Fiscal cliff

Legislators down to the wire, in the last ditch on fiscal fix

Rep. Walt Leger, D-New Orleans, spoke to Rep. Denise Marcelle, D-Baton Rouge, on the House floor after Marcelle and three other Legislative Black Caucus members voted against Leger’s tax bill Friday.

Temporary sales tax fails in House vote; Session on life support

The House failed to advance any revenue-raising measures to the Senate Wednesday night, and some lawmakers fear the special session might end Thursday and delay resolution of the state’s budget crisis until June. The key bill, authored by Rep.

House leaders bicker over fiscal filibuster

House leadership bickered Monday over who is to blame for a new stall in budget negotiations instead of voting on several key bills that could raise revenue and solve the state’s looming budget crisis.

Linking Medicaid to work gains traction

Even though requiring Medicaid recipients to work is one of the few areas in which Governor John Bel Edwards and Republican legislators agree, experts say implementing the rules may not have much of an impact.

Bipartisan group urges governor to more forward on special session

A bipartisan group of state senators on Monday urged Gov. John Bel Edwards to move forward with a February special session whether or not House Republicans seem ready to agree to measures to ease a projected $1 billion shortfall in state revenue.

Governor, House leader said to be in budget talks

House Speaker Taylor Barras did not release revenue proposals on Friday for dealing with a projected $1 billion budget shortfall, but he and Gov. John Bel Edwards are still talking about how they might address the problem.

Republicans propose spending caps, cost savings, House Speaker Taylor Barras

House Speaker Taylor Barras on Tuesday proposed new spending caps and other cost-saving measures that the Republicans would like to couple with any revenue-raising measures that Gov. John Bel Edwards seeks to deal with a looming state budget shortfall.

GOP budget proposal awaited

As the window for calling a special session tightens, Gov. John Bel Edwards and House Republican leaders are still fencing over the details of his doomsday budget proposal and whether the Republicans will come up with an alternative plan next week.

Doomsday budget would empty parish prisons of state inmates

Department of Public Safety and Corrections Secretary Jimmy LeBlanc said most parish jails would be unable to continue to house state prisoners if $40 million in cuts proposed in Gov. John Bel Edwards’ preliminary budget went through.

Numbers being questioned in budget negotiations

After months of meetings that failed to yield compromises and threats of a gut-wrenching string of legislative sessions, Gov. John Bel Edwards has finally shared with lawmakers his top policy priorities and a doomsday budget proposal.