Governor Faces Pressure To Call For Special Budget Session

Today is the deadline for Governor John Bel Edwards to call a February special session to address the looming one billion dollar budget hole resulting in the expiration of sales taxes. The governor said he would not call the session without an agreement in principle on a fiscal cliff deal, but LAPoltics.com publisher Jeremy Alford says the governor is being pushed to call the session.

"If you talk to the governor's supporters, they're going to tell you that the governor... politically doesn't have a choice... that he needs to put the legislature on the line."

Because it’s a revenue issue, the fiscal cliff can only be addressed in a special session.

Reports indicate the house GOP caucus may be coming to consensus on a plan to address the budget gap. Alford says Republican leaders may propose renewing a one cent sales tax that’s set to expire June 30^th.

"There's a lot more talk these days about maybe like half a penny or a quarter of a penny to supplement the four cent state sales tax structure."

But Alford says that could be a tough sell, as Democratic lawmakers oppose any renewal of the penny tax.

"The Black Caucus has really drawn a line in the sand... saying that they will not support a renewal of that one penny."

Louisiana has one of the highest sales taxes in the nation.

Categories: State News

Governor Faces Pressure To Call For Special Budget Session To Tackle Fiscal Cliff