BATON ROUGE - Bills aimed at cutting consulting contracts were advanced by the House Appropriations Committee this week, according to State Treasurer John Kennedy.

"We had $12.23 billion in contracts last year. State agencies will tell you every one of those contracts is necessary. I disagree," said Treasurer Kennedy. "We have to get our spending in check.”

The two bills are focused on reining in the number of consulting contracts across state government.

House Bill 454 would create a layer of legislative oversight for professional, personal and consulting service contracts totaling $25,000 or more. Those contracts would have to be reviewed by the Joint Legislative Committee on the budget.

House Bill 74 would decrease by $183.2 million the contracts that are paid from the state general fund money in the upcoming budget year, staring on July 1. Treasurer Kennedy says this cut equals the amount of money needed to keep the TOPS program afloat.

Both bills are now headed to the Louisiana House floor.

"These are common sense solutions to the spending frenzy that is occurring with state contracts," said Treasurer Kennedy. "We're sending millions of dollars out the door when we could do this work in-house or not waste the money at all."