BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Gov. John Bel Edwards defended his decision to veto a $28.5 billion Louisiana state operating budget that contained deep spending cuts.

The Democratic governor told a crowd Tuesday at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette that the budget proposal contained cuts that were too deep and too "catastrophic" for services. Edwards spoke hours ahead of the opening of a special session he called trying to persuade lawmakers to replace some of the temporary taxes expiring July 1.

The governor is seeking replacement of $648 million of about $1.4 billion in taxes falling off the books. He says he spoke at the college campus because it's threatened with deep cuts and is down the street from a safety-net hospital that could shutter in the upcoming budget year if lawmakers don't approve taxes.