Governor Edwards Asking Senators To Strip All House Budget Changes

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Gov. John Bel Edwards' administration is asking state senators to scrap all the changes made to next year's nearly $26 billion budget by their colleagues in the House.

Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne told the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday he'd like the panel to strip the House changes "in their entirety."

He asked senators to "consider starting over."

Senators are planning Monday to rework the budget proposal for the financial year that begins July 1.

Dardenne says the House version improperly diverts fees that people pay for services away from agencies providing those services. He says it also levies heavy cuts on programs that care for the elderly and disabled.

If senators use the Edwards proposal, the TOPS college tuition program would face steeper cuts than the House recommended.

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