House Speaker Larry Cretul opened the 1 p.m. session with an update
on the budget negotiations with the Senate. "I remain confident we can
still and will resolve our differences in a timely way," he said.
But the House insists the
Senate to accept its spending cuts. "By blending the proposals from
both houses we would fund the state’s “core mission” services and carry
forward a balance beyond the 2009-10 budget—as the country works itself
out of this recession. It would not be prudent to pass a budget this
year that would likely result in a $2 billion budget deficit as early
as 2011." Cretul's full statement is here.
Though
the House is willing to move on taxes, the Senate is less inclined to
accept House cuts to higher education (a $460 million difference) and
to the state transportation trust fund (a $420 million difference).
The
battle it seems, ultimately comes down to savings. The House wants to
sock as much money away (up to $3 billion) to account for the declining
economy in future years. The Senate wants to beef up savings to about
$1 billion.
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