Gov. John Bel Edwards calls for special session to address $1 billion fiscal cliff

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Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards on Friday, February 9, 2018, issued a call for a 17-day special session of the Louisiana Legislature, which is set to begin tomorrow, February 19, 2018, and must end no later than March 7, 2018.
According to a release from the governor’s office the special session was called to “address the more than $1 billion fiscal cliff facing Louisiana on July 1, 2018.”
In the release it states, “The governor’s call includes 17 items that have been discussed as part of his ongoing negotiations with legislative leadership over recent weeks.”
In a statement from the governor, he said, “There is a growing consensus among lawmakers that the fiscal cliff can and should be addressed in February, and I agree. This special session will give us the opportunity to make reforms that we all know are needed in Louisiana to stabilize our budget and tax code making it more predictable and fair for Louisiana taxpayers. We are changing the status quo in Louisiana. After multiple meetings with House and Senate leadership, I feel confident that we are coming to an area of compromise that will allow us to make the changes we need to continue the momentum that we are seeing in our state.”
According to the release from the governor’s office, “Gov. Edwards and House leadership have met over the last several weeks to develop a compromise plan to address the fiscal cliff. Today (February 9, 2018), Gov. Edwards reviewed the items in the call with Speaker of the House Taylor Barras and Senate President John Alario.”
The release states that the governor’s plan to address the $1 billion fiscal cliff “does not call for any net new revenue.”
“Instead,” the release went on to say, “his plan includes the recommendations of the legislatively created Task Force on Structural Changes in Budget & Tax Policy to reform our system and replace the temporary measures enacted in 2015 and 2016 with a new, permanent structure.”
According to the release, “more than $1.3 billion in revenue will expire on June 30, 2018.” However, Edwards has “proposed replacing only $994 million of that revenue to ensure high education, including TOPS, health care, and other priorities are adequately funded.”
With the special session ready to begin, the governor says he “has taken a balanced approach to fixing state budget issues, cutting more than $600 million in state general funds since taking office.” However, those cuts appear to not be enough to cover the fiscal cliff.
In the release’s closing, it states, “While the governor has worked to make state government more efficient and while the state economy is rebounding, catastrophic cuts to vital state services and priorities are inevitable if most of the expiring temporary revenue is not replaced.”