The Edwards administration has told the Senate Finance committee that the changes the House made to next fiscal year’s budget are unacceptable. Legislators have been struggling with how to fund state services, because of a 600-million dollar shortfall. Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne says the House’s attempt to shift money around will not work…
cut 12 (08) “…right now”
One of Dardenne’s biggest concerns is with how the House shifted dollars around to put more money towards the TOPS Scholarship.

Because of these budget difficulties, Governor Edwards is planning to call another special session. La-politics-dot-com publisher Jeremy Alford says hints have been dropped on how to increase state revenues and avoid cuts to critical services…
cut 6 (08) “….the call”
Governor Edwards has signed the Blue Lives Matter Bill into law, which makes Louisiana the first in the nation to expand its hate crime laws to protect police, firefighters and EMS crews. Author of the legislation, Alexandria Representative Lance Harris says the new law allows prosecutors to seek tougher penalties against individuals who intentionally target first responders because of their profession.
Cut 13 (12) “in jail” 2x
President of the Louisiana NAACP, Ernest Johnson says this law is just a knee jerk reaction to the Black Lives Matter campaign and unnecessary.
Cut 15 (09) “our firefighters”
Five other states have tried to pass similar bills, but they all failed to pass.