This afternoon the full House overwhelmingly rejected the Senate’s version of the state budget in a lopsided 80-18 vote, with Democrats making up nearly all of the nay column.
HB 1 by House Appropriations Chair Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, is not only the spending plan for the 2018-19 fiscal year that begins July 1, but it’s also the policy piece that binds in the special session that must adjourn not later than 11:59 p.m.
The budget bill now heads to a conference committee, where a select number of senators and representatives will go behind closed doors to revise the legislation before presenting a possible compromise to both chambers.
The Senate-passed version of the budget fully funded TOPS, higher education, housing for state prisoners, disability services, safety net hospitals and Medicaid payments for nursing homes. It likewise cut nearly $200 million across state government.
As time ticked down for this year’s second special session, Henry assured colleagues in the House this afternoon that regardless of what transpires in the coming hours, the body will get an opportunity to vote on a budget, even if it’s the version that was adopted by the Senate.
“I don’t want to be here tomorrow,” Henry said. “Or in seven days.”
Many Republicans took issue with the Senate version of the bill, arguing it was an expansion of state spending. House Democrats and the Edwards administration disputed this position, which is why House Speaker Pro Tem Walt Leger, D-New Orleans, unsuccessfully pushed for a floor vote for the Senate-passed bill.
“This is the version of the budget we will be voting on,” said Leger. “There is no reason to wait.”
Short of passing a budget package and the accompanying taxes that are likewise being debated during these final hours and lawmakers will find themselves being called into the year’s third special session. That’s a costly alternative Edwards and others were trying to avoid. Special sessions costs taxpayers roughly $60,000 per day.
A handful of revenue bills are on the moving, but much of the focus is on HB 27 by House GOP Delegation Chair Lance Harris of Alexandria, which the Senate has amended to be a renewal of a half-penny of state sales tax to replace an entire penny that’s expiring July 1. According to the latest forecast from the Revenue Estimating Conference, Louisiana faces a $648 million budget shortfall next fiscal year. By law, the state must either cut programs and departments within state government to balance the shortfall or find more revenue to fill the hole.
Jeremy Alford will publish a daily update throughout the legislative session on Daily Report PM. Alford reports on Louisiana politics at LaPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter, or on Facebook. He can be reached at JJA@LaPolitics.com.
