Louisiana Budget Remains To Be Resolved In Last Session Week

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Senators came in for late-afternoon Memorial Day meetings to work on rebalancing this year's budget and clearing out some less controversial bills as Louisiana's legislative session enters its final week.

The Senate Finance Committee spent Monday making changes to this year's $25 billion budget, passing a bill designed to fill current-year gaps in education and prisons. Members of the committee complained that Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration dropped 11 pages of last-minute changes on them.

Lawmakers must wrap up their work by June 2. The biggest item outstanding is the package of budget bills.

Other controversy remains over Jindal's effort to derail a New Orleans area levee board lawsuit against oil and gas companies and House members' attempt to keep Louisiana from using the Common Core education standards.