Daylong backroom negotiations between Gov. John Bel Edwards and House Republicans stalled on Tuesday, prompting budget committee Chairman Cameron Henry to suggest the special session to resolve a midyear deficit could end in a stalemate.
“It’s a terrible option, but it’s a possibility,” Henry, R-Metairie, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, tells the USA Today Network of Louisiana.
The sticking point remains the Rainy Day Fund.
Edwards wants to tap the state’s savings account for $119.6 million, the maximum one-third of the existing fund, as part of his solution to close a $304 million midyear deficit and soften cuts.
House Republicans want withdraw less money, if any at all, from the Rainy Day Fund. A plan presented to Edwards by Henry, House GOP delegation Chairman Lance Harris, R-Alexandria, and a component from House Speaker Taylor Barras, R-New Iberia, would cut higher education, TOPS, K-12 and the Transportation Trust Fund, among other agencies and services.
Edwards, however, doesn’t believe it’s a viable plan, his spokesman Richard Carbo said.
Henry and Harris said Edwards’ “unwillingness to compromise” could result in a do-nothing session.
“If the governor digs in and doesn’t have enough votes for his plan and I can’t get enough votes for our plan, we could go home without solving the problem,” Henry said.
Some Senate leaders were visibly upset by the notion from the House this morning and expressed disbelief that a stalemate would ever be a viable option.
