For all the trepidation in the spring about the “fiscal cliff” of a $1.6 billion shortfall, the budget bill proved remarkably easy to pass, as the House agreed with Senate changes by unanimous vote. Despite the budget deficit, there was plenty of cash in various funds for the Senate to restore $200 million in cuts the House made to the governor’s budget. An expected showdown over House objections to use of one-time funds melted away after the Senate, working with the governor’s staff, matched those funds to one-time expenditures, thus complying with a new House rule to limit spending non-recurring funds.
— Though Gov. Bobby Jindal says he is disappointed that the House added the tobacco tax renewal to the TOPS constitutional amendment, he will not ask the Senate to fight the change. “We can’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good,” he told reporters today. “We don’t want to do anything to jeopardize the chance for voters to protect TOPS this fall.” If the Senate concurs with the House change, the constitutional amendment would dedicate $43 million in annual tobacco settlement payments to the free-tuition program for qualifying college students. The House action attaches the 4-cent tobacco tax renewal, which the governor vetoed.
(John Maginnis will publish a daily update on the legislative session at 3 p.m., available to LaPolitics Weekly subscribers on the Subscribers Only page at LaPolitics.com. You can register your user name and password on the Lapolitics home page.)
