BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - The Latest on the special legislative session (all times local):
5:10 p.m.
Louisiana’s latest special legislative session is over, ending a few days early with budget deals struck two weeks before the state’s new financial year begins.
Before they went home Friday evening, senators gave final passage to the $28 billion-plus state operating budget bill. And the House gave the last votes needed to approve a $3.8 billion construction budget and the financing bill to pay for the projects.
Gov. John Bel Edwards supports the bills and will sign them into law.
The session ended a few days ahead of its Monday deadline.
Lawmakers were forced into the extra week of work after Edwards, the House and the Senate failed to reach a final spending agreement in the regular legislative session that wrapped up last week.
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10:30 a.m.
Louisiana senators have given final passage to a $28 billion-plus operating budget, a week after a negotiating stalemate forced lawmakers into a special session.
With a 26-9 vote Friday, the Senate sent the budget bill to Gov. John Bel Edwards, who supports it.
Senate Finance Chairman Eric LaFleur says the budget is austere, but reasonable.
The spending plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1 will keep most agencies free of cuts and fully fund the TOPS college tuition program. More than 38,000 state government workers will get 2 percent pay raises. Dollars will be allocated for a new juvenile prison facility. It’s the first time colleges will be spared cuts in nearly a decade.
Mental health services will take reductions, along with the safety-net hospitals and clinics.
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9 a.m.
Louisiana lawmakers are hoping to wrap up their special session early.
The House and Senate are pushing to complete work Friday on a package of budget bills to finance state government operations and construction projects in the year that begins July 1.
That would be days ahead of Monday’s session deadline.
Senate leaders are working to avoid rewriting or tweaking the nearly $29 billion state operating budget as they debate it Friday, so it can avoid a second vote in the House and head straight to Gov. John Bel Edwards’ desk.
The budget would keep most agencies free of cuts and fully fund the TOPS free college tuition program.
Lawmakers failed to finish a budget in their recent regular session, pushing them into a special session to complete the work.
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