House spurns Senate version of next year's $26B budget
BATON ROUGE - Lawmakers in the Louisiana House have refused to agree to the Senate's rewrite of next year's $26 billion budget.
Instead, the House voted 102-0 Friday to send negotiations over a spending plan for the financial year that begins July 1 behind closed doors, to a six-member conference committee.
Appropriations Committee Chairman Cameron Henry says the two chambers are "not that far off" in reaching a deal.
Whatever emerges and may gain final passage before the legislative session ends Monday is expected to largely be a first draft of the state operating budget.
Gov. John Bel Edwards has called a special session on taxes - that starts 30 minutes after the current session ends - to raise money to lessen cuts.
Lawmakers will rewrite the budget to include any money raised.