Senate passes budget

Differences between the Senate and House were highlighted Wednesday during floor debate over the funding bill as the Louisiana Legislature approaches a special session geared at restoring to agencies additional money the state so far doesn’t have.
Senators repeatedly indicated that many of the state’s funding priorities —like TOPS, schools and safety-net hospitals for the poor — should be addressed in a special session instead of shifting around dollars in the state budget, which is $600 million short.
Sen. Eric Lafleur, D-Ville Platte, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, told colleagues during his budget presentation, House Bill 1, on the Senate floor Wednesday that he hopes to raise $450 million— not the entire $600 million budget deficit — during an 18-day special session that begins Monday night.
“The fact that we would strip off a lot of [the House’s] amendments should come as no surprise, because our perspectives are different,” Lafleur said in an interview Monday. “I think the House is reluctant to raise any revenue, and the Senate is agreeable to raise revenue.”
The Senate voted 37-2 to send its version of the bill back to the House to iron out differences. Sens. Neil Riser, R-Columbia, and Beth Mizell, R-Franklinton, voted against.
Edwards has promised to put a third of any additional revenue raised in the special session toward TOPS, which the Senate left underfunded by 50 percent.
The upper chamber has so far stayed mostly in step with Gov. John Bel Edwards’ priorities. Members repeatedly said budget cuts would be fixed in the special session, which begins June 6.
But House Appropriations Chairman Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, told the Manship School News Service many representatives are tapped out on tax increases and support for raising revenue would be hard to come by.
When the budget left the House, TOPS had more funding — roughly 75 percent — but Senators argued using that money is ill-advised or illegal.
But even with a steeper TOPS cut, which puts additional pressure on lawmakers to find more money for it, Henry said more tax increases are “too steep.”
A TOPS cut could garner more support for revenue-raising among other members if it stands because of its widespread popularity, but the bill will likely go to conference committee where both houses hash out differences before the budget is adopted.
Senators reversed the budget cuts imposed by the House on agencies like Mental Health Advocacy and the Public Defender Board. Lafleur called the move, which took money from self-generated fees and dedicated funds to free up state dollars, “phony,” and suggested it was illegal.