BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The House budget-writing committee is unveiling its plans Tuesday for filling a $211 million deficit this year, after working behind the scenes with the governor's office on ideas for plugging the gap.
The Appropriations Committee also is expected to rework next year's $25 billion budget proposal to account for a more than $300 million drop in projected state revenue in the new year that begins July 1.
Public colleges and health care services are most vulnerable to cuts. But lawmakers also are weighing whether to use the state's "rainy day" fund to offset some of the slashing.
Closing this year's deficit is particularly difficult because only two months remain in the fiscal year.