BATON ROUGE (AP) — Louisiana's multimillion-dollar budget gap is about to get worse.
The state's income forecasting panel, called the Revenue Estimating Conference, is meeting Tuesday to trim back its income projections for this budget year.
The news is expected to be bleak.
Economists have warned the state's tax collections for the budget year that began July 1 are coming in lower than expected. Estimates are that the state could face a budget gap of $300 million or more.
Any shortfalls because of this year's forecast changes will come on top of a $313 million deficit left from last year that has yet to be closed.
The budget will have to be rebalanced — and both gaps eliminated through cuts or financing adjustments — before the current financial year ends in June.
