BATON ROUGE - State leaders are rummaging around for ideas to stop the flow of red ink in Louisiana's budget, with a more than $700 million gap to close by June and deeper troubles on the horizon.

Gov. John Bel Edwards is expected to start unveiling his "menu of options" within the next week.

They'll come ahead of a planned February special legislative session to address this year's shortfall and start chipping away at a gap for next year estimated to reach up to $1.9 billion.

Ahead of any specifics from Edwards, proposals already are emerging around the Louisiana Capitol as lawmakers returned to meetings with the start of their new term.

Among the ideas being discussed: Sales tax hikes, a state property tax, employee furloughs, tax break removals and income tax increases.