unanticipated expenses by utilizing excess monies available for appropriation which were not available at the time of adoption of that year's budget or which, by their nature, are unavailable for addition through interim budget adjustment.

• Other Appropriation Bills – These include special nonrecurring expenses of the state, which may include issues such as recommendations by the Board of Tax Appeals to pay awards rendered by that board and other sundry matters. The format for these appropriations is a supplemental appropriation bill.