Gov. John Bel Edwards again urged lawmakers Wednesday during a higher education rally at the Capitol to protect funding for colleges and universities and pass tax bills during the two-week special session currently underway.
“We can get back to being Republicans and Democrats next year when we run for reelection,” Edwards said to a packed crowd representing schools from across the state. “It’s time to be Louisianans right now.”
Edwards vetoed the Legislature’s spending plan last week after the end of the 2018 regular session, which funded TOPS at 70 percent and cut higher education by 10 percent. The coined “pretend budget” also included cuts to child welfare, prosecutors, tourism programs and nearly all state government, but spared health care.
After an early end to the regular session, a second special session this year — and the sixth one since 2016 — began Tuesday to discuss revenue-raising policies to plug the looming $650 million fiscal cliff Louisiana faces when temporary tax measures passed in 2016 expire on June 30.
Edwards said he was confident lawmakers could fund Louisiana’s critical priorities and still give taxpayers a $400 million tax cut.
Edwards also noted recent success in Louisiana, citing the state’s highest employment rate in history, exceeding the national average in wage growth, funding higher education without cuts for the first time in a decade and fully funding TOPS.
“This cliff threatens that momentum,” he said. “We got to get it fixed. [Lawmakers] want to do the right thing. They’re hearing from a lot of different voices. Just make sure they’re hearing yours.”
Legislature convenes for another special session; Gov. Edwards: This one ‘can be different’
