BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana lawmakers were winding down their regular session Friday, a few days before they enter another special session to consider taxes to stave off deep budget cuts. Questions lingered about how Gov. John Bel Edwards will handle a spending plan sent to his desk containing the cuts.
The House and Senate intend to adjourn after 10 weeks of often break-neck speed to sift through more than 1,400 bills and wrap up early so they can move into the tax debate.
Still outstanding are bills to spend a state surplus, extend Harrah's casino operating contract and allow more prayer in public schools. It was unclear if those measures would be completed before lawmakers head home.
They'll return Tuesday to open a two-week special session called by Edwards to determine if they'll pass taxes to offset some temporary taxes that expire July 1.
As has been typical for the past decade, Louisiana's finances took center stage in the regular session, with the state expected to bring in $648 million less in general state tax dollars next year than this year.
Lawmakers passed a $28.5 billion state operating budget crafted in the Senate that would slash spending across most agencies, cut the TOPS college tuition program by 30 percent, eliminate food stamps and reduce spending on colleges and public safety programs.
Nursing home residents, programs for the developmentally disabled and the safety-net hospitals would be shielded from cuts, but even backers of the budget said the other reductions would damage services. Lawmakers who voted for the spending plan said it was a declaration of priorities — and a signal to people outside the Capitol that taxes are needed.
The budget passed on the strength of Republican votes, with Democrats largely opposing it.
It was unclear whether the Democratic governor will veto the bill that he didn't want passed. He had urged lawmakers to wait until the special session to firm up a budget.
"I have no plans to allow that budget document to guide our appropriations in the next fiscal year," Edwards said earlier this week, while dodging the word veto.
While finances remain uncertain, lawmakers could point to other session achievements.
Lawmakers agreed to strike a Jim Crow-era law that allowed split juries to convict people of serious felony crimes, sending the final decision to voters on the November ballot. They enacted Louisiana's first government-wide policy against sexual harassment.
They toughened state laws against hazing after the binge-drinking death of LSU student Maxwell Gruver that authorities said was tied to hazing. The House and Senate voted to ban abortion in Louisiana after 15 weeks — though only if a similar Mississippi law is upheld in federal court. And they expanded the medical marijuana program to cover more diseases and disorders when therapeutic cannabis becomes available in late summer.
Many other, high-profile measures failed to gain traction. Gun proposals spurred by the massacre at a Florida high school were spurned. Changes to TOPS failed, along with a bid to hold a constitutional convention. Louisiana won't be ending its use of the death penalty or enacting statewide regulations for ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft.
Much of Edwards' agenda was jettisoned, including his minimum wage hike and equal pay bills, a bid to block public schools from penalizing students who owe lunch money and an effort to end Louisiana's licensing requirement for florists.
– by Melinda Deslatte, AP reporter
