Dispute stalls budget
by MICHELLE MILLHOLLON - Advocate (excerpt)

Debate in the Louisiana House on the $25 billion proposed state spending plan sputtered and finally stalled Thursday after hours of negotiations on how the budget should be balanced.

With no resolution in hand, legislators will return to the State Capitol on Friday to try to reach an agreement on a largely philosophical difference over the amount of one-time money used in the state operating budget for the state fiscal year that starts July 1.

At issue is whether to make deeper cuts or to rely on $268 million that is only likely to materialize once.