At a press conference Friday, with the special session ending at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Governor John Bel Edwards made his displeasure crystal clear.
“As of today, the Legislature has failed to come anywhere close to solving the problem.”
While lawmakers are closer to balancing the current year budget, they’ve done little to address the next year’s estimated $2.2-billion hole. More than a few senators have said another special session will be required to fix that.
“That is a distraction,” the Governor said. “There is not an option that will be on the table for the Legislature for later that’s going to be any more appetizing than the options that are there now.”
But, Edwards says, the Senate is not the problem.
“Continued inaction on the part of the House of Representatives is not helpful. Clearly the problem is in the House of Representatives.”
The governor said he’s been meeting daily with the leadership, as well as with the members at large.
“Quite often, the discussions I’m having are very, very fruitful and productive, only to see the legislators go back and there continue to be inaction,” Edwards explained. “I believe that some of it has to do with new members not potentially fully understanding. I think some of it has to do with an intransigence that’s born out of ideology.”
And, he says, a lot of it has to do with Speaker of the House, Taylor Barras.
“It’s always been the case in the past, that if you have an agreement with the Speaker, you know what it gets you. That has not proven to be the case thus far.”
House and Senate members i spoke with confirmed there’s a developing lack of confidence in the Speaker’s abilities to pilot the lower chamber through these muddy budget waters..
The governor himself summed it up: “Lead, follow, or get out of the way.”