The House and the Senate have been at an impasse for the past 24 hours, with the House sitting on any further revenue raising bills. The lower chamber is refusing to budge until a Senate committee takes action on the budget cuts in Cameron Henry’s HB 122.
“There’s been a lot of discussion that ‘We don’t need to raise any revenue. We can do it by making cuts’,” Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne observes.
One of the big differences of opinion is over the numbers. Regarding Governor John Bel Edwards’ plan for addressing the current shortfall, Henry, the House Appropriations chair, keeps saying, “If we gave him everything he wanted, we’re still $175-million short.”
Yesterday, Henry tried explaining it to the Senate Finance Committee, but even the former head of that committee, Senator Jack Donahue, was having trouble understanding Henry’s calculations..
“We have to cover the 175 first, and then take it out of the 570 that we’re short – if that makes any sense,” Henry said.
“No, I’m sorry, I don’t follow that,” Donahue responded.
Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne says he has finally figured out where Henry got that number.
“When Chairman Henry was talking about the 175-million, I kept saying to myself, ‘It’s 107-million! It’s 107-million!’ Because that is the number to make right higher education and DHH,” Dardenne explains. “But you get to the 175, I’ve just realized, by funding all the things that the Governor has said to you he’s not gonna fund.”
Theose are items usually included in the supplemental appropriations bill, which goes through in the regular session. It usually includes the remainder needed to fully fund TOPS and the MFP, balancing out the budget year. The administration has said it will not do a supplemental appropriations bill, period.
“Those are things that we said to you repeatedly during this process we’re not gonna fund.”