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BATON ROUGE (AP) — As Louisiana agencies slashed spending on services over the last decade, state legislative offices managed to sock away hefty surpluses, quietly amassing $85 million in the bank without mentioning the money in their annual budget hearings.
The balances aren’t included in the yearly legislative spending plans, when House and Senate leaders described tight financial straits in their offices and growing costs. The built-up cash hasn’t been subject to the public attention lawmakers have shown to executive branch accounts, where they’ve scrutinized money that rolls over from year to year in budget hearings.
It’s hard to determine how much money legislative agencies have at any given time because they don’t keep their funds in accounts with the state treasury like most other state agencies. But the surplus dollars are buried in the Legislature’s annual financial reports, the latest of which came out Monday.
The House was sitting on a $32 million fund balance when the last budget year ended June 30, according to its most recent audit, while the Senate had $11 million in the bank . The financial report for the Legislative Budgetary Control Council, which covers expenses shared by the House and Senate, showed that agency with about $42 million in its accounts.
Republican House Speaker Taylor Barras and House Appropriations Chairman Cameron Henry didn’t return requests for comment about the financial reports.
Beyond the what-if scenario, Alario said he’d like to use about $40 million for a new legislative auditor’s office building across the street from the Louisiana Capitol, where remains of a demolished office structure are used for parking.
Asked if lawmakers might earmark some money to help with needed repairs on the exterior of the Capitol, where a temporary walkway protects the public entering the front doors from crumbling mortar, Alario said that could be considered. But he made no commitments to finance the work, estimated to cost up to $60 million.
“The building actually belongs to the executive branch,” he said. “We haven’t talked a whole lot about it because it’s just coming to our attention how serious the problem was.”
The financial documents show the House and Senate expect some money to pay for leave time owed to employees and retirement obligations. The House reports it intends to use dollars for computer upgrades and renovations to the House chamber and committee rooms. But even with that anticipated spending, audits show the “unassigned fund balance” tops $53 million.
Appropriations Committee member Jack McFarland, a Winnfield Republican, was unaware of the full size of the accumulated surpluses. He said he’s been told a balance exists in case disagreements with a governor stall passage of the legislative budget, to “keep people working until the dispute can be resolved.” He said he expects the House will spend a small portion of its money to fill vacant jobs after losing workers to private industry.
Lawmakers passed an $85 million spending plan for legislative operations in the fiscal year that began July 1, similar to the prior year budget. The agencies get an additional $10 million annually from a 2008 earmark not included in the legislative budget bill.
Louisiana’s Supreme Court also is sitting on a multimillion-dollar surplus, nearly $58 million, according to the most recent audit for the budget year ending in June 2017.

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Have you taken a shine to someone? Tell them how you feel with a handmade Valentine’s Day card decorated with colorful foil.
Applying foil elevates even the simplest heart shape to something special, but getting it to stick is not so simple, depending on the skills and supplies involved. While I found instructions for more than half a dozen ways to embellish cards with foil, I narrowed them down to three methods involving double-sided adhesive, stencils and a laminating machine.
Luckily, I found crafting instructor Jennifer McGuire, who tested all of them and shared her results in a post and accompanying video on her blog. Though she actually tested five methods, I skipped the techniques involving rubber stamps and tape.
All three methods that I tried start with thin sheets of foil — I purchased a variety pack made by ThermoWeb — but from there they diverged in complexity. Rather than create my own designs, I downloaded free printable Valentines from Design Corral.
Here’s what I found, with each method rated from 1 to 10, with 10 indicating the least expensive, easiest and best results:
STENCILS:
This technique involves placing a stencil on the card and spraying it with a clear adhesive glue. Once the stencil is removed, the foil sheet is applied color-side up, and rubbed with a burnishing tool or butter knife. When the sheet is peeled away, the foil sticks to the design.
The first drawback to this method is the limited availability of stencil designs. I purchased a pack of holiday-themed Martha Stewart stencils but they turned out to be too small for this purpose.
I was able to cut a stencil out of a plastic transparency sheet using my digital cutting machine, but then arrived at my second drawback: The foil didn’t stick very well. Instead of a solid heart shape, it was more of a splattered, worn look. If you’re going for a rustic feel, that might be perfect, but overall, the results were underwhelming.
COST: 7
EASE: 6
RESULTS: 4
DOUBLE-SIDED ADHESIVE:
The second method appeared less messy and more straightforward: Cut a shape out of double-sided adhesive, stick it to the card, cover it with foil and then rub to adhere the foil to the shape.
I had high hopes for this technique, because I figured I could use my digital cutting machine to cut more intricate designs than I could for the stencil method. But I found it difficult to cleanly cut the shapes, and only the basic heart proved easy to execute. Granted, the tutorial used a die-cutting machine instead, which would likely work better.
Once the shape was cut out, however, the foil did stick much better than it did to the spray adhesive. I don’t have a die-cutting machine, but I could see using this technique with some of the larger paper punches I have to make polka-dot designs.
COST: 7
EASE: 5
RESULTS: 7
LAMINATING MACHINE:
The third technique was by far the easiest and most impressive, but also involved the biggest potential investment. For this method, you need access to both a laser printer or copier and a laminating machine.
Once a design is printed on the cardstock, you simply cover the card with foil, fold a blank piece of copy paper around it and send it through the laminator. The foil will stick to whatever is printed on the card.
I bought a laminator for under $30, and given the results, I think it was well worth it. Unlike with the other methods, you can achieve intricate designs, including text, with ease — anything you can print can be covered in foil.
While I stuck with simple, one-color designs, it would be fun to experiment with placing foil on only part of the design or using multiple colors.
COST: 4
EASE: 9
RESULTS: 10

For the first time, girls have the opportunity to start on a path toward earning the esteemed rank of Eagle Scout.

On Feb. 1, the Boy Scouts program offered through Boy Scouts of America for youth 11-18 years old became known as Scouts BSA. The name change reflects the fact that girls are now allowed to participate in that program.

Scouts BSA is the same program as Boy Scouts, and none of the requirements have changed. The only difference is that girls can join all-female troops, and boys will continue to join all-male troops, said Art Hawkins, scout executive for Boy Scouts of America, Evangeline Area Council, which includes St. Mary.

Eight all-female troops are currently organizing within the Evangeline Area Council, including one troop based in Patterson.

Leah Begley is organizing the girls’ troop in Patterson. Begley said the troop will probably meet in Patterson, but she encourages girls from across the Tri-City area to join the troop.

In the troop, girls will learn about first aid, camping, wilderness survival and outdoor cooking skills, Begley said.

“It’s going to be fun, and it’s going to be what a lot of girls are looking for,” she said.

Girls joining Scouts BSA can also be a part of the first class of girls to earn the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest rank in Scouts BSA.

To ensure that no girls try to take short cuts to be recognized as the first female Eagle Scout, Boy Scouts of America won’t recognize an individual first female Eagle Scout. Instead, the organization will recognize the first female Eagle Scout class together, Hawkins said.

Begley plans to meet with an organization next week that she hopes will serve as the troop’s charter organization. Five girls, the minimum to start a troop, have committed to join, and another five girls have expressed interest in joining, Begley said.

Begley has two sons in scouting, and one of them is an Eagle Scout. She also has a daughter who grew up attending Cub Scout meetings with her brothers and the sisters of other scouts.

When Begley learned that girls would be allowed to join Scouts BSA, she decided to organize a troop for the girls who were eager to join, she said.

Begley has been active in Boy Scouts of America programs for years. She is on the committees for Troop 41 in Patterson and Cub Scout Pack 438 in Morgan City. She’s also a merit badge counselor in Scouts BSA and council camp director for STEM camp.

Boy Scouts of America is a “great family organization,” and now girls can officially participate in all of the programs in which boys have been participating, Begley said.

Girls in Scouts BSA are eligible to sign up to attend their first summer camp this year at numerous camps throughout the country.

“A girl who’s looking for high adventure is going to get high adventure very, very quickly,” Hawkins said.

In 2018, Boy Scouts of America allowed girls to join its Cub Scouts program for 5- to 10-year-olds. The organization allows mixed-gender Cub Scout packs, but individual dens within those packs still have to be single-gender.

Officials in the Evangeline Area Council have received “very, very positive reaction” to that decision in the past year, Hawkins said.

Since Boy Scouts of America began allowing girls in Cub Scouts a year ago, about 115 girls in the Evangeline Area Council had joined by the end of 2018.

“We anticipate that number growing exponentially this year and next year,” Hawkins said.

Anyone interested in joining Scouts BSA, Cub Scouts or any other Boy Scouts of America program may contact District Director Justin Guidroz at 337-235-8551, ext. 108.

To contact Begley about joining the Scouts BSA girls’ troop in the Tri-City area, email her at leah.g.begley@gmail.com.