BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - As they wrapped up their special legislative session, Louisiana lawmakers didn’t resolve a disagreement between Gov. John Bel Edwards and Attorney General Jeff Landry.
At issue was $4 million sitting in an escrow account.
The Democratic governor wanted to move the money elsewhere to fill gaps in the state’s budget. The Republican attorney general said that money is part of his budget and would damage his office’s ability to function if taken.
Lawmakers decided against taking the dollars. The Senate wanted to shift the money, but the House didn’t agree.
The final budget-rebalancing compromise didn’t touch the fund - but it also didn’t decide whether Landry has the ability to spend the money, which remains under the control of the Edwards administration.
The dollars are from a 2014 pharmaceutical settlement.
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