BATON ROUGE (AP) — Senators are backing a $3.5 million increase next year to the budget that finances the Louisiana Supreme Court and other parts of the state judiciary.
Though lawmakers have been struggling to fill financial gaps, the Senate Finance Committee disagreed with the House decision to provide a standstill $176 million judicial budget.
The committee Friday added the increase for the fiscal year that begins July 1 — half of the spending hike sought by the Supreme Court justices.
Senators then approved the judicial budget without objection, along with a $98.4 million budget to finance the House, Senate and other legislative agencies next year. The legislative budget would stay the same as this year.
The bills move to the full Senate for consideration.
