BATON ROUGE — Louisiana state agencies directed about $3.2 billion to nonprofit organizations over four fiscal years, according to a new Legislative Auditor review that also found the state’s recently created transparency system is not yet producing consistent information about where the money goes and how it is classified.
The review covers state fiscal years 2022 through 2025 — July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2025 — spanning the final two and a half years of Gov. John Bel Edwards’ administration and the first 18 months of Gov. Jeff Landry’s. Annual spending categorized as payments to nongovernmental entities rose from roughly $723.7 million in fiscal 2022 to about $942 million in fiscal 2025.
The Louisiana Department of Education accounted for the largest share, approximately $1.9 billion over the four-year period. That figure requires context: much of the department’s nonprofit spending is tied to public charter schools operated by nonprofit boards and to payments involving private schools for programs and services authorized by state law. The Department of Health accounted for about $266.3 million.
Other spending identified in the review covered a wide range of purposes, including drinking-water improvements, domestic-violence shelters, legal representation in death-penalty cases, horse-breeding organizations and groups involved in attracting major sporting events.
The larger finding is about transparency. Louisiana enacted Act 467 in 2025 to require a searchable public database of state spending involving nongovernmental entities, with information intended to be incorporated into Louisiana Checkbook. The Legislative Auditor found that the system is being undermined by inconsistent definitions and reporting practices.
According to the auditor, state law does not clearly define a “nongovernmental entity,” agencies have interpreted reporting requirements differently, and it is not always clear which government entities must comply. The auditor recommended that lawmakers consider clarifying the statute so agencies report comparable information.
That distinction is important because the $3.2 billion total should not be read as a finding that $3.2 billion was improperly spent. The audit is principally a review of the scale, classification and transparency of the spending. The report does, however, identify weaknesses that make it harder for taxpayers and policymakers to evaluate individual payments and outcomes.
The issue grew out of Louisiana’s broader government-efficiency effort. Landry and lawmakers began scrutinizing nonprofit expenditures as part of the state’s LA DOGE initiative, and Legislative Auditor Michael Waguespack previously told lawmakers there was no simple way for the public to identify all state contracts and payments involving nonprofits.
The next step is likely legislative. If lawmakers adopt the auditor’s recommendations, they could tighten definitions, specify exactly which expenditures must be reported and clarify which agencies and public entities fall under the disclosure law.
For taxpayers, the significance of the audit is straightforward: Louisiana now has a better estimate of how much public money flows through nonprofit entities, but the state still does not have the uniform reporting system needed to make every dollar easy to trace and evaluate.
Sources
Louisiana Legislative Auditor report (linked through Louisiana Illuminator coverage)
Louisiana Illuminator — Oct. 20, 2026 report on nonprofit spending
