Gov. John Bel Edwards and his staff are putting a full-court press on Republican representatives they consider swing votes in the governor’s quest to tap the state’s Rainy Day Fund to lessen looming budget cuts, the USA Today Network of Louisiana reports.
And they’re trying to enlist the help of any influential constituent they can to lobby lawmakers as Monday’s 10-day special session approaches.
The problem: Edwards needs two-thirds approval from both the Senate and House to withdraw $119 million from the Rainy Day Fund as part of his solution to close a $304 million midyear budget deficit.
Senate leaders have generally agreed to the governor’s plan, but House Republicans have become increasingly resistant with many preferring to cut more spending rather than dip into the state’s savings account.
“I don’t want to leave any stone unturned when it comes to protecting the Rainy Day Fund,” Republican Rep. Lance Harris says. “I want to see every other option before using the Rainy Day Fund.”
State Reps. Thomas Carmody, Jean-Paul Coussan and Jack McFarland are among a group of 15 to 20 Republicans considered swing votes. Because Republicans are in the majority, Edwards must convince enough of them to join the Democrats.
But so far those members aren’t willing to bend to the governor’s will.
“Right now I don’t see that there’s 70 votes in the House,” Carmody says.
That’s the magic number to secure approval. It’s a threshold even members of the governor’s staff privately concede hasn’t yet been reached, although they say they’re confident lawmakers will come around once reality sets in of the cuts that would be made without access to the fund.
