EXECUTIVE ORDER MJF 00-18

Hiring and Spending Freeze

WHEREAS, pursuant to the provisions of Article IV, Section 5 of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974, as amended, Act 10 of the 1999 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature, and/or R.S. 42:375, the governor may issue executive orders which prohibit the filling of any new or existing employment vacancies in the executive branch of state government (hereafter "hiring freeze") and/or limit expenditures on travel, professional services, supplies, acquisitions, and/or major repairs of the various agencies in the executive branch of state government (hereafter "spending freeze"); and

WHEREAS, to ensure that the state of Louisiana will not suffer a budget deficit due to 1999-2000 appropriations exceeding actual revenues, prudent money management practices dictate that the best interests of the citizens of the state of Louisiana will be served by the implementation of a hiring and spending freeze throughout the executive branch of state government to achieve as great a state general fund dollar savings as possible during the remainder of the 1999- 2000 fiscal year;

NOW THEREFORE, I, M.J. "MIKE" FOSTER, JR., Governor of the state of Louisiana, by virtue of the authority vested by the Constitution and laws of the state of Louisiana, do hereby order and direct as follows:

SECTION 1:

A. Unless specifically exempted by a provision of this Order, no vacancy in an existing or new position of employment within the executive branch of state government, which exists on or occurs after May 4, 2000, shall be filled without the express written approval of the commissioner of administration.

B. Unless specifically exempted by a provision of this Order, no expenditure of funds shall be made within the executive branch of state government for travel, professional services, supplies, acquisitions, and/or major repairs, without the express written approval of the commissioner of administration. As used in this Order, "professional services" means all services subject to the approval of the Division of Administration, Office of Contractual Review, but not approved as of the effective date of this Order, including professional, personal, consulting and social services contracts, grants and/or interagency agreements as defined in Chapter 16 of Title 39, and cooperative endeavor agreements as defined in Executive Order No. MJF 96-24, issued on August 9, 1996.

SECTION 2:

A. The budget activities funded by Act 10 of the 1999 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature (hereafter "the Act") which are exempt from the prohibitions set forth in Section 1 of this Order are as follows:

1. All budget activities a) directly related to the official personal needs of a statewide elected official, or b) which are necessary for the statewide elected official to personally perform his or her constitutional functions;

2. All budget activities funded by the Act which are not financed by

a) funds from the State General Fund (Direct), as that term is used in the Act, or

b) other funds the balances of which revert to the State General Fund (Direct), as that term is used in the Act (hereafter "State General Fund Equivalent");

3. All budget activities funded by the Act which are set forth in the Act under Schedule 19 Higher Education for carrying out the functions of higher education; and

4. All budget activities funded by the Act which are expressly and directly mandated

a) by existing and/or future court orders, or

b) by settlement agreements of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, the Department of Education, and the Department of Health and Hospitals entered to avoid litigation.

B. The budget activities funded by the Act which are exempt from the prohibitions set forth in subsection 1(A) of this Order are as follows:

1. Employee transfers, promotions, or re-allocations within a department, office, agency, board or commission of the executive branch of state government which will not, in any manner, increase the aggregate number of filled positions in that department, office, agency, board or commission as of the effective date of this Order;

2. Correctional security officers, probation and parole agents, direct medical care positions, and other positions in corrections services necessary for the maintenance of national accreditation, within the Department of Public Safety and Corrections;

3. All commissioned troopers of the State Police;

4. Revenue Tax Auditors, Revenue Analysts, Revenue Tax Directors, Tax Collection Analysts, Tax Officers, Tax Representatives, and all positions in the Operations Division within the Department of Revenue; and

5. All instructional and residential personnel, and all administrative personnel positions deemed to be absolutely critical for the operation, of the Louisiana School for the Visually Impaired, the Louisiana School for the Deaf, the Louisiana Special Education Center, the Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts, and the Special School Districts.

C. The budget activities funded by the Act which are exempt from the portion of the provisions of subsection 1(B) of this Order that prohibits the expenditure of funds for travel are as follows:

1. All travel associated with promoting or marketing the state of Louisiana and/or its products by a) the Office of State Parks and/or the Office of Tourism within the Department of Culture, Recreation, and Tourism, or b) the Department of Economic Development; and

2. All field travel that is necessary and essential to fulfill the mission of a department, office, agency, board or commission.

D. The budget activities funded by the Act which are exempt from the portion of the provisions of subsection 1(B) of this Order that prohibits the expenditure of funds for supplies are as follows:

1. Medical and food supplies for the Louisiana War Veterans Home and the Northeast Louisiana War Veterans Home;

2. Supplies for the Office of State Parks within the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism for maintenance and household needs to maintain state parks and commemorative areas;

3. Supplies for incarceration, rehabilitation, and health services, and/or the Blue Walters and Diagnostic Programs, of the state adult correctional institutions;

4. Supplies for state juvenile correctional institutions;

5. All medical, pharmaceutical and related supplies for the divisions of the Department of Health and Hospitals, the Department of Social Services, and the LSU Medical Center Health Care Services Division which provide direct patient care services;

6. Instructional, medical, and food supplies for the Louisiana School for the Visually Impaired, the Louisiana Special Education Center, the Louisiana School for the Deaf, Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts, and the Special School Districts;

7. Automotive supplies for commissioned troopers of the State Police; and

8. All supplies of the Division of Administration that are necessary and essential to the training related activities of the Comprehensive Public Training Program or the maintenance and upkeep of public buildings and grounds.

E. The budget activities funded by the Act which are exempt from the portion of the provisions of subsection 1(B) of this Order that prohibits the expenditure of funds for acquisitions and major repairs are the buildings, grounds and general plant maintenance equipment needs of the Division of Administration for the maintenance and upkeep of public buildings and grounds.

SECTION 3: Each department, agency, office, board or commission shall file monthly reports with the commissioner of administration on June 1, 2000, and July 1, 2000, reflecting projected savings that the department, agency, office, board or commission will generate through the implementation of this Order. Such reports shall reflect a full accounting of personnel changes within the department, agency, office, board or commission for the reporting period covered, including an accounting of employment figures at the beginning and end of the reporting period and the number of vacancies filled and/or not filled during the reporting period, pursuant to the provisions of this Order. The reports shall include a categorized summary of transactions which resulted pursuant to the exceptions set forth in Section 2 and/or permitted pursuant to subsection 4(A) of this Order.

SECTION 4:

A. The commissioner of administration is authorized to grant any agency, department, office, board or commission in the executive branch of state government an exemption, on a case by case basis or by category, from all or a part of the prohibitions set forth in Section 1 of this Order, as he deems necessary and appropriate. Such an exemption shall be express and in writing.

B. Requests for an exemption from all or a part of the prohibitions set forth in Section 1 of this Order, on a case by case basis or by category, shall be submitted only by a statewide elected official, by the secretary or head of a department, or by the head of an agency, office, board or commission which is not within a department. Each request for an exemption shall be in writing and shall contain a description of the type of exemption sought and full justification for the request.

C. The commissioner of administration may develop guidelines pertaining to requests for exemption from all or a part of the prohibitions set forth in Section 1 of this Order.

D. If necessary, the commissioner of administration may develop definitions for the terms and/or the descriptions used in this Order.

SECTION 5: This Order is effective upon signature and shall remain in effect through June 30, 2000, or until amended, modified, terminated, or rescinded by the governor, or terminated by operation of law.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have set my hand officially and caused to be affixed the Great Seal of the state of Louisiana, at the Capitol, in the city of Baton Rouge, on this 4th day of May, 2000.

M.J. "Mike" Foster, Jr.
Governor

ATTEST BY
THE GOVERNOR
Fox McKeithen
Secretary of State