Louisiana Lawmakers Look at Ways to Spend Extra Cash

Gov. John Bel Edwards and the Legislature are sifting through a list of competing requests for new dollars, with college leaders, early childhood education advocates and agency chiefs among those vying for the cash.

Three different pots of money are available after the state income forecasting panel boosted projections: a $308 million surplus from the budget year that ended June 30, $110 million in unbudgeted money for the current year and $119 million in the financial year that begins July 1.

The Democratic governor and majority-GOP Legislature will decide how to spend the money in the ongoing two-month legislative session that must end June 6.

House Speaker Taylor Barras who serves on the Revenue Estimating Conference has been holding out on agreeing to a revenue number for fear of over-projecting. Barras says if the REC estimate is too high and the state uses those numbers to plan the budget, this could lead to mid-year cuts down the road.