BATON ROUGE (AP) — Gov. John Bel Edwards is readying to release his outline for a special legislative session he is calling to stabilize Louisiana's finances.
The Democratic governor said he intends to issue the executive order Friday, setting the dates and parameters for the session to begin Feb. 14.
Edwards says his aim is to rebalance Louisiana's budget and end cycles of continuing shortfalls. He's proposing tax increases to raise new money for the treasury, saying that's the only way to avoid devastating cuts to public colleges and health services.
Republican lawmakers say there's room for reductions in government spending, and they've urged Edwards to include those ideas in the special session.
Louisiana has a more than $700 million shortfall this year and estimates of a nearly $2 billion gap for next year.
