The Louisiana House has agreed to a $34 billion operating budget for next year that includes hundreds of millions in federal coronavirus aid. They passed it unanimously Wednesday.
The spending plan for the financial year that begins July 1 would keep most programs and services from cuts. It plugs gaps with temporary federal dollars that Louisiana is receiving to respond to the COVID-19 disease. Lawmakers acknowledged they have concerns about what happens a year later, when the temporary federal stopgap aid disappears and if the state's tax collections don't recover from coronavirus declines. The budget proposal heads next to the Senate.