Big issues awaiting Louisiana Legislature
by Mike Hasten - The Town Talk (excerpt)

Two-thirds of the 2012 legislative session is gone and, as usual, some of the big issues still are awaiting action.

Topping the list is HB1, the state budget bill. The House and Senate committees that deal with the budget have been meeting regularly since the session started to try to get a grip on the financial problems facing the state and to develop a plan for funding what's most needed in the fiscal year that begins July 1. Just when they thought they had an idea, a $200 million gap materialized in the current year's budget that has to be covered, which translates into a $300 million shortfall in the new budget that pretty much screws up the plan they had in mind.

So, HB1 came out of the Appropriations Committee but is being largely rewritten before it comes to the full House on May 10. After the House approves it, that leaves the Senate a little less than three weeks to shape its own plan and send it back to the House for consideration by the June 4 end of the session.