Friday is the latest deadline in negotiations over whether Louisiana will have a special legislative session aimed at closing a $1 billion budget gap, as Gov. John Bel Edwards continues to haggle with House GOP leaders over what sort of taxes they might accept.
The Democratic governor says he needs to call the session by Friday so lawmakers have enough time to debate taxes before the regular session begins March 12. The target for starting the special session is Monday, Feb. 19.
Edwards expects the session would run about two-and-a-half weeks. But first, the governor will decide if he has enough buy-in on taxes from House Republicans.
The governor says he doesn’t want to call a special session to close the budget gap unless he reaches an agreement with House Republican leaders who blocked previous tax proposals. Edwards had another negotiating session by phone Monday with House Speaker Taylor Barras.
“I think we made some progress,” Edwards said today as he stopped at a community health center threatened with cuts. “Hopefully by Friday, we’ll have something worked out.”
Barras offered some “revenue options,” though Edwards wouldn’t say what those tax proposals were.
The $1 billion budget gap stems from the July 1 expiration of temporary sales taxes passed by lawmakers in 2016, planned as a bridge to a larger rewrite of Louisiana’s tax laws that never happened.
