WBRZ - Baton Rouge

BATON ROUGE (AP) - An attempt to get lawmakers into special session to consider reversing Gov. Bobby Jindal's recent cuts to health care programs and a state prison has failed to win enough support.

State senators blocked the effort.

Thibodaux Rep. Jerome "Dee" Richard needed 13 senators to sign onto supporting the idea, the threshold for triggering a mail-in balloting of the Legislature. A Senate spokeswoman says Richard got nine Senate supporters, short of the benchmark by the Friday deadline required to pull together the November session.

Republican Senate President John Alario joined Jindal in opposing the effort. Alario said it would be a waste of taxpayer dollars for lawmakers to return to Baton Rouge without a concrete plan for how they would rebalance the $25 billion budget if they reversed the governor's cuts.