Opening a special session of the Louisiana Legislature called in the wake of the worst budget deficit in the state’s history, Gov. John Bel Edwards implored lawmakers Sunday to make the right, tough decisions instead of the wrong, easy ones.
“Blunders of the past have led us to this day of reckoning,” Edwards told a packed joint session in the House chamber. “It’s time for fiscal responsibility in this state. No more smoke. No more mirrors.”
Edwards previously expressed an interest in a combination of spending cuts and revenue enhancements, including several tax increases, to close the state’s nearly $1 billion budget hole for the current fiscal year, ending June 30.
In recent weeks, the newly-elected Democrat has clashed with Republican legislators who want the deficit to be erased mostly by budget reductions.
In response to critics who said he is hesitant to slash spending, Edwards announced an executive order he signed earlier that day, unilaterally making roughly $160 million in state cuts. But he maintained that revenue-raising measures would be a necessity in reconciling Louisiana’s fiscal future. 
“We cannot just cut our way out of this crisis, and it simply isn’t possible to always do more with less. Because if it were, one day you could do everything from nothing. And life doesn’t work that way.”
Prior to the opening of the special session, the Joint Legislative Budget Committee met with LOSFA officials and higher education administrators to discuss mid-year budget cuts to the institutions.
“Members are going to have to decide what they’re priorities are and if higher [education] and TOPS is one of them, they better be prepared to raise the revenue,” said Democratic Sen. Eric LaFleur, of Ville Platte. “This is the worst scenario that we’ve ever found ourselves in, and it’s through a series of things we did on our own, led by the Wizard of Oz, Bobby Jindal, with members of the legislature acquiescing in the budgets he proposed for years and years.”
Sen. Gerald Long, R-Winnfield, said Republicans and Democrats will have to exercise bipartisanship to save the state.
“Both sides will have to drop their identity,” he said. “We don’t need any ‘Rs’ and we don’t need any ‘Ds.’ We need people who understand the necessary parts of building a great state.”
However, political tensions leftover from a contentious gubernatorial election battle remain in other corners of the statehouse.
“[Edwards] said he was going to be middle-of-the-road, neither right nor left,” said Rep. Dodie Horton, R-Haughton. “I haven’t talked to anyone, regardless of party, who wants to raise taxes on the backs of the over-taxed taxpayer, especially in such an economic downtime.”
The House and Senate will break into heavy committee work in the upcoming weeks. The special session can only last until sundown on March 9. Legislators are confined to specified fiscal issues during the special session. The regular 2016 session convenes March 14.
Justin DiCharia contributed to this report.