Final Decisions On Budget Awaited On Last Day Of Session

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Time is winding down on lawmakers' ability to strike a deal on next year's budget and the tax plans that will finance it.

Work in the 60-day regular legislative session must end by 6 p.m. Thursday.

House and Senate leaders are trying to reach an agreement on how to raise taxes, shrink tax breaks and scale back business subsidies, as a way to drum up hundreds of millions of dollars for the budget. The money will stop deep cuts to colleges and public health services.

Lawmakers are also haggling over whether to meet Gov. Bobby Jindal's criteria for the tax changes he'll consider. If they don't meet Jindal's parameters, they risk a veto of some of the tax bills that would pay for the spending plans contained in the budget.

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